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1
Warm up the milk in the microwave or on the stove for just about one and a half minutes, to about 110u00b0.
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2
Stir the yeast into the milk and let it sit for about 3 minutes.
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3
Add the butter and sugar to the milk and stir to mix.
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4
Add the flour to the milk, about 1 cup at a time and add the fine salt as you add the flour. Mix w/ a spoon.
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5
Knead for about 10 minutes with a stand mixer, or by hand.
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6
Put kneaded dough in a greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap.
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7
Let rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size.
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8
Preheat the oven to 450u00b0.
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9
Punch down dough and divide into 12 lumps -- this is easiest if you divide it in half, cut each half into three lumps, then cut each lump in half.
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10
Combine the warm water and baking soda in a shallow dish (e.g. and 8x8 baking dish); stir/whisk until the baking soda is as dissolved as possible.
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11
Roll all 12 lumps of dough out as thin as you can -- they will shrink up quickly so getting the thinnest ropes possible is key.
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12
Form the dough into pretzel shapes, then quickly dip in the baking soda water. I found this works best when you roll out 2-3 pretzels, dip them, then put them on the baking sheet.
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13
Place rolled, dipped pretzels on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt.
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14
Bake for about 7-11 minutes or until browned.
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15
Dip each in the melted butter while hot.
