Soft buttery Babka bread with sweet Biscoff spread and crumbled Biscoff biscuits twisted throughout and baked in a loaf tin. This Vegan Biscoff Babka is heaven to anyone who loves Biscoff and cookie butter. Vegan, easy to make and truly delicious!
This recipe has been made in collaboration with Panasonic, using their 4-1 Combi Oven. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. (For more information along with affiliated links, check out my disclosure policy.)
Vegan Biscoff Babka
Vegan Biscoff Babka is a delicious fluffy bread with ribbons of Biscoff spread running throughout it. This Babka is visually stunning and perfect for any occasion!
Babka may look and seem difficult or complicated to make from scratch, but the process is surprisingly easy. Honest! There is absolutely no need to be intimidated by the proving time, prep or braiding! Follow my simple step-by-step instructions to make this homemade Vegan Biscoff Babka and you’ll be making this recipe like a PRO in no time.
If you love Biscoff, make sure to check out my previous Biscoff recipes, such as Vegan Biscoff Crumbl Cookies , Easy Vegan Biscoff Tiramisu, Puff Pastry Biscoff Swirls and No-Bake Biscoff Tartlets.
What is Babka?
If you’ve never made or tried Babka before, then you’re in for a treat! What you need to know is that it’s half cake, half bread, and is absolutely delicious! Babka is a braided yeast-based bread / cake similar to Brioche, and is rolled up with a sweet spread, braided and baked. The name ‘Babka’ comes from the Polish meaning ‘grandmother’, which is fitting as this bread was supposedly created by grandmothers. Each slice of this yeast-based dough is light, soft, fluffy, and buttery. I also love how each slice has gorgeous layers of luscious swirls of Biscoff spread running throughout. Each slice is different with a unique marble effect and I love how it tears apart just where the Biscoff spread is. Honestly, you’re sure to be going back for seconds!
What is Biscoff?
Biscoff is the shortened name for ‘Lotus Biscoff’ cookies. They are a caramelised biscuit, and the flavour is super unique! You usually see this biscuit served with coffee in coffee shops, or in individual packets in hotel rooms. It combines a buttery shortbread, with caramel and spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon.
Biscoff also goes by the name ‘Speculoos‘. This is the name for the Lotus biscuit and it commonly referred to this across Europe and the USA.
Why you’ll love this Biscoff Babka recipe
- Vegan
- Easy to make
- Delicious
- light and fluffy
- Pulls apart perfectly
- It’s a show stopper
- Fun to make and braid
- melts in your mouth
- Has a delicious crunchy streusel on top
- Shiny glaze
- Filled with Biscoff (goals)
- Great snack
- Perfect for breakfast
Ingredients you’ll need to make a Biscoff Babka:
- Plain flour : Use a wheat based plain white flour for this recipe. Make sure it’s sifted to remove any large clumps.
- Baking powder : Helps the Babka to rise in the oven.
- Salt : A dash of salt helps to bring out flavours. It is an optional ingredient!
- Warm water : The warmth of the water helps to activate the yeast. Make sure the water is only warm, if it’s too hot, it can kill the yeast resulting in a dense and flat Babka.
- Active dry yeast : The yeast is crucial in this bake. It helps the bake to use and create the perfect bread texture.
- Caster sugar : Adds sweetness and helps to bind the bread. It’s also used to create a simple sugar syrup to brush on top of the Babka for a gorgeous shiny top.
- Light brown sugar : Mixed into the streusel for a richer flavour.
- Dairy-free butter : The butter helps to keep the Babka moist and gives it a delicious flavour.
- Oil : Use a neural tasting oil, sunflower oil is best! Do not use coconut oil!
- Biscoff spread : You can use smooth or crunchy Biscoff spread. I personally prefer smooth.
- Biscoff biscuits : Crumble Biscoff biscuits over the spread before braiding, and also add some into the streusel for added flavour and crunch.
How to make a Vegan Biscoff Babka
Follow the steps to see how the Vegan Biscoff Babka is made but make sure to read the full recipe and method in the recipe card below.
- Babka dough
Mix all of the dough ingredient together, knead and place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place to prove and rise for at least 1-2 hours until doubled in size. You can also heat your oven to 30℃ and prove it in there.
- Rolling and braiding
Roll out the dough on a floured surface, add on the Biscoff spread, spread out to cover and crumble over Biscoff biscuits. Roll up the dough, cut in half and braid. Lift into your lined loaf tin.
- Streusel and second prove
Mix all of the streusel ingredients in a bowl, and sprinkle on top of the Babka. Cover the prove the dough for a second time until puffed up and risen.
