Cheesy Roasted Tomato & Jalapeño Babka Recipe
Let me introduce you to this cheesy free-form roasted garlic, tomato and jalapeño babka, the fortuitous confluence of an abundance of grape tomatoes in my garden and a lazy weekend. A mouthful to say and a pleasure to eat, this savory babka recipe makes an excellent side to a bowl of soup or the perfect nibble for happy hour, just as delicious with a frosty beer as a bubbly wine.
While I generally follow a recipe as written the first time, there are times I have a wizshon and throw kitchen caution to the wind. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. My savory babka recipe is adapted from Molly’s Challah on the King Arthur Baking site (yes, I am a huge fan of the site and their products). I wanted to do a free-form loaf because I thought restricting the sheer enormity of my final dough and wet filling to a loaf pan might make the dough soggy or blow up or worst of all soggily blow up. Not only did the free-form version of the dough get fluffy with crispy light crust, it rose to a magnificent loaf with great color, a bit of frico, and lots of wow! when sat out on the cutting board.
How tos and why fors of babka construction:
Babka, no matter the filling, is an ooh-ahh-inducing thing to behold. But I’ve found that explaining how to get from blob of dough and bowls of filling to the final product is harder than I’d thought. I figured why reinvent the wheel. So, if my recipe instructions and speedy video below don’t help, please see the three links I’ve provided.
Bonus, these are some of my favorite babka recipes which may just send you down the roll-and-braid rabbit hole. You are welcome.
- King Arthur Baking: How to shape babka and either of their recipes (I like the cinnamon)
- Smitten Kitchen’s better chocolate babka (LOVE this recipe; I use orange zest and add a drop of Fiori di Sicilia)
- Wood & Spoon’s swoony overnight blueberry babka which easily adapts to any jammy filling
Babka Fillings … Go for it!
If you like a babka recipe but are wondering about changing the filling flavors, go for it! As long as you keep weights similar and moisture levels comparable, you should be fine.
For my savory babka recipe, I’d make sure to keep the cheese to about 8-12 ounces and the filling to about 3 cups (making sure any oil/liquid is drained off to avoid the soggies.
I hope you try this recipe or just get into the kitchen to experiment. I’ve had some doozies at both ends of the spectrum so it’s fun to share this one.
If you have questions or comments, plop them down below. I’d like to see your creations so tag me on Instagram and/or Facebook @piecrustandpasta #piecrustandpasta – please and thank you.
Cheesy Free-Form Roasted Garlic, Tomato & Jalapeño Babka
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 cups grape tomatoes
- 3 jalapeños
- 4 fat cloves of garlic
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 8 ounce block of extra sharp cheddar shredded
Dough
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup 170g warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon + 2 tablespoons 25g sugar
- 3 3/4 to 4 cups 454g to 482g All-Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon 6g salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup 67g vegetable oil
Instructions
- Filling
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Place all of the filling ingredients EXCEPT THE CHEESE onto a pie plate or small baking pan with sides. Toss around to make sure it's all covered in the oil.
- Bake in the preheated oven, shaking every 10 minutes or so until the tomatoes have burst, the peppers have browned, and the garlic is softened. Don't let anything burn or it will create a bitter taste.
- Once cooked, set aside to cool completely.
- While it's cooking, start the dough.
Dough
- In a one-cup measuring cup, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Stir and let it sit until it becomes foamy on top, about 5 minutes,.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour (start with the lower amount), salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry ingredients in the mixer and turn on low.
- With the mixer still running, add the eggs and oil.
- Turn up the mixer speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and just slightly sticky, about 10 minutes. Only add more flour sparingly by the spoonful if the dough doesn’t come together and release from the bottom of the bowl.
- When the dough is smooth, scoop the it up in one hand and oil the bowl with the other. Return the dough to the bowl rolling it around in the oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature until doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- When the dough has risen, line a half-sheet baking pan with parchment paper. Roll the dough into a large rectangle (20"x14"). If the filling is wet, drain in a colander. Keep that oil for dipping later!
- Evenly sprinkle the cheese over the surface of the dough leaving about one inch clear along one long side of the dough. Dot the tomatoes over the cheese. Tear or slice the peppers and garlic cloves and do the same.
- Roll the filled dough from the long side (leaving the plain side for last) into a tight cylinder. When you get to the end, pinch all of the seams to seal along the length and each end.
- Using a very sharp knife slice the cylinder from end to end to open up like a book, keeping the cut sides up and touching along their lengths.
- While keeping the cut sides up as much as possible, loosely drape the two sides across one another to look like a two-strand braid. Pinch the two ends together at each end to keep them from coming apart during baking.
- Slide the baking sheet close to the stuffed dough braid and gently lift it onto the parchment-lined pan. It may get wonky but gently resituate the braid and put any loose filling back on top.
- Cover with greased plastic wrap (I use no-stick spray) and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F with the rack in the center of the oven.
- When the dough has risen and the oven has preheated, put the loaf in to bake for 30 minutes or until it’s golden brown and the internal temperature is 190°F.
- Remove the loaf from the oven, and cool it on a rack at least one hour before slicing. I leave leftovers on a cutting board covered with a tea towel for a day.