Heaven looks like Pizza Babka- thick dough filled with cheese and topped with your favorite pizza toppings!
Who said babka had to be sweet?! After a lot of experimentation, I’ve finally come up with my perfect pizza babka. This Pizza Babka is a multi-layered bread, swirled with pizza sauce, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella. I love it with a drizzle of olive oil! And I may or may not be known to make the ultimate grilled cheese with the leftovers!
The dough of this babka is unique, with tomato sauce in the bread dough itself, giving it a beautiful color and subtle pizza flavour.
If you’re a fan of pizza (and who isn’t!?)… then this babka recipe is definitely for you! Give it a try the next time you need to satisfy your pizza craving.
Scroll down below for the full recipe! Looking for other meals for the upcoming high holidays? Check out my other kosher recipes here!
Pizza Babka
Author: Micah Siva
Makes 1 large loaf
Ingredients
- 1, 7g package instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup pizza sauce
- 2 tsp dried garlic granules
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2-3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
Filling:
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 ½ cup mozzarella, grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Preparation:
- Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, or until the yeast starts to foam or “bloom”. **if the yeast does not bloom, you may need to get fresher yeast**
- Add the oil, pizza sauce, garlic, and basil, mixing on low to combine. Replace the paddle for the dough hook.
- Add flour and salt, one cup at a time, mix on low using the dough hook. Knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky, adding more flour as needed. The dough should be tacky, but should not stick to the bowl.
- Transfer to a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with a clean, damp towel, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Roll dough into a large rectangle, about ¼ inch thick and 10×16-inch wide.
- Spread the pizza sauce over the dough in an even layer. Sprinkle it with parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
- Tightly roll the dough into one log. Slice down the center, vertically (it may get messy!!)
- Twist the two halves together, and tuck the ends underneath to fit in the loaf pan.
- Place the loaf pan on a separate baking sheet (to prevent spillage when cooking). Let rise for an additional 15 minutes. Brush with olive oil.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until the bread dough is fully cooked.
- Let cool. Slice and enjoy!