Soft Pretzels

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's

Ingredients
        1 1/2 cups warm water
        1 T sugar
        2 t kosher salt
        1 pkg active dry yeast
        4 1/2 C flour
        1/2 stick butter, melted
        ~6 C water
        ~1/2 C baking soda
        1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 T water
        Coarse salt for sprinkling
        Vegetable Oil (spray works well)

Instructions
       (preheat oven to 450 degrees)
       1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in a bowl and sprinkle yeast on top
       2. Leave for ~5 min to proof
       3. Add the flour and butter, once cooled, and mix until well combined
       4. Knead until the dough is smooth and silky
       5. Oil the bowl and turn the dough once in the oil to coat it
       6. Sit in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (~50 min)
       7. Place water and baking into med-large saucepan and bring to rolling boil
       8. Grab fist-sized pieces of dough and turn out on an oiled board
       9. Roll out each piece of dough into a 1/2-3/4 inch diameter rope, and form into a pretzel shape
       10. Drop each pretzel into the boiling water for 30 seconds each
       11. Remove from the water and place onto an oiled cookie sheet
       13. Brush the top of each pretzel with the egg yolk mixture
       14. Sprinkle with salt
       15. Bake at 450 until they are dark golden brown - about 12 minutes
       16. Let them cool fo ~5 min - you can then remove them easily
        from the sheet