1Combine 4 to 4.5 cups of bread flour, 2.25 tsp or 1 packet of fast rising yeast, 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, and 1.5 teaspoons of salt in a bowl.
2Ensure all dry ingredients are well spread throughout the flour.
3Add 0.25 cup of oil and 1.5 cups of warm water to the dry ingredients.
4Stir the mixture in the bowl until it starts to come together.
5Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead in all the dry flour without adding more liquid.
6Spray the bowl with oil, place the dough in it, and cover with plastic wrap.
7Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, which should take about an hour.
8Once the dough has proofed, turn it out onto a clean surface without punching it down to maintain fluffiness.
9Preheat your oven to 450° Fahrenheit.
10Use a pizza cutter to cut a piece of the dough off.
11Roll out the dough piece, then form it into a pretzel shape by setting the middle down, crossing the ends, and crossing them again to stick the ends down.
12In a shallow dish, pour some water and sprinkle in 0.25 cup of baking soda.
13Dip both sides of each pretzel into the baking soda solution.
14Place the dipped pretzels on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
15Brush all pretzels with an egg wash.
16Sprinkle the pretzels with pretzel sea salt or coarse sea salt.
17Bake the pretzels in the 450°F oven for 10 minutes.
18Optionally, brush the warm pretzels with melted butter for extra flavor.