Pretzels

I tried making pretzels for the first time in awhile last night. They came out pretty good, except that they used a lot of flour (5 cups!) and not enough anything else. I followed this recipe, and was pretty pleased except that the high flour content made them tricky.
The recipe I will be following next time is the Joy of Cooking Recipe, even though it calls for bread flour, which I don't buy because I usually have two kinds of flour already. You can find substitutions, or maybe you buy bread flour.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast (if you buy 2lb bags of yeast at costco, about 1 tbsp is enough)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm water
Procedure:
1. Start by mixing the 1/2 cup water and yeast. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Add flours, butter, sugar, and salt.
3. Mix by hand or on low speed while slowly pouring in 1/2 cup warm water.
4. Knead for 10 minutes by hand or with dough hook on low speed until smooth and elastic.
5. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it once to coat with oil.
6. Let rise for an hour to an hour and a half. Then punch down dough and divide into twelve equally sized balls. Let rest for 10 minutes.
7. Grease 2 baking pans.
8. Roll dough into an 18 inch long rope and shape into a pretzel.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil 8 cups of water and 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon baking soda.
10. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer - using a slotted spoon, gently slide several pretzels at a time into the water. Simmer for 30 seconds, then flip them over and continue to simmer until puffed, about 30 seconds longer. Return to baking sheets and sprinkle with coarse salt.
11. Bake until deep golden brown, until 15 minutes.