Whisk together 4 cups of bread flour, 2-¼ tsp yeast, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1-½ tsp salt in a large bowl

Add ¼ cup oil, and 1-½ cups warm water

Mix together until a shaggy dough forms. You can also knead this in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, adding small amounts of flour if needed (only if it’s sticking everywhere and not manageable)

Form into a ball and oil your original bowl then place the dough ball into the bowl, flipping it to coat all sides. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1-2 hrs

Once risen, do not punch down.

Preheat oven to 450°F

Turn out dough onto a CLEAN surface (no flour) and using a knife or pizza cutter, cut small slug shaped portions of dough off the big dough ball

Roll into LONG snakes. Way longer than you think. Grab each end and cross them to make an “X”. Cross one more time to make a twist then stick the ends down to form your pretzel (my video is helpful for this part!)

In a separate pie plate or similar dish, mix some water and baking soda together to form your “bath” take each pretzel and quickly dip into the baking soda mixture and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet

Brush each pretzel with egg wash, then immediately sprinkle with pretzel salt (or coarse sea salt) and bake for 10 minutes until golden