- Bake the Babka
Place Babka in the pre-heated oven and bake until golden in colour and fully baked (I’ve listed ways to check the Babka has baked in the recipe card below). Allow to cool, cut with a serrated knife and serve.
How to prove Babka dough in an oven
I’m so excited to collaborate with the iconic brand Panasonic on this delicious recipe. I used two of the Panasonic 4 in 1 Combination Microwave Oven’s extensive variety of features to easily create this recipe.
- The dough needs to prove in a cozy and warm atmosphere. If you’re like me and live in the UK or somewhere chilly, and you don’t have natural warmth, you can set your oven to 30℃. Doing this is the perfect temperature for proving the dough, without killing the yeast or cooking the dough. Make sure it’s set to 30℃ and not a degree above!
- Babka bread is best when fluffy and moist, so bake the Babka in the Panasonic Oven using the combination setting with steam. For bread, for example, steam is the key to getting a truly crisp crust and a tasty, light interior (or “crumb”). When you bake bread like Babka in a moist, steamy environment, water vapour will cling to the surface, slowing down the process of drying out the top of the dough and forming a crust. It’s the best way of baking Babka!
I really love this addition to my kitchen. It’s a powerful machine with a ton of fun and exciting features which makes cooking and baking a breeze! Make sure to check out the Panasonic 4-1 Combi Oven here.
Tips for making a Vegan Babka:
- Make sure to follow the recipe. If you make any changes to the method and ingredients, it possibly won’t turn out right. Always follow the correct instructions!
- Make sure to use gram measurements. Use a set of electronic weighing scales for the most accurate bake!
- For active dry yeast, you need to dissolve it in a warm water with a teaspoon of sugar. Make sure the water is ONLY warm, hot water can kill the yeast. Set aside until bubbly and frothy, then add to the dry mixture.
- If you don’t have a mixer, you can mix the Babka dough with a wooden spoon in a large bowl before kneading it by hand on your clean work surface. It will take around 10 to get it to an elastic texture. Be careful not to over flour the counter if you are kneading by hand as you don’t want to incorporate too much additional flour into the dough. This can make the bread dense and very dry.
DO NOT SKIP PROVING (very important!)
- The most important step of making bread or any yeast based bake is allowing it to prove and rise. If you skip on this, the yeast wouldn’t have had the time to activate, resulting in a rushed, under proved / under-risen dough and bread! It will turn out very dense and not fluffy!
- Make sure the Babka has finished baking before you remove it from the oven. You can use an food thermometer to check if the middle of the Babka bread has reached 190°F. This method is also great if you don’t have a long enough toothpick to get to the middle of the loaf. You can also tap on the base of the bread, if it sounds hollow, it’s finished baking.
- Don’t skip the syrup at the end. It not only makes the Babka super shiny, but adds a crispy texture and helps to keeps the Babka bread from drying out.
- Speaking of freshness, the Babka will start drying out after 24 hours, but the good news is that you can prevent it from drying by storing it in a sealed container.
- Make sure to allow the Babka to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before peeling away the grease proof paper or loaf liner, and cutting the Babka. Babka is delicate when first out of the oven, so leave it to cool before slicing it.
Vegan Biscoff Babka FAQ
Is Biscoff vegan?
- YES! Best news, Biscoff spread and Biscoff biscuits are accidentally vegan – woohoo!
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
- This recipe has been made and recipe tested using a wheat based flour. Unfortunately, you can’t just switch out the flour for a gluten-free plain flour, as it simply doesn’t work.
How to prepare the fillings
- The Biscoff spread for the filling should be at room temperature. Don’t melt it or use it hot since it can warm the dough and cause the butter to melt. If, on the other hand, the filling is too hard and not in a spreadable consistency, it can pull and tug on the dough. If this happens, simply leave it at room temperature for an hour until softened.
How to store Babka?
- Once the Babka cools, it can become quite dry if you don’t store it correctly. Make sure to add on the sugar glaze, this will help keep the bread moist! Make sure to store it in a sealed container at room temperature. Best enjoyed within 3 days of making.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Biscoff Babka
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
BEST EVER Vegan Babka, with Biscoff spread, Biscoff biscuits and a delicious crunchy streusel.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the babka
- 380g of plain flour (plus more for kneading)
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
- 265ml of warm water
- 7g of active dry yeast
- 100g of caster sugar + 1 teaspoon (see step 2 for details)
- 75ml of sunflower oil
Ingredients for the Biscoff filling
- 6 tablespoons of smooth / crunchy Biscoff spread
- 5 Biscoff biscuits
Ingredients for the streusel
- 30g of plain flour
- 10g of light brown sugar
- 10g of caster sugar
- 45g of dairy-free butter (room temperature)
- 2 Biscoff biscuits
Ingredients for the sugar syrup
- 3 tablespoons of caster sugar
- 50ml of water
Instructions
Method (Babka)
- Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, or a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Mix to combine.
