"Babka" Monkey Bread
לחם קופים בבקה·(lechem kofim babka)
Weekend Feasts & Holiday Gatherings
Any kid raised in the diaspora knows the intoxicating smell of a Jewish bakery—yeast, caramelized butter, and dark chocolate. Traditional babka is a beautiful labor of love, requiring overnight fermentation and intricate braiding that has exactly zero place on a Tuesday night. But mid-century grandmas were ruthless pragmatists. They knew the secret to delivering that deep, pull-apart Brooklyn soul without the sweat: commercial frozen challah dough. Cut into bite-sized pieces, heavily coated in butter and Dutch-process cocoa, and finished with a hot simple syrup glaze, it perfectly marries the structural joy of Hungarian arany galuska with the undisputed king of the deli case. It tastes exactly like home, with none of the stress.
Before you start
Grease a standard 10-inch Bundt pan with butter or non-stick spray.
Avoid pans with removable bottoms so the melting butter and sugar won't leak into your oven.
Whisk the dry coating ingredients together.
In a shallow bowl, mix the 2/3 cup of granulated white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts.
Stir the vanilla into the melted butter.
Whisk the extract into the slightly cooled butter in a separate small bowl.
Ingredients
- frozen braided challah dough1 pkg (14 to 16 oz)
- unsalted butter1/2 cup
- granulated white sugar2/3 cup
- light brown sugar1/3 cup
- Dutch-process cocoa powder1/3 cup
- ground cinnamon1 tbsp
- pure vanilla extract1 tsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- walnuts1/2 cup
- water1/3 cup
- granulated white sugar (for glaze)1/3 cup
Method
- 01
Cut the partially thawed challah dough into bite-sized pieces.
Unravel the strands and cut them into about 50 to 60 walnut-sized pieces, rolling them quickly into rough spheres.
- 02
Dip the dough balls into the butter, then coat them heavily in the cocoa-sugar mixture.
Work in small batches, tossing three or four pieces in the butter before moving them to the dry mixture to coat completely.
- 03
Layer the coated dough balls into the prepared pan.
Stagger the placement like laying bricks so the pieces interlock. Drizzle any remaining butter and sugar evenly over the top.
- 04
Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until noticeably puffy.
Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap. This final proof takes 45 to 90 minutes depending on your kitchen's temperature; the dough should swell to fill the gaps.
- 05
Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes.
The bread is done when the top looks deeply caramelized and the bubbling sugars around the edges are dark and syrupy. Tent loosely with foil if it browns too quickly.
- 06
Simmer the water and remaining white sugar into a glaze.
While the bread is in its final minutes of baking, heat the water and the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.
- 07
Brush the hot syrup over the baked bread, then let it rest in the pan for exactly 15 minutes.
Do not skip the rest period. The syrup gives the bread its authentic deli shine, and the rest allows the molten caramel to thicken enough to stick to the bread instead of running off.
- 08
Invert the bread onto a serving platter.
Place a large plate upside down over the Bundt pan, hold them tightly together, and confidently flip. Let the bread cool for at least 10 minutes before pulling it apart with your fingers.
Notes
Find the right dough.
Frozen challah dough is readily available in the kosher freezer section of most supermarkets. Do not substitute canned biscuit dough, which uses chemical leaveners and completely lacks the chewy, bready structure required for an authentic babka experience.
Assemble the night before for an easy morning bake.
To make this for a weekend morning feast, assemble the bread in the pan, cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes to take the chill off before baking.