soft pretzels

my friend russ made me some soft pretzels a few weeks ago and they were DELICIOUS. so i found a recipe and made some for myself.
i didn't check the time when i started the recipe... so i only finished making them at midnite. so a tip: check the time before starting a longer recipe!

recipe makes 4 large pretzels

1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups all purpose flour (approx)
1/2 tsp salt
baking soda

topping:
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp coarse salt

in a large bowl, dissolve sugar in 1/4 cup warm water. sprinkle in yeast; let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy. stir in remaining water and oil. stir in 1 3/4 cup of the flour and salt to make sticky dough. turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary to make firm dough.
place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. punch down dough. cut into 4 pieces. on lightly floured surface, roll each piece into 20-inch rope. form into circle, crossing left end over right end above circle, 3 inches from ends.
pick up ends and cross left end over right end again. bring ends over and down to bottom of circle to create a pretzel shape; press to seal.
place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
add 2 tbsp baking soda to large wide saucepan of boiling water. boil pretzels, 3 at a time, turning over once with slotted spatula, until puffed and set, about 1 minute. using spatula, transfer to rack; let cool.
topping: return pretzels to prepared pan. brush with egg; sprinkle with salt. bake in top and bottom thirds of 400 degree oven, switching and rotating pans halfway through, for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and bottoms sound hollow when tapped. transfer to rack; let cool just until warm.

can free in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.