I had a nice little YEASTER streak going where I worked on a babka project on Good Friday for the last couple years. This year I switched to a Hot Cross Bun project, and true to 2020 form, it was a disaster. I took a break from yeast after that.

When Sally posted this Apple Cinnamon Babka in September, I was immediately back on the babka train and decided to save it for Thanksgiving Monday as a project to work on for my day off.

Like both the Chocolate Babka and Baklava Babka, this one is a labour of love, but also worth every step. It has a easy-to-make dough, and then a two-part filling of a cinnamon sugar spread plus sautéed apples. Unlike the other babkas, you skip the step of slicing the dough log vertically, so it’s actually a little bit easier to twist together.

Add this to the Babka Hall of Fame! It was so incredibly good and I couldn’t stop eating it! I had to slice it up and freeze it to make it last. My only change to this recipe is that I wouldn’t make the optional crumb topping next time. I found it just kind of melted into the top of the loaf and looked weird, and didn’t really add much for the extra steps involved.

I think this might be a new Thanksgiving tradition!

Apple Cinnamon Babka

Source: Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients

Dough

• 2/3 cup milk (I actually used buttermilk), about 110°
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 tbsp butter, cubed, room temperature
• 2 egg yolks (you’ll use one of the whites in the filling)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 2/3 cups flour

Filling

• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 large apples, peeled and sliced into thin, bite size pieces (about 2 – 21/2 cups)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 egg whites (one goes in the filling, one will be brushed on top)

Directions

1. For the dough, whisk the milk, yeast and 1 tbsp of the sugar in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
2. Add the remaining sugar, butter, egg yolks, salt and 1 cup of flour. Stir with a spatula and scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add another 1 cup of flour. Keep stirring until everything is combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and add 1/2 cup of flour and stir again until the dough starts to come together. You can add another 2-4 tbsp of flour if the dough looks quite wet.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes, adding sprinkles of flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
4. Spray a large bowl with non-stick spray, and add the dough, turning to coat it on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 3-4 hours until it doubles in size.
5. While the dough rises, get the filling ready. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a large skillet and add the apples. Cook until the apples are softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Set aside to cool. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter, then stir in the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and vanilla until combined. Stir in the egg white. Set aside.
6. Get out a 9×5″ loaf pan and spray with non-stick spray.
7. When the dough is done rising, punch it down to release the air and then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough into a 12×16″ rectangle. Carefully spread the cinnamon filling over top with an offset spatula. Add the apples on top in a single layer. Flour your hands to tightly roll up the dough into a 16″ long log. Place the log on it’s seam, fold in half, and twist as best as you can into a figure 8. Place dough into the loaf pan.
8. Cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise again for 60-90 minutes.
9. When babka is done rising, preheat the oven to 350° and brush the top of the babka with the last egg white. Use a toothpick to poke 10-12 holes all over the top of the loaf (help steams escape).
10. Bake for 60-65 minutes, covering with tin foil if the top starts to get too brown.