Whisk the flour, sugar, salt and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl.

With a wooden spoon, stir in the milk and water until you have a soft dough.

If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook and knead the dough for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the dough is soft and smooth but still a little tacky. If making by hand, knead the dough until it is soft and smooth, but still a little tacky.

Place the dough in a large, clean bowl and cover with a tea towel. Set it in a warm, draft-free location to rise until doubled and puffy, about an hour.

When the dough has risen, line 2 large baking sheets with silpat liners or parchment paper. Set aside.

Pour your dough onto a clean work surface. Use a bench knife to cut the dough into 12 equal pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into a long snake shape, about the circumference of your index finger.

Lay the dough in a U shape, then take the two ends and twist them together twice, leaving the bottom of the U still open. Fold the twisted ends down to the bottom of the U. Gently press it into place.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, 6 pretzels to each sheet, leaving a bit of room between each of them to allow for rising. Repeat with the remaining dough.

When all of the pretzels are shaped, cover the baking sheets with tea towels and allow the pretzels to rise until they are puffy, about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

In a large stainless steel pan, (or other non-reactive pan), bring the water to a boil. Add the baking soda.

Add the pretzels to the boiling water in batches to avoid crowding. (I did 3 at a time.) Let them boil for about 1 minute, flip to the other side and let them boil for another minute. Remove the pretzels with a slotted spoon and return to the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the pretzels have been boiled.

Brush the boiled pretzels with the egg white and sprinkle with salt.

Transfer the baking sheets to the oven and bake until the pretzels are golden brown. This will take about 20 minutes. If desired, you can bake them even longer until they are a deep brown.

Remove from the oven and brush with the melted butter while the pretzels are still hot. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.