This Biscoff babka tastes sweet and buttery. The base is a soft dough enriched with butter and eggs, which contains a creamy and buttery Biscoff cookie cream filling and is topped with a sweet sugar syrup. Simply delicious.
This recipe can easily be doubled to make two loaves, one of which you can freeze once cooled. After thawing, briefly reheat the babka in the oven and it will taste just like freshly baked.
Tools & Equipment
- 23cmx13cm / 9×5-inch loaf pan
- Large bowl
- Medium saucepan
- Offset spatula
- Parchment paper
- Pastry brush
- Plastic wrap
- Rolling pin
- Sharp knife
- Silicone spatula
- Small saucepan
- Stand mixer fitted with the dough hook
- Whisk
- Wire rack
Recipe Tips
Temperature: Remove butter and eggs from the fridge about 1 hour before you want to start to bring them to room temperature. To slightly heat the milk, place it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
Butter: You add the butter on low speed , which means it will not be incorporated perfectly that’s why the dough still looks a little lumpy. This is fine at this point.
Dough: In case the dough is too soft after kneading and sticks to the sides of the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides. I suggest you place the dough in the fridge overnight. However, you can proceed immediately to the next step of the recipe if you do not want to wait. This will work, but it is easier to work with the dough when it is chilled.
Biscoff Filling: I chose to use the creamy cookie spread version as the filling for my babka. If you prefer a little more crunch, you can go for the crunchy version. It’s up to you.
Ingredients for Biscoff Babka
Directions – How to Make Biscoff Babka
Make the Dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour, dry yeast, salt and sugar and mix briefly. Add milk and eggs and knead on medium-low speed until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, for about 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and knead until fully incorporated into the dough, for about 5 minutes.
Increase to medium speed and knead until the dough is elastic and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, for about 15 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Chill in the fridge overnight.
Make the Biscoff Filling
Melt the butter over medium heat. Add sugar and stir until almost completely dissolved. It’s okay if there are still grains of sugar visible, they will melt later.
Stir in the Biscoff cookie spread and cinnamon until everything is well combined.
Finish the Babka
Grease a 23cm/9-inch loaf pan and line with parchment, keeping an overhang on each side of the pan. Remove the dough from the fridge and lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin.
Roll it out into a rectangle of about 30x40cm/12×16-inch. Spread the Biscoff filling evenly on the dough, leaving a small border around the edges.
Roll up the dough lengthwise into a tight spiral, then cut in half with a sharp knife to divide the dough into 2 long pieces. Place one piece of dough over the other to form an “X”.
Braid the two pieces of dough together. Transfer the babka to the prepared loaf pan and cover with plastic.
Let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, for about 60-90 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Bake the babka until golden brown on top, for about 30-35 minutes.
Make the Syrup
Combine water and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature before brushing on top of the babka.
Remove the babka from the oven, place on a wire rack and brush the top generously with syrup. Let the babka cool completely in the pan. Lift the babka out of the pan using the parchment overhang.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Storage: Wrap leftover Biscoff babka in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Freezing Instructions: You can freeze babka for up to 2 months. Wrap the babka in 2 layers of plastic and 1 layer of aluminum foil or place in an airtight container. To thaw, let the babka sit at room temperature for a couple of hours while still wrapped. This way, the condensation that forms during thawing remains on the outside of the loaf and does not affect its quality.
My Summary for Biscoff Babka
Difficulty: Intermediate.
Taste & Texture: This Biscoff babka tastes buttery and sweet. The texture is light and fluffy. You can enjoy it plain or just spread some butter on it. The top is really sweet because of the syrup, but so delicious.
Time: It takes about 90 minutes to make the dough, the filling and the syrup. I always make the dough the night before and chill in the fridge overnight. In my opinion, the dough is much easier to handle then. Finishing the babka takes about 10 minutes. The shaped babka needs to rise in the loaf pan for another 60-90 minutes. Baking time is 30-35 minutes.
More BABKA Recipes
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Babka
- Chocolate Babka
- Chocolate Pistachio Babka
- Honey Pistachio Babka
- Pistachio Babka
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