- Warm the water and pour into a bowl and sprinkle over the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. You want the water to be just warm, too hot can kill the yeast resulting in a dense and non-fluffy dough. Mix gently then cover with a tea towel and set somewhere warm for 10 minutes to activate. You’ll know the yeast is activated when there are bubbles forming on the top of the mixture and it’s foamy. It will also smell yeasty too.
- Preheat the Panasonic Combination Oven to the Oven setting on 30℃. Allow the oven to heat up to a very low setting. This will create a warm atmosphere for the dough to prove. You don’t want the oven boiling hot, just warm, as again this can kill the yeast and cook the dough in its proving stage which you don’t want to happen.
- Once the yeast is activated, pour the oil into the yeast mixture then pour into the dry ingredients.
- Once all the ingredients are in the bowl, begin to knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. You can either do this using a dough hook on a stand mixer or by hand on a floured surface. You may need some extra flour for kneading on the work surface if that’s the method you are using. You may also need to add a small amount of flour as you go to make the dough less sticky. The dough should feel very soft and pillowy.
- Grease a heat-proof bowl with a tiny amount of sunflower oil. Once a smooth ball of dough has formed, place the dough into the bowl and cover with some cling film / plastic wrap.
- Place the bowl into the warm oven and allow it to prove for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. Check the oven is only warm before allowing the dough to prove by feeling the air inside. If it feels too hot, leave the door open for a few minutes or turn the heat down.
- Before the dough has finished proving, prepare the filling and the streusel.
Biscoff Filling
- Spoon the Biscoff spread into a small bowl and give it a stir to make it smooth. Crush the Biscoff biscuits into crumbs and pour into a separate bowl. Set aside.
Method (streusel)
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour and sugars.
- Place the room temperature butter and crumbled up Biscoff biscuits into the flour mixture and use a fork to mix and claw the ingredients together until combined but still clumpy. Don’t over-mix or the streusel will become like a soft paste, simply toss together until mixture is clumpy, no longer dry, and the flour is completely combined. You can make the streusel the day before and store in the fridge in a sealed container. This saves time!
Assemble Babka
- Line a loaf tin with a loaf liner or with greaseproof paper. Allow the paper to overhang the tin, this will make it easier when removing the Babka.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, roll it out using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle, measuring 16 x 12 inches (40 x 30 cm).
- Using an offset spatula, spread the Biscoff spread over the dough leaving a 1 inch border, sprinkling over the crushed up Biscoff biscuits.
- Use both hands to roll up the rectangle, starting from the long side, until you have a long log shape. Try to roll it quite tightly as this will create more swirls of Biscoff throughout the bread when baked. Press to seal the dough and rest the log on it’s seam.
- Using a sharp serrated knife, gently cut the roll in half lengthwise, starting at the top and finishing at the bottom, dividing the log of dough into two long even halves.
- Position each half parallel to each other with the cut sides facing upwards. Twist and braid the halves together, keeping the cut sides facing up, and tuck both ends under to neaten.
- Gently lift and place the braided Babka into the lined tin. Don’t worry if there are any gaps in the tin as the dough will grow in size during it’s second proving.
- Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the loaf then cover the Babka loosely with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place either in the oven as we did for the first prove or somewhere warm at room temperature for 1 & ½ – 2 hours until noticeably puffed up (It won’t quite double in size).
- Once the Babka has puffed up, it’s time to bake. Remove the plastic wrap from the Babka, and set the Panasonic Oven to the combi setting and at 180 degrees c the same as 160℃ fan. I use the steam setting which helps to keep moisture in the Babka when it’s baking.
- Place the tin into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. You will know the Babka is ready when the top is golden in colour and a tooth pick inserted down the middle comes out clean.
- Once the Babka has baked, remove from the oven and place the tin on a cooling rack. Allow it to cool fully at room temperature.
- To give shine to the top of the Babka, add the water and sugar into a small saucepan, heat until the water is simmering and the sugar has melted. Brush this mixture over the top of the loaf and allow to set.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
To store: Make sure to add on the sugar glaze, this will help keep the bread moist! Make sure to store the babka in a sealed container at room temperature. Best enjoyed within 3 days of making.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Jewish
I loved this! Texture is very good and it was easy to make. I also made little babka breads for nursery which went down well but the big loaf was better textured.