Recipe Tuesday on a Wednesday: Homemade Soft Pretzels

So it is of no mystery that I LOVE baking.
When I went home Jenelle (the littlest sis) taught me how to make pretzels... FROM SCRATCH.
To give credit where credit is needed, this recipe was taught to her by her friend Abbey, who is also like a third sister.
Let's just say I'm hooked.
This recipe is on the "do not bake unless you plan on giving to neighbors" list.
It makes a ton and it can be so tempting to sit in front of the TV with my buttery pretzel bites and eat the whole batch.
Alas, that is unwise.
We gave away 2/3 of the pretzels to our good friends, which were received well.

Anyways, I know by now you want me to stop blabbering and give you the recipe.
Thus here it is:

I adapted the recipe from this blog here. I'm pretty sure mine is easier.

So here is what you need:
Dough:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast or one packet
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups all purpose flour

Baking Soda Bath:
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda

Toppings:
Whatever your heart desires.
My favorite is melting a stick of butter in bowl bathing each pretzel bite in butter then rolling in cinnamon sugar (I like my cinnamon sugar 1 part cinnamon 3 parts sugar).
They're super good dipped in mustard as well.
Kosher salt if you have it is a plus.

Let's get started:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees farenheit.
Use one packet of yeast or 1 1/8 teaspoon of yeast and dump into the 1 1/2 cups of warm water.
Stir until dissolved.
Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
Mix in the four cups of flour. Knead in or if you're a lucky duck and have a kitchenaid, then use the paddle attachment and switch to the dough hook after five minutes.
Grease a large pot with olive oil.
After kneading place dough in aforementioned greased pot or bowl.
Set the pot on top of stove atop the warm oven.
Allow dough to rise for an hour.
After rising take the chunk of dough and cut off bit size pieces.
Prepare the baking soda bath.
Take the bite size and dip them into the baking soda bath and dab off extra liquid using a paper towel or a few paper towels. :)
Place them on your silicone baking mat if you have one upon the baking sheet.
If you do not have one it's okay place the bites onto a well greased baking sheet.
At this point you have two options:
1. Allow them rise for 15-20 minutes
2. Don't let them rise and just put them in the oven as is.
For the bites they only need to be baked 7-10 minutes.
They bake quicker here in Idaho comparatively to California. So watch them. I'm convinced that they bake at different speeds based on the oven and climate.
You want them to be baked to golden not brown. If they're brown, they're over done.
Think s'mores golden status.
Upon readiness take them out of the oven. Remove them from the baking sheet when they are cooled enough to touch. Then add your desired topping and ENJOY.
Seriously they're addicting.
Cannot say I did not warn you.