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Savory Sourdough Babka
I recently discovered that the layered and twisted form of a babka is a delicious and attractive way to add herbs, garlic, and cheese to bread. Babka is a Jewish Eastern European bread made with a buttery enriched dough and filled with chocolate or cinnamon. This recipe takes the babka shape, but uses a much lighter, tangy dough and a savory filling.
This savory babka idea actually began when I learned to make naan bread using sourdough starter discard. Naan is a thick flatbread from Central Asia and India, and it’s my favorite way to use excess starter. (Usually it is oven baked, but my version is fried in a dry cast iron pan.) I keep the dough in the refrigerator for several days until I happen to be cooking something that pairs well with flatbread — anything from the obvious curried lentils to the unexpected taco fixings. Instructions for making flatbread from this dough are at the end of the recipe below.
The all-in mixing and casual cold fermentation of naan make it easy. The rolling and frying of ten individual naan is a little more time-consuming, which led me one day to bake some of the dough as rolls. They were delicious — crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I had also been experimenting with putting garlic and cilantro into the dough before rolling it flat.
It was only natural that I would soon contemplate how to add a lot of filling to this delicious dough and how to bake it in an easy format. I debated doing savory “cinnamon” rolls, but went with a babka. The twisting layers are beautiful and easier than you might think. Moreover, my naan dough recipe happens to be the right size for a loaf pan.
In the photo galleries below, you’ll see garlic and cilantro with parmesan, an extra cheesy mozzarella version, and a smoked gouda and scallion version. All of these options are delicious, and your personal preference can guide you. In particular, I suggest substituting basil if you’re not a fan of cilantro.
After many savory iterations of this recipe, I did make a chocolate-cinnamon version based off the filling instructions of The Pioneer Woman blog (a little more butter and cinnamon, no sugar syrup), and I include information and photos for that also.
Savory Sourdough Babka
This Savory Sourdough Babka is made with the tangy dough of naan bread, and filled with cilantro, garlic, and cheese. The twisted and layered design of a babka maximizes delicious filling distribution and makes for a beautiful presentation that is actually quite easy to achieve.
Ingredients
Dough
Filling 1
Filling 2 (More Cheese and Garlic)
Filling 3 (Gouda and Scallion)
Filling 4 (Chocolate and Cinnamon)
Dough Notes
Instructions
Instructions for Making Naan
Here is the first version of this I made. It was delicious but a little oily, which I believe is why the layers stayed more separated.
Here is the super-cheesy and garlicky version I made.
Here a version with a rye sourdough starter, as well as smoked gouda and scallions. It didn’t brown well and I believe I overproofed it, but it was tasty nonetheless.
Here is the chocolate cinnamon babka (still using naan dough). The tangy crumb paired quite nicely with the slightly sweet chocolate filling.
Shopping List
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Bench Knife by Dexter — Resin Handle
$14.50Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00American Made Bread Loaf Pan from USA Pan
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00ThermoPop® 2
Stainless Steel Measuring Cup Set (4 pc)
$22.00Original price was: $22.00.$14.95Current price is: $14.95.Savory Sourdough Babka