Pretzels take 2

For a little while now I have been feeling like eating warm pretzels. We sometimes get them from Farros in Auckland but generally they are not warm anymore...
Today the weather was very strange and we decided to stay in this afternoon so I broke the promise I made myself after completing my son's Birthday cake and went back to my kitchen to bake.
I looked for different recipe than the one I have already posted earlier in my blog and I have found this on from a website called CDKitchen, www.cdkitchen.com. (for some reason I could not attach the direct link, I'll try again later).
INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

PREPARATION:

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 degrees F (230 degree C) oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

I have done it a little differently.
I have dissolve the yeast in the warm water. I left that bubble a little. In a different bowl, I mixed the sugar, salt and flour. I then added the yeast and mixed with my hands. Once the dough looked like it was coming together I moved into a lightly floured board. I worked the dough a little and then placed it on an oiled bowl. I covered the dough with plastic wrap and left it to rise for about an hour.

I rolled the first ones about that thick:

This is the first batch:

I have also tried different sizes to see what difference it would make in the texture, taste and the speed at which it would bake. It didn't make much of a difference. I let the 2 last batches cook a bit longer and I found they were better. The bottoms were crunchy with still the soft texture in the rest of the Pretzel.
As soon as the first ones came out of the oven my husband told me to take the ones I wanted because he was going to eat them all.