Chocolate and Espresso Babka Muffins

Assembly

1. To assemble the muffins, start by rolling out the proofed dough.
2. Once the dough has nearly doubled in size, knead it gently on a well floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a roughly 18×12-inch rectangle, keeping the 18-inch side closest to you.
3. Spread generously with filling. You’ll have enough filling for two babka recipes, so divide the filling in two and save the rest in a freezer safe bag for future use. Scatter the cocoa nibs evenly over the filling.

4. Now we’ll roll up the dough. Starting from the 18-inch side, we’re going to fold the upwards in fourth. Like you’d roll a cinnamon roll, but we’re making three big, flat folds.

5. Fold the dough upwards in fourth. You’ll end with a roughly 18-inch long flat log. You will have made 3 folds in total)
6. Use a bench knife or a large sharp knife to divide the dough in half vertically. And slice each half into 12 even pieces. You’ll have 24 small vertical slices of dough.
7. Lightly grease and flour a standard muffin tin.

8. Take one small strip of babka dough and pinch it around a second strip, they should be criss-crossed. Squish them together in fun layers, to expose some of the chocolate layers, and place into a muffin cup. Repeat until all the muffin cups are filled.

9. Sprinkle each muffin cup with half of the crumble topping. Save the remaining crumble topping in a freezer safe bag for your future self.
10. MAKE AHEAD! At this point, you can cover the pan in plastic wrap and place the pan in the refrigerator to bake tomorrow morning. When you’re ready to bake, place the pan on the counter to come to room temperature while the oven preheats and proceed.
11. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Allow the muffins to rest and rise just slightly while the oven preheats for 20 minutes.
12. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes until the muffins have risen, are golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before using a butter knife to coax them out of a pan for serving.
13. These are best enjoyed the day they’re made though they’re also delicious heated up the next day!