chocolate pecan + funfetti mini babkas - hill reeves

Happy Labor Day! I labored in a v physical way, aka I went hiking in the Hudson Valley (the most beautiful nature place in the whole damn world) and now I am pooped as fck. Legs are pure jelly. Also, yesterday, I cleaned--nay, SCRUBBED--my kitchen from top to bottom like a madwoman. So my arms are jelly too.

Oh, and because it was a THREE DAY weekend I also spent a night in New Jersey with Iris AND watched lots of My Strange Addiction with Amanda while drinking homemade frosé. I feel like I have a lot of thoughts going on at one time here, so let's just discuss takeaways from the weekend:

Love hiking, especially the snacks (trail mix + jerky, baby!).
The PATH is definitely better than the regular subway.
Hill adds waaaay too much vermouth to her frosé.
Three-day weekends just make you want four-day weekends.

I also knew that I was going to see lots of friends, so I decided to make TREATS! Lots and lots of mini babkas that can get distributed among all of my faves.... and then Candice gets the scraps. Because I'm still not eating carbs (wine/vermouth doesn't count). I don't think it's working. Or if it starts working, we'll be unsure if it was the cleaning and hiking that did it, won't we?

Hope you like these fun funfetti babkas. The chocolate pecan ones are great too, but sprinkles win, IMO. If you want more opinions, track down the aforementioned friends and ask them privately cause they're used to lying to my face and telling me everything is grate. 😛

Chocolate Pecan + Funfetti Mini Babkas

For the Dough

Make a batch of this babka dough.

For the Funfetti

1/2 cup sprinkles
1 tsp imitation vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup more sprinkles!

For the Pecan + Chocolate

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

Follow directions for making a batch of babka dough, found here. When dough is done kneading, split in half into equal portions. Set one half of the dough in a large bowl, and cover with a clean dish towel. Into the second half of the dough, knead in the 1/2 cup of sprinkles. Set this dough in another bowl and cover with a dishtowel. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease mini loaf pans. Recipe makes 12 mini babkas of each flavor! Prep accordingly. ;)
In a small bowl, mix together remaining "funfetti" ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the choco-pecan ingredients, save for the chocolate! Set aside.
Roll out the funfetti dough until as thin as possible (1/4 inch). Spread with funfetti filling mixture to edges. Roll up dough along the long edge. Cut down the center lengthwise with a sharp knife so that the fillings are exposed ad you have two long ropes. Braid the ropes over one another and tuck at ends. Cut braid into 12 portions and then place in loaf pans. Repeat process with chocolate/pecan dough, making sure to sprinkle with plenty of chocolate pieces before rolling up!
Bake mini babkas for about 20 minutes, or until edges brown just a bit! Let cool slightly and serve warm!