Pumpkin Beer Soft Pretzels

I love a good soft pretzel and when I found these Pumpkin Beer Soft Pretzels on Pinterest, I had to make them.  Here is the recipe from We Are Not Martha:

Pumpkin Beer Pretzels

Ingredients:

• 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 t)
• 1/2 C warm water, plus 2 C warm water
• 1/2 T sugar
• 1/2 t fine sea salt
• 1 t olive oil
• 1 C pumpkin beer of your choice
• 3-4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2-3 T coarse salt
• 1 T butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over your 1/2 cup warm water. Let rest for about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in sugar, salt, and olive oil. Pour in the beer. It will get all kinds of frothy as it reacts with the yeast already in the bowl.
3. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour in one cup at a time. You don't want your dough to be too sticky, but you don't want it to be too dry either. I started by adding 3 cups of flour (you can always add more in as you knead it).
4. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes. Or you can throw it in your mixer with the dough hook for about 3 minutes. As I kneaded my dough in the mixer, it started getting sticky, so I ended up adding another 3/4 C flour in. Once you're done kneading, place your dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Place bowl in a warm spot, cover with a kitchen towel, and let sit for about an hour to rise.
5. Punch the dough down and you're ready to form the pretzels! Start by dividing the dough into 12 balls, so you can make sure your pretzels will all be relatively the same size.
6. Take one dough ball and roll it into a rope. Shape the rope into a pretzel by forming into a "u" and crossing one end down, followed by the other end.
7. Mix your remaining 2 C warm water with 1 t baking soda in a baking pan or other shallow dish. Dip the formed pretzels in. And then place on a greased baking sheet. Continue with remaining dough balls. Cover with a kitchen towel again and let rise for another 20 minutes.
8. Brush each pretzel lightly with beaten egg. Sprinkle with kosher salt. And bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.
9. Right when they come out of the oven, brush them with a little melted butter.

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