Tahiniella Rye Babka Bun

I finally used up my bag of rye flour!

I was surprised that the bun still came out nice and soft with the amount of rye I put in. Rye flour is quite different than regular bread flour: its coarse bran seems to inhibit gluten production, leading to a bun that does not rise as high. I used this recipe to use up all my rye flour ( I had exactly 85 grams left) but feel free to sub some rye flour with some more bread flour for a truly soft babka bun. This is not a perfect recipe so feel free to adjust to your preferences.

I also made a few with homemade dulce de leche and cookie crumb filling which tasted really good as well. Highly recommend if making to try this variation out!

Ingredients

Bread Dough

115 grams (1/2 cup) whole milk
1 teaspoon instant yeast
117 grams ( 1 cup) bread flour
85 grams (3/4 cup) rye flour
123 grams (1 cup 2 tbs) pastry flour
1 large egg
55 grams (1/4 cup) granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
60 grams (4 1/4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes

Spread

100 grams milk chocolate
75 grams (1/3 cup) tahini
powdered sugar to taste
pinch of salt

Procedure

Put flours, yeast, sugar, salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix well. Add the egg and milk and knead until a dough forms.

Slowly add in the cubed butter and knead until a shiny and elastic dough forms (around 7 mins). Cover and rise at room temperature for an hour. Then place in the fridge overnight.

Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and add the tahini. Mix until a smooth mixture is achieved and add in your desired amount of powdered sugar (I added 3 tbs).

The next day take the dough out of the fridge and cut into 12 even pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle and spread your filling evenly on top. Roll into a tube and cut lengthwise. Then twist and shape into babka buns. Add some toasted sesame on top and leave to rise for another hour at room temp.