Speculoos Babka

By the time I got to making Speculoos Babka, I kind of felt like I was making the same swirl bread over and over again, but that’s not a bad thing; this dessert is a WINNER.

Weirdly, I had never worked with cookie butter before. For those in the same boat, it’s basically Biscoff in what’s comparable to peanut butter form, and it’s located in the bread bakery section rather than the baking aisle (that took me a minute to figure out). I prepared the Sweet Yeast Dough recipe ahead of time for this dessert, which seemed extremely easy after making all the other foundational recipes.

I started by brushing the loaf pans with butter, lining it with parchment paper by going across the longer sides, then brushing the parchment with butter (I know this seems like a lot of work, but it really does make life easier and less stressful when it’s time to take that bad boy out of the pan). I then combined the cookie butter with more butter, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, I mixed the flour, brown sugar and even MORE melted butter, more cinnamon, and more salt. This created a delicious looking crumble that would eventually sit on top of the bread.

I divided the dough in half and made both pieces into rectangular shapes. From there, I added a layer of the cookie butter mixture, leaving a small border around the edges. I rolled up the dough from the longer side, allowing me to have a U-shape when I was done. I then crisscrossed the equal sides so I had a pretty twist, tucking the ends underneath. Once I completed this for both loaf pans, I let them proof for about an hour. They did get noticeably bigger from that process.

Before putting the babkas in the oven, I brushed them with egg wash and sprinkled as much crumble as I could possibly get to fit on the loaves. I baked the babkas for about an hour, and when I took them out they smelled of warm, cinnamon goodness. They had almost doubled in height as well! Luckily none of the crumble was sacrificed in the process.

This is one of those desserts that requires self-control, because it’s really easy to go back for more and more. It was absolutely divine eating it while it was warm from the oven; the babka is light and airy and the cookie butter and cinnamon fed my sugar loving soul. I can’t recommend this one enough if you have guests or need to bring a hearty treat to someone’s house; you can’t go wrong with the Speculoos Babka.

I haven’t seen this one on Claire’s YouTube channel yet, but I’ll post if she makes it.