Last Updated on August 19, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to share a new recipe with you! This recipe for Fermented Sourdough Chocolate Babka will hopefully become a beloved recipe for you as it has for me and my family.
The babka dough is made from a buttery sourdough that is fermented for 48 hours, braided with chocolate and then baked. It’s buttery, chocolaty, and just about the best thing I’ve ever eaten!
As I’ve mentioned before, a grain-free diet isn’t meant to be and doesn’t always have to be lifelong. Once you’ve taken the proper steps to heal, you can often slowly add properly prepared grains back into your diet with the help of your nutritionist or practitioner.
And, did you know that forty-eight hours of slow fermentation will destroy 97% of all the gluten in the bread? Wow! The fermentation process also breaks down the sugars and contains healthy resistant starch that doesn’t raise blood glucose levels as much as conventional white breads. How amazing is that?!
To learn more about the science behind fermenting bread, check out this podcast.
I realize that the recipe is long, but keep in mind that you’ll make the dough on one day, let it sit in the fridge for two days, braid the dough, let it sit on the counter and then bake. It’s honestly not as complicated as it looks.🙂
And, to make things even easier, I’ve got a video for you that walks through everything step-by-step.
If you give this loaf a try, please post it on Instagram and tag me at @carriekorem. I’d love to see it and share your photo with everyone!
PrintSourdough Chocolate Babka
See the video above for step-by-step instructions.
- Prep Time: 55 hours 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 56 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: Makes 1 loaf
- Category: Baking, Bread, Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Sweet Levain:
- 100g organic all-purpose flour
- 100g water
- 125g bubbly starter (here's a recipe to make your own starter)
- 23g organic cane sugar
For the Dough:
- 210g unsalted organic butter, melted and cooled
- 250g spelt flour
- 250g organic all purpose flour
- 250g sweet levain (from above)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 75g organic cane sugar
- 45g whole milk, room temperature
- 9g Celtic sea salt
For the Chocolate Filling:
- 110g organic cane sugar
- 75g unsalted butter
- 70g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 25g cocoa powder
For the egg wash:
- 1 egg
Instructions
- For the Levain: The night before you want to make the dough, combine flour, water, starter, and organic cane sugar. Stir the ingredients together until combined. Cover with a clean cloth and let sit overnight for at least 8-10 hours.
- The next day: Place the butter, spelt, flour, sweet levain build (from above), eggs, cane sugar, whole milk and sea salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Mix on low using the beater attachment for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the beater attachment and put on the dough hook. Mix for 8 minutes on medium.
- Stretch and Fold: Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let sit for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough four times (see the video above at the 1:15 mark). After you stretch and fold the first time, place a clean cloth over the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then, stretch and fold the dough again, place a clean cloth over the dough and let sit for another 30 minutes. Repeat two more times for a total of four times.
- After the stretch and fold process, cover the dough really well with plastic wrap (or a lid, if you have one) and place the dough in the refrigerator. Let the dough ferment for 48-72 hours. I’ve tested this recipe at both the 48 hour and 72 hour mark and they both turned out beautifully!
- To assemble the babka: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, chocolate and cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature, but still spreadable.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and cut about 1/4 of it off and set aside*. Roll the remaining 3/4’s of the dough on a floured surface into a rough 12×16-inch rectangle (if it’s a bit bigger than this, it’s ok). Using an offset spatula, spread the filling in an even layer over the dough within 1/2 inch of the edges. Tightly roll up the dough and transfer it to a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Place the dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes (I accidentally said 45 minutes in the video, and if you refrigerate for 45 minutes that’s fine, but 20 will also do).
- Using a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise. Twist to form a spiral and then transfer to a buttered, 9×4-inch loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and adjust the rack to the middle position.
- Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon water. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on the top of the unbaked loaf. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown on top. Let cool for 10 minutes. Gently remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.
- *There will be a bit of leftover dough, so I like to divide it into 2-inch balls, put them in a buttered muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes at 350. The rolls are amazing with some butter and jam!
Photo Credit: Becky Winkler
Hello. This recipe looks amazing. I have not used the metric system when cooking, however. Do you have a conversion? There are two ingredients that the amounts were left off; butter and spelt.
Thanks for your help.
I do not have conversions for this recipe. Using a scale is actually very, very easy and is the best way to bake sourdough recipes. I’m not sure what you mean by “I left off butter and spelt”.
