GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- Whipping up tasty treats around the holidays can be intimidating, but there are some tricks to making it doable.

Rob Barrett of Cooking for Dads visited KARE 11 Today to share two ways of making one delicious treat. He recommends the easy one below!

Traditional Chocolate Babka

3/4 cup warm milk
1 spoonful yeast
1/2 cup + 1 spoonful sugar
2 cups flour divided
3 eggs, one additional egg yolk
1 spoonful vanilla
1 spoonful salt
1 1/4 sticks of butter
8 oz chocolate
1 cup cream

In the mixing bowl stir together milk and sugar until dissolved. Then add yeast. Wait 5 minutes until foamy.

Then add 1/2 cup flour and beat with mixer on medium speed until combined. Then add 2 eggs, one additional egg yolk, 1 spoonful vanilla, 1 spoonful salt and 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Turn the mixer on low and add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Turn the mixer back to medium speed and add 1 1/4 sticks of butter (10 Tbsp) about an inch at a time. Wait between each butter piece until it looks well mixed.

Let mixer stir until dough just starts to get a little stringy with strands sticking to the beater each time around and there are no chunks of butter about an additional minute.

Lightly oil a bowl, spoon dough into it, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2 hours.

Scoop out half of the dough (this won't be easy) onto some plastic wrap, seal in a brick. Repeat with second half. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Chop 8 oz. of chocolate into small pieces and place in a medium bowl. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil and then pour over chocolate pieces, stirring until all the chocolate is melted. Place in refrigerator until firm.

Cover your counter with a generous sprinkle of flour. Unwrap one of the dough bricks and dust both sides with dough. Dust your rolling pin with dough and gently roll dough into a large rectangle about 1/4" in thickness. Rotate the dough once or twice to make sure it doesn't stick to the counter top.
Position the rectangle longways to you. Spread a generous layer of the chocolate on one side leaveing at least a half an inch border alone the sides and a 3/4 inch border on the bottom. Start rolling from the side farthest away from you leaving the final seam on the bottom of the roll. Place on baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Gently turn the dough into a ring pinching together the ends to make a seamless dough ring. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours.

Beat one egg and brush generously over the babka.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25-27 minutes until golden brown.

Easy Chocolate Babka

8oz chocolate
1 cup cream
Flour
1 Pillsbury Baking Sheet

Chop 8 oz of chocolate into small pieces and place in a medium bowl. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil and then pour over chocolate pieces. Stir until all the chocolate is melted. Place in refrigerator until firm.

Sprinkle flour over top of work surface. Remove 1 Pillsbury Baking Sheet from can and lay on top of flour. With a rolling pin, roll out sheet as thin as possible, expanding in all directions. Spread chocolate mixture in a thin layer over top of dough leaving 1/2 inch border all the way around. Starting on the far end, roll up dough into a dough log. Bring ends together and mash together until it forms a ring.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes until browned and cooked through.

Slice and enjoy.

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