Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

In large glass bowl, pour water in and sprinkle yeast on top. Shake bowl back and forth gently to agitate the yeast and get it down into the water. Let rest for about 2 minutes. Add sugar and salt directly to the yeasted water. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir with wooden spoon.

Turn dough onto floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. I had to lightly sprinkle about an additional 1/4 cup of flour (all-purpose) into the dough as I kneaded it. Form dough into ball and place on a clean surface. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, divide the dough ball into 16 equal pieces. Each piece will be about 1/3 cup in size.

On a clean, non-floured surface, roll each piece of dough between your hands first, then roll back and forth on the counter to form a rope of dough. Mine were probably 18-inches long... I did not measure. Form into pretzel shapes and place on prepared baking sheets, 8 pretzels per sheet.

Beat together the egg and water in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush to coat the tops of each pretzel with the egg wash before baking.

Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking time. Remove pans from oven and set your oven to broil. Use a spatula to transfer all 16 pretzels onto one of the baking sheets and broil pretzels for 3-5 minutes, watching closely, until tops are golden brown.

To serve, lightly brush each pretzel with melted butter. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle over the top of the hot, buttered pretzels.