Celebrating Hanukkah? Try out this NYTimes recipe for traditional challah! This brioche-like bread carries great significance to the Jewish faith and gets its sweetness from sugar. Challah is eaten all year round, but during religious holidays, round challah is much more popular.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ packages active dry yeast (about 3 ½ teaspoons)
• 1 Tablespoon plus ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil, more for greasing bowl
• 5 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 8 – 8 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling

Directions

1. In large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 Tablespoon or sugar in 1 ¾ cups lukewarm water.
2. Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt, Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading.
3. Turn dough onto a floured surface nad knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it with extra oil, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again for another half-hour.
4. To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular, take the dough and form it into 6 balls with your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 ½ inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the ourside right strand over the 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand, and continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck the wends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.
5. Beat remaining egg and brush it on the loaves. Let rise another hour.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Dip fingers into egg wash, then into the poppy or sesame seeds and then onto the mound of bread. Continue until the bread is decorated with seeds.
7. Bake in middle of oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Cool loaves on a rack.

Recipe source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7199-my-favorite-challah