Put the sugar, water, and yeast into a standing mixer bowl and whisk. Wait 5-10min

Turn the stand mixer on low and put butter and salt.

Start adding little by little the flour. Once all the flour is in, increase the speed a little bit and let it knead for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and touch the dough. It should NOT be dry but it should not be sticky ( or barely sticky ). If your dough is sticky ( mine was), start adding a tablespoon of flour, turn the machine on for a minute and touch it again. Repeat this step until the dough reaches the right consistency.

Oil the inside of a large bowl and dump the dough in it, cover with plastic film or lid. Let it rest for about an hour.

Before

After

Take a large pot and put 4 liters of cold water in it + baking soda. Bring to a boil

While it’s heating it’s now time to shape the dough into a pretzel. On a clean countertop drop the dough and cut it into 6 pieces. Roll them out with your hands until it reaches 24 inches or so ( no need to be precise here ). Make a U shape with the “roll”, twist the extremity, and fold them over. You should now have a pretzel shape. It’s pretty easy, I let my kids do this step they had fun. Repeat for the rest of the dough and place them on a parchment paper

When done, check on the water it should be boiling at this point. Reduce to simmer and dip each pretzel, one at a time, for 20-25 seconds. Using a strainer, remove them from the water making sure you take most of the water out of it ( IE gently banging the strainer on the side of the pot). Place the parboiled pretzel on a parchment covered pan. Repeat for the other pretzel.

Pre-heat oven at 450F.

It’s time to garnish those pretzels. In a bowl, scramble the egg and add a little bit of water. Brush your pretzel with the egg wash and then add the coarse/pretzel salt.

Put in oven ( bottom row) for 15 mins

I recommend you wait a few mins before eating them