• Prep Time: 7 hours

• Bake Time: 20 min

• Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients:

• 6 cups flour

• 1 ½ cups butter

• 1 cup milk

• ½ cup sugar

• 6 eggs

• ½ tbsp. salt

• ½ yeast cake

• ½ tsp. ground mahleb

• ¼ cup anise

• ½ tbsp. sesame seeds

Instructions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Combine yeast, melted butter and 3 eggs with flour in a large bowl. Add milk, sugar, salt, mahleb, and anise. Kneed the dough until it no longer sticks to your hands. Cover bowl and let dough rise for 4 to 5 hours. Roll out slices of the dough approximately 5 inches long and the width of your finger. Lay 3 slices next to each other and pinch one end. Braid the slices then curl the unpinched end of the braid toward the pinched end forming a ball. Repeat until all of the dough is formed into knots. Let knots sit for 1 hour. Cover knots with beaten egg yolks and bake in 400-degree oven for 20 minutes.