This Gluten-Free Chocolate Babka recipe is a healthy take on a classic Jewish dessert.
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Greetings!
It's tea time, and I'm just enjoying a slice of this delicious Gluten-Free Chocolate Babka. And it's incredibly good, so today I'm going to share this healthy coffee cake recipe with you.
What is Chocolate Babka?
Chocolate Babka is a brioche-like braided coffee cake filled with chocolate. Classic yeast-risen babka takes all day to make, but the Gluten-Free Babka we are making today only takes 1 hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.
Where does Babka come from?
This Jewish coffee cake originated in Poland in the 19th Century. Like so many foods, emigrants from Central European countries brought Babka with them to the United States, where it became a Jewish bakery staple.
But you probably heard about Chocolate Babka from Seinfeld.
In the episode called “The Dinner Party”, the gang prepares to attend a dinner party and Elaine feels they must bring a cake. So Jerry and Elaine stop at a bakery to purchase a Chocolate Babka. But they forget to take a number at the counter, so another couple gets ahead of them in line and purchases the last Chocolate Babka.
Jerry and Elaine resort to purchasing a Cinnamon Babka, which Elaine considers a "lesser babka". They find that the Babka has a hair on it, and are forced to wait in line again to exchange it. It’s a whole thing.
Annnnnyhoo.
Why make it gluten free?
Gluten has become quite the pariah these days. Some people, like those suffering from Celiac Disease, can’t tolerate the gluten that is present in flour and so they cut it out of their diets. But the Gluten-Free Diet has healthy benefits for everyone. Cutting out gluten can increase energy, eliminate bloating, reduce joint pain, improve hair, skin, and bone health and even reduce Depression.
But honestly, who could be depressed while eating this delicious dessert?
Is this recipe Keto?
Instead of making this Babka with a white flour yeast bread, it uses Fathead dough, so it only has 6g net carbs. So yes, this Chocolate Babka recipe is very Keto-friendly.
Ingredients
- cream cheese
- heavy whipping cream
- sugar-free chocolate chips
- cocoa powder
- cinnamon
- Swerve Granular
- vanilla extract
- mozzarella cheese
- almond flour
- baking powder
Where to buy sugar-free chocolate chips
Lilly's makes a plethora of sugar-free chocolate and flavored baking chips that you can use in this recipe. Your options are:
- Dark Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate
- White Chocolate
- Chocolate Salted Caramel
- Butterscotch
- Chocolate Mint
- Pumpkin Spice
- Peppermint
- and Unicorn... Swirl? These blue and pink chips made of white chocolate turn a whimsical purple color when you melt them together. None of your friend have ever had a purple chocolate babka before, I'd wager.
Lily's Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate Baking Chips
Buy Now →
Lily's Sugar-Free Milk Chocolate Baking Chips
Buy Now →
Lily's Sugar-Free Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips
Buy Now →
Lily's Sugar-Free White Chocolate Baking Chips
Buy Now →
Is it hard to make?
It’s a bit complicated making this braided coffee cake, so I’ve included step-by-step pictures in the recipe card. But simply put, you mix up the dough, roll it out, spread chocolate on the dough, twist it up, and bake it. It's actually not as complicated as it looks.
Now you can choose to make Cinnamon Babka if you’d prefer…
But in the words of Elaine Benes, “What? A Lesser Babka?”
📋 Recipe
Gluten Free Chocolate Babka
This Gluten Free Chocolate Babka recipe is a healthy take on a classic Jewish dessert.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Jewish
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Chocolate Filling:
- 5 oz cream cheese
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup Lily's Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons Swerve Granular
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Fat Head Dough:
- cooking spray
- 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¾ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ cup Swerve Granular
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
Instructions
Step 1. Add chocolate, 5 oz cream cheese, and cream to a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl and cook in 30-second intervals until melted and combined.
Step 2. Stir in cocoa powder, cinnamon, filling sweetener, and vanilla, and mix well to combine. Set aside. Fat Head Dough:
Step 3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.
