Design Eat Repeat

0 In a medium-sized bowl or measuring cup, stir together the warm water ([adjustable] 1 ½ cups), yeast (4 ½ teaspoons), light brown sugar (2 tablespoons), and melted salted butter (3 tablespoons[/adjustable]). You can get the warm water directly from the faucet - no need to heat it up more. Let sit for 5 minutes or until there's a layer of foam/bubbles on the top.*See notes below if your mixture doesn't foam or bubble.
2 While the yeast is proofing, mix together the all-purpose flour ([adjustable]4 ½ cups) and salt (½ teaspoon[/adjustable]) in a large bowl. Use your hand to create a crater in the middle of the bowl. This is where you'll pour the water mixture.After the 5 minutes have passed, stir the yeast mixture and pour into the crater you created in the flour bowl.
4 Use a spatula to mix the dough until it's combined. Once all the flour is incorporated, use your hands to knead the dough into a solid ball. This should only take 1-2 minutes tops (any longer and you'll overwork the dough).
6 Place the dough ball back into the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a clean dish towel) and let sit for 10 minutes. This will allow the dough to rest & rise a tiny bit (it won't rise much, which is fine).
8 Using a knife, cut the dough into 12 even sections (you can make larger pretzels by cutting it into 6-8 sections). Once cut, use your hands to roll each ball into a long strip about 1/2 inch thick and 20 inches long (if making 8 larger pretzels, roll 1 inch thick and 24 inches long).
10 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
19 In a medium bowl, mix together [adjustable]2 cups warm water and 2 tablespoons [/adjustable](not teaspoons!) of baking soda.
12 Dip each dough strip in the baking soda mixture for 1-2 seconds then quickly form into a pretzel and place on baking sheet. * See video above for how to twist a pretzel.
14 Sprinkle with coarse sea salt or pretzel salt, if desired.
16 Bake at 425℉ according to times below. Small Pretzels (if making 12): Bake 7-8 minutes or until pretzels are a light golden brown (my oven typically takes 8 minutes).Larger Pretzels (if making 6-8): Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
20 After removing from the oven, use a pastry brush or spoon to brush warm pretzels with melted salted butter. This is what truly gives it that mall pretzel taste - don't skip the salted butter! Where I normally use unsalted butter in baking, these need salted butter for dipping. Unsalted just doesn't taste as good here!
18 Enjoy warm with cheese sauce!