Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Pour into a bowl, then add the melted butter, water, flour and salt. Mix until the dough is soft and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the container. Leave to rise away from draughts until doubled in size (30 to 40 minutes).

Turn the dough out onto the work surface, expel the air and separate into 10 equal-weight pieces. This usually makes dough pieces weighing around 80g.

Shape the pretzels. The first step is to form a long sausage, with the center more rounded than the ends. Then bring the strands together to form a knot. Finally, place the ends of the strands on the curved part, to obtain the typical pretzel shape. Follow the photos, and you'll soon get the hang of it. Don't use too much flour on your work surface, as the pretzel dough should be very slightly sticky.

Place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Leave to rise for a further 30 minutes, away from draughts.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Boil a large volume of water and add the baking soda. Lower the heat and plunge the pretzels into the simmering water for a few seconds. Drain and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush with an egg yolk diluted in a little water. Sprinkle with salt or seeds of your choice (poppy, sesame or pumpkin seeds).

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.