In a large bowl, combine warm water with salt, sugar, oil and yeast. Let sit for a few minutes before adding the bread flour, cup by cup, incorporating the flour into the water as you go. Once all flour has been added, knead dough for a few minutes until it becomes an elastic ball.

It should be damp like play-do but not too damp (if this is the case can add a bit more flour but don’t add any more water at this point!). Coat dough ball with a bit of olive oil and let rise in a bowl covered with a dish towel for 1 hour.

After an hour, remove pretzel dough from bowl and use a dough cutter or knife to separate into 8 equally sized pieces. Keeping the unused dough balls covered by dish towel, roll them out one at a time until they become ~20 inches long.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Twist each strand into a pretzel (cross in the middle, twist, and flip the twist down to the bottom).

Now, bring a pot of water to a boil, mix in ⅔ cup baking soda and boil the pretzels one at a time for about 1-2 minutes on each side. Place them on lightly oiled parchment paper-lined baking sheets and pat dry with a paper towel.

Whisk together eggs in a bowl and brush egg wash onto the tops of the soft pretzels. Here we decided to make 4 different types but it’s really just chef’s choice! Two pretzels we sprinkled over an even mix of cinnamon and white sugar. Two pretzels we sprinkled over shredded Parmesan cheese and some garlic salt. Two pretzels we added just coarse granulated salt. And two we just kept plain.

Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and serve your delicious German soft pretzels warm (optional mustard for dipping).