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31 comments on Vanilla-Cinnamon Babka Made with Challah Dough

Vanilla-Cinnamon Babka Made with Challah Dough

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You already have the dough. Just make the filling and this babka is ready to go.

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We can pull the meat out of the freezer (there’s still lots there). But if there’s one thing that’s going to be fresh tomorrow, it’s the challah. And if you want to add one more special (and chametzdike) thing to your Shabbos, you can easily make this babka.

I know that most babka aficionados make specific doughs for babka. Like the one in this recipe for babka buns. Or in this dairy cheesy version. But we’re not going there yet.

No way. Maybe the very ambitious might bake tomorrow. I think that, for the rest of us, making challah is plenty. Plenty.

This filling is sweet enough that it can easily turn challah dough into a very amazing babka. And, you probably already have that vanilla sugar left over in your Pesach pantry.

Disclaimer: My babkas do not come out this pretty and perfect. Leah was actually home when we were shooting this one, and we called her over to roll the babka for the photos.

First, let’s make the filling. 1 cup brown sugar + 1/2 cup vanilla sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon + 1 stick melted marg.
Mix.
Roll out a piece of dough that’s about the size of one of your challahs into a rectangle that’s about the size of a baking sheet.
Spread the filling over the dough and roll it up as tightly as you can. There are lots of ways you can roll up your babka (see 8 Ways to Roll Your Babka), but this method is foolproof.
Just fold your roll in half and twist it up.
Add it to a loaf pan.
Those slits are what is going to give it that babka look.
Finally, I top it with the streusel crumbs from our Rosh Hashanah challah featured in this post.

Another disclaimer: The challah shown here is Renee’s and it’s braided using the four strand method featured in this post (a must read!).

Prefer chocolate babka? Make a big batch of Esti’s dry chocolate babka mix over here.

You might also want to make use of this hack for keeping your counters clean while rolling babka here!

Print Recipe

Vanilla Cinnamon Babka Made with Challah Dough

Just mix a four-ingredient filling and you're most of the way there.

Ingredients

  • 1 part challah dough (equivalent to about 1 challah)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup vanilla sugar
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 stick margarine, melted
  • Some streusel crumbs featured in this post: https://betweencarpools.com/baking-your-rosh-hashanah-challah-these-are-the-best-crumbs-for-your-challah-more-you-need-to-know/

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Roll out your piece of challah dough to about the size of a baking sheet.
  • In a bowl, combine brown sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, and melted margarine.
  • Spread filling evenly over dough and roll up as tightly as possible. Twist dough as shown above. Place into a parchment-lined loaf pan and cut slits in each bump of the babka.
  • Sprinkle with streusel crumbs.
  • Bake until golden, about 25-30 minutes (this baking time may differ greatly, depending on your oven, size of babka, type of pan, and many factors).
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Victoria Dwek

Victoria is the best-selling author of nine kosher cookbooks and a popular columnist for Ami Magazine. She always has the words for bringing everything that’s in our hearts onto the page. 

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31 responses to “Vanilla-Cinnamon Babka Made with Challah Dough”

  1. K Avatar
    K

    It’s not a big deal to make a babka dough once u have the mixer out for Challa… I did 4 cup flour babka dough from Naomi nachman, takes 4-5 min to make the dough

    Reply
  2. Miriam Avatar
    Miriam

    Check with your LOR regarding using challah dough on which you are being mafrish challah… you may need to make extra dough on top of the amount that is required to be mafrish on in order to be able to make mezonos foods from it.

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      You still need to separate challah. Some of it being mezonos doesn’t affect the status. The thickness of dough (vs batter) affects status. If it was 5 lbs of babka dough, you would also need to separate.

      Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    This was a huge hit! The filling is absolutely delicious thank you!

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      So nice to hear!

      Reply
  4. BF Avatar
    BF

    Can you swap out the margarine for oil?

    Reply
  5. K Avatar
    K

    I made with oil, was yum,

    Reply
  6. K Avatar
    K

    As someone else Mentioned, it may be a problem to take off a piece if you are making 5 pound dough, If you are making a 6 pound out, it should not be a problem, as always ask lor

    Reply
  7. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Slightly confused as to how the babka becomes mezonos if your using a challah dough? Doesn’t fruit juice need to be added to the mix at some point in order for it to be mezonos?
    Thanks it looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it.

    Reply
  8. Miri Avatar
    Miri

    One way to make a dough mezonos is by adding fruit juice another is by filling w something sweet and the it will become mezonos too

    Reply
    1. Rachel Wise Avatar
      Rachel Wise

      Just spoke to Star K Rov about this question. He said one needs to use a lot of fruit (nuts is good as well) in order to be mezonos

      Reply
  9. C Avatar
    C

    According to most Rabbonim, if you make 5lb of dough, but don’t use it all for Challah, and use some for Babkah, it is considered 2 separate portions of dough and you don’t do Hafrashas Challah.

    Reply
  10. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    Can I use butter instead of Margarine?

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      Of course.

      Reply
    2. Leah Schapira Avatar
      Leah Schapira

      yes

      Reply
  11. Morel Avatar
    Morel

    Can I switch the butter with oil? If yes, how much?

    Reply
  12. Elisheva Gold Avatar
    Elisheva Gold

    Wondering if 1/2 cup vanilla sugar is the correct amount ?

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      Yes, it’s correct.

      Reply
  13. Rachel Avatar
    Rachel

    I found 1/2 cup vanilla sugar to be overly sweet. I’d definitely cut it next time

    Reply
  14. ESTHER Avatar
    ESTHER

    how did you roll the dough so thin?
    I find challa dough hard to roll out so thin

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      I guess we try the best we can 😉

      Reply
    2. Rachel Wise Avatar
      Rachel Wise

      I just did babies from challah dough yesterday for the first and no matter how much I tried the dough did not come out thin as in the pic. This resulted in fewer layers of filling. I was aiming for lotsa gooey filling. Taste was still good.

      Reply
      1. bassi Avatar
        bassi

        It has to do with the texture of your challah dough. Roll it out, let it sit, and roll it out again. Also sometimes if my dough is too thick, I twist the final result when I’m making the babka shape to thin it out further.

        Reply
  15. DM Avatar
    DM

    Do you wait for the dough to rise once before rolling out for babka? Or do you use straight from the mixer while the rest of the dough for challah is still rising?

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      Yes, for sure wait.

      Reply
  16. RW Avatar
    RW

    This came out beyond delicious but a lot of the babka filling sunk to the bottom. Did I do something wrong?

    Reply
  17. faigy Avatar
    faigy

    As per Rabbi Barclay, you have to be mafrish challah even if you are making some into babka because the dough itself is the same, you’re just adding filling to it. You might have a problem if you change the actual dough itself ie if you add whole wheat flour to some of it…

    Reply
  18. KS Avatar
    KS

    Delicious! I vastly prefer this to regular cinnamon babka, which I generally don’t like – this was more like cinnamon buns in babka form (because, like cinnamon buns, it has more brown sugar and less cinnamon than traditional cinnamon babka). The taste of cinnamon buns and texture of gooey babka is the best of both worlds! I used oil instead of margarine and added a pinch of sea salt. I also subbed vanilla sugar with a little white sugar and a splash of vanilla extract. So yummy, my kids loved it and it quickly became a new favorite in our house!

    Reply
    1. Victoria Dwek Avatar
      Victoria Dwek

      Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed!

      Reply
  19. Hindy Avatar
    Hindy

    How much oil instead of marge

    Reply
  20. Hindy Avatar
    Hindy

    How much oil instead of marge?

    Reply

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