Step 4. In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, mix together mozzarella cheese and remaining cream cheese. Cook in 30-second increments, stirring each time until melted and combined.
Step 5. Stir in eggs and mix well to combine.
Step 6. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together almond flour, baking powder, dough sweetener, and xanthan gum. Slowly add this mixture to the melted cheese and mix well to combine. Towards the end, you'll need to use your hands. If the dough feels too wet to work with, add more almond flour until it's the right consistency to roll out.
Step 7. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Place 1 dough ball between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll it out with a rolling pin until it's about ¼ inch thick.
Step 8. Spread half of the chocolate filling on top of the dough.
Step 9. Roll it up tightly into a long log and pinch the ends together. Repeat steps with remaining dough and filling.
Step 10. Form an X with the two dough logs. Twist the logs around each other.
Step 11. Place the dough into the loaf pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Step 12. Loosely cover the loaf with tin foil and bake for another 35-40 minutes until fully browned.
Step 13. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove and place on a cooling rack. The loaf will be soft when it comes out of the oven but will firm up as it cools.
Notes
*If you take this babka to a party, make sure to clearly mark that it contains nuts. Most people don’t expect a pastry to use almond flour, so people with nut allergies might inadvertently eat it.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 296
- Fat: 25
- Carbohydrates: 11
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 13
Keywords: Gluten-Free Babka, Chocolate Babka, Keto Chocolate Babka, Sugar-Free Chocolate Babka
Helan says
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
EmilyKrill says
Sure thing!
Annie says
I've had this bookmarked for a while and finally had 1) the time and 2) all the ingredients today! Unfortunately, while it looked and smelled amazing, it came out very dense and doughy, except for the outside. I baked @ 375 for 20 min then covered loosely and baked another 40 minutes. I'm wondering if it needed more time, or if I overmixed, or if there's anything else anyone can offer tip-wise for this type of dough?
EmilyKrill says
Unfortunately, this is a very dense kind of dough. The ingredients are just pretty heavy. I’ve got quite a lot of more classic yeast bread doughs on the site though. Just do a search for “yeast bread”.
Annie says
Thanks for the quick reply. I've been looking at your other recipes, too. I'm not going to give up on this one! I'll try again with a different brand of mozzarella, adding a bit more almond flour, playing with my oven temp, and maybe even try dividing into 2 loaves. In the mean time, I think I might use this loaf for French toast or bread pudding. 🙂
Haley says
Ohmygosh this is amazing!!!!!! It’s the best babka I’ve ever had! My moms favorite dessert (well one of them) is a Babka and I had to find a way to make it Keto (my whole family is Keto) I’m so glad I found and tried this recipe! I’ve made it twice in the last two days!!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Thanks! So glad you and your family liked it. I love updating family favorites.
Nicole says
This recipe exceeded my expectations. I can’t believe I’m allowed to have it. Thank you so so much!!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Sure thing! So glad you like it.
Jessic toledo says
What is the serving size for the nutrtional facts? 1 or 2 slices with how many cuts to the loaf
EmilyKrill says
It makes 12 slices and each serving is 1 slice.
Keto Full Diet Reviews says
Some genuinely nice stuff on this site, I love it.
★★★★★
Pat says
I made your babka this morning and it's delicious! I should maybe have added a little more almond flour because the rolls tended to crack open a little, but I was afraid of making it too dry. It's not as pretty as yours, but this recipe is definitely a keeper!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Sweet! I'm so glad that you liked the recipe.
Noah says
This is so much like regular babka! Thanks for posting this.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
It's very convincing, isn't it?
Lisa says
I Just made this recipe today. It is really good. Thank you for sharing it. My husband and I have been on Keto for almost 2 years, so I am always looking for low carb recipes.
Melanie Solomon says
This was really good, I’m making my second one this week. I’m taking this one to a end of season sports BBQ on Saturday. I divided mine up in thirds and braided it because I wanted more layers but the recipe was so good
Emily says
Yay! Thanks so much for letting me know that you liked it. You totally made my day. Enjoy your BBQ!