There are no measurements on the butter and spelt
This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to try it out! Quick question…are we using Whole Spelt Flour or White Spelt Flour? Just wanted some clarification before getting started. Thanks again!
I used the Arrowhead Mills organic spelt. I looked at the package and it doesn’t say if it’s “whole” or “white”. I’m thinking it’s whole since it’s just spelt ground up into a powder. Hope that helps! This dough is very forgiving, and I’ve even made it with 100% all-purpose, or traded out the spelt for whole wheat and they all worked great!
I’m excited to try this since I’ve been experimenting with my sourdough. Can the sweet levain mix be left longer than the 8-10 hours? And that stays at room temperature, correct? Thank you!!
If it sits for about 12, it should be ok, but I wouldn’t go longer than that.
Oops, my timing was off and I let it go almost 24 hours. The bread and extra rolls were still delicious!! I can’t wait to make this again! Thank you!!
This looks wonderful. Step 7 seems to have instructions regarding cooling, but perhaps those were intended to be included within Step 8?
Thanks for catching that! I just moved those 2 sentences. 🙂
Hi! Do you think I could use coconut sugar (or date sugar) if I don’t eat cane sugar?
Thank you!
I haven’t tested the recipe with alternative ingredients, so I don’t know which ones would lend the exact same texture and flavor. I explain in this post why I sometimes use organic cane sugar in my recipes: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/pound-cake-recipe-gluten-grain-free-recipe/
I don’t have spelt flour but I do have malted barley flour that I make from spent grains from brewing beer. Do you have any idea if this flour could be used in place of spelt? It seems both have gluten, but in much smaller amounts than wheat flour.
I haven’t tested this recipe with substitutions, so I don’t know what would lend the exact same texture and flavor.
Hello, have you or anyone reading this comment tried whole grain einkorn flour or sourdough in this recipe? That is the only flour I’ve found that I can tolerate and use in my sourdough. I use einkorn wheat berries from Jovial Foods and love it so much! Thank you!!!
Made this! Love it! It goes perfect with an afternoon coffee or earl grey tea. Overall the process was seamless. The steps are easy to follow and watching the video made it even more clear.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe has been one of the highlights of my 2021. I’m about to make the dough to use for sticky buns for Christmas morning, which I know will be a dream, but the babka as written is just utter heaven. It’s just an unbelievable recipe. I’ve done it with all different timeframes (even once leaving it 72+ hours!) and it has still been incredible! And the versatility, to be able to make sticky buns or other such goods, is amazing. Thank you for the gift of this recipe! All my friends and family thank you too.
Thank you so, so much! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas once more! I am preparing these (as sticky buns) for another Christmas morning because they are so spectacular, and I also made them for my birthday this year, since sticky buns are my traditional breakfast. It is the only gluten I’ve had in over a year since I’m trying to heal from Hashimotos too, and I feel good about it with its long fermentation. Every single time I make this recipe, in any of its forms, everyone goes nuts for it. It is one of the top best recipes in the world, I am convinced. Thank you again!
Awwww!! Thank you for letting me know! Merry Christmas!
Going to make this this weekend! But quick question…do you have to add sugar to the levain? Or can I make the levain the way I normally do with just starter, water and flour ? Wondering the difference ? Thanks !
I’ve never tested this recipe with substations or with leaving ingredients out, so I don’t know what would lend the exact same flavor and texture.
I made this using a different filling, substituting pumpkin seed butter, pumpkin seeds and soured cherries for the chocolate. With the extra dough I added walnut butter and natural dried soft apricots. Both are delicious. I think I left the levain for rather longer than the maximum 12 hours you suggest and baked after something like 60 hours in the fridge – but I find sourdough very forgiving.
This looks great and I’m excited to try making it soon. Just wanted to double check one thing. I believe the levain should be listed as ~350 grams, not 250 grams, based on the numbers above (100g flour, 100g water, 125g starter, and 23g sugar).
The measurement is correct!
I made this over the weekend and instead of a loaf pan I used all the dough and placed in a 10″ Bundt pan. I rolled out 24″X12″ and it fit beautifully. I am going to add a simple syrup once out of the oven, as most budka recipes call for it.
This looks amazing! Do you think it would work with just spelt flour (and no all purpose regular wheat flour?)
I haven’t tested it, but it might work. The dough could be more tough, so keep that in mind.