Babka Knots Made Easy with Bread Machine Dough
Learn how to make babka knots with this easy babka recipe. Perfect for a cozy brunch, try this babka rolls recipe using a bread machine for the babka dough.
Equipment
- 1 Bread machine
- 2 12-cup muffin tins
- 1 Breadboard, pastry mat, or other surface
- 1 Dough cutter or large, sharp knife
- 1 Spatula
- 1 small saucepan
- Measuring cups and spoons
- 2 Wire cooling racks
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm milk whole milk is best
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ¾ cup butter unsalted is best
- 4½ cups flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2½ teaspoons yeast
Simple Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling
- 18-24 ounces thick jam, jelly, or spread
Instructions
- Warm 1/2 cup of milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add it to the bread machine.
- Add all of the other babka bread dough ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed.
- Run the bread machine on the dough cycle. My machine takes 90 minutes to complete a dough cycle.
- While the bread machine is making the dough, make the simple sugar syrup. Mix the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.
- Prepare two 12-cup muffin tins by greasing (grease thoroughly, as the dough is sticky)
- When the dough cycle has completed, remove the dough from the bread machine pan and divide it into three equal pieces. You may choose to make all three sections into babka knots, or make a section into babka bread. Each section of dough will make six babka knots, so if you make all three sections into babka knots, you will have 18, plus six extra muffin cups for baking the trimmed babka scraps, if you like.
- Roll out each section of dough into a rectangle, approximately 18 inches by 12 inches. Spread the filling evenly over the rectangle. Starting at the top, roll the dough down to encase the filling inside. Trim 1/2 inch off of each end so that the ends are even. (I like to place the rolled up scraps into a muffin tin and bake separately for about 15 minutes to have as a little snack.)
- To shape the babka dough into knots, gently flatten the roll with a rolling pin. Slice the roll into six sections. Cut each section into 4 pieces. Arrange the four pieces into a number # symbol. Begin the basket-weaving technique. If you haven't watched the video yet, now would be a good time. The video shows the technique, and you can pause it as often as you need.
- Gently gather the woven bundle of dough and place it in the greased muffin tin. When the muffin cups are filled, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
- While the babka knots are rising, turn the oven on to 350 degrees.
- Bake the knots for 15 minutes, then brush each loaf with two coats of simple syrup. This would be a good time to remove the babka scraps from the muffin tins, as they bake more quickly.
- Return the knots to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. When the knots are removed from the oven, brush each one immediately with another 3 light layers of syrup.
- Allow the knots to cool for 5 minutes, then gently go around the edge of each knot with a spatula or butter knife.
- Gently lift each knot out of the muffin cup and allow it to cool on a wire rack.