I’m on a weird kick when it comes to soft twisty breads, but this citrus poppyseed babka is definitely the most unique of the bunch. And it’s a total winner…featuring super soft, pillowy, fragrant dough with a slightly crunchy filling, studded with bits of melty white chocolate.
What’s not to love???
I only made one small tweak to the original poppyseed babka recipe, adding in orange zest to the lemon zest for a more robust and sweet citrus punch.
And that citrus blend goes so well with the gooey pockets of white chocolate…you don’t really taste the white chocolate (which is good, since I’m not a huge fan), but rather it adds some sweetness and moisture to the overall loaf as it melts in.
This dough was really fun to work with as well. You want it really sticky to start with, and that can be a bit terrifying.
But avoid the temptation to add too much flour—both in the initial mix and while rolling it out—and you’ll be rewarded with this super stretchy, soft dough that becomes an amazing fluffy loaf.
To make the filling, warm the milk in a saucepan with the sugar and salt. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the poppyseeds, lemon zest, and almond extract.
Cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the poppyseeds have absorbed most of the liquid. The texture will be sandy. Let it cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with a dough hook), add the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir to combine. Let the yeast proof for 5 minutes, until it foams.
Add the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla, and stir to combine.
Then add the flour and salt and stir the dough on medium until it comes together in a sticky ball. If you find it’s way too sticky, you can add up to 1/4 cup more of flour but no more—and I recommend dealing with sticky dough. The less flour you add, the softer the resulting bread.
Finally, add the zest and poppy seeds, and knead until they are spread throughout the dough. Again, you want it to be very sticky.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough a few times to coat it in oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise at room temperature until doubled in size (1-2 hours), or you can set it in the fridge for an overnight rise.
Prepare a loaf pan with a parchment paper sling.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out onto a well-floured surface to the size of a cookie sheet rectangle.
Spread the poppyseed filling over the dough in an even layer, using an offset spatula.
Sprinkle the white chocolate chunks over the filling.
Roll the dough up into a log from the short side (this gives you more twist layers).
Slice it in half lengthwise and twist the two logs around each other. You can try to face the filling downward as you twist so it bakes unexposed, but for me this wasn’t worth the mess.
Alternatively, you can roll the dough from the long side and slice it in half to make two shorter logs (you then slice each log in half lengthwise and twist each of them).
Transfer to the loaf pan and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 25-35 minutes. If your bread starts browning too much but isn’t done, tent it with foil and continue baking. It’s done when an internal temperature of 190 is reached.
Once you pull it out of the oven, brush the simple syrup over the top to glaze. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove and put on a cooling rack.
The “wow factor” of a babka is always when you cut into it, and this bread definitely delivers (though the first pic below doesn’t really show it). The slice does a better job.
Based on how my sister devoured two pieces of this in the car while we sat in a parking lot, this unique poppyseed babka is a winner!
Other twisty breads you’ll love:
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Babka
- Simple & Amazing Chocolate Brioche Babka
- Apple Butter Cinnamon-Sugar Babka
- Heavenly Dark Chocolate Orange Babka
- Spiced Chocolate Tahini Swirl Bread
Adapted from Buttermilk by Sam
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Citrus Poppyseed Babka with White Chocolate
A really unique citrus poppyseed babka studded with melty white chocolate bits, this snack or dessert is perfect for any occasion, and is easier than it looks!
Ingredients
- Dough
- 1/2 cup of warm water
- 1 teaspoon of instant yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
- 1/4 cup of melted butter
- 1/8 cup of honey
- 1 whole egg, plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 240g of bread flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup of poppy seeds
- Zest of 1 lemon & 1 orange
- Filling
- 1/3 cup of whole milk
- 1/8 cup of sugar (two tablespoons)
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- Small splash of almond extract
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup of poppy seeds
- 2 ounces of high-quality white chocolate, chopped
- A little bit of simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water, brought to quick boil)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with a dough hook), add the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir to combine. Let the yeast proof for 5 minutes, until it foams.
- Add the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla, and stir to combine.
- Then add the flour and salt and stir the dough on medium until it comes together in a sticky ball. If you find it's way too sticky, you can add up to 1/4 cup more of flour but no more---and I recommend dealing with sticky dough. The less flour you add, the softer the resulting bread.
- Finally, add the zest and poppy seeds, and knead until they are spread throughout the dough.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough a few times to coat it in oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise at room temperature until doubled in size (1-2 hours), or you can set it in the fridge for an overnight rise.
- To make the filling, warm the milk in a saucepan with the sugar and salt. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the poppyseeds, lemon zest, and almond extract. Cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the poppyseeds have absorbed most of the liquid. The texture will be sandy. Let it cool.
- Prepare a loaf pan with a parchment paper sling.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out onto a well-floured surface to the size of a cookie sheet rectangle.
- Spread the poppyseed filling over the dough in an even layer, using an offset spatula. Sprinkle the white chocolate chunks over the filling.
- Roll the dough up into a log from the short side. Slice it in half lengthwise and twist the two logs around each other (face down the filling will bake unexposed though it's messy AF). Alternatively, you can roll the dough from the long side and slice it in half to make two shorter logs (you then slice each log in half lengthwise and twist each of them).
- Transfer to the loaf pan and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 25-35 minutes. If your bread starts browning too much but isn't done, tent it with foil and continue baking. It’s done when an internal temperature of 190 is reached.
- Once you pull it out of the oven, brush the simple syrup over the top to glaze. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove and put on a cooling rack.
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