Pretzel Bites with Homemade Honey Mustard

In the bowl of your stand mixer (with dough attachment fixed), combine the warm water, yeast and honey. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast begins to foam slightly.

Into the bowl, add the butter, fine sea salt, whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. Knead on low until the flour is completely incorporated and then increase the speed to medium and knead for 10 minutes. At this point, the dough should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it does not, gradually add more flour, a tablespoon at a time until it does. The dough should be sticky, but not so sticky that you can’t handle it.

Roll the dough over onto a flat surface sprinkled with flour. Form into a ball. Drizzle the olive oil into a large bowl, and add the ball of dough. Toss to coat the dough so that a skin does not form while it is rising. Cover the bowl of dough with a damp towel and set in a warm place to rise for an hour (or until it has doubled in size).

Once the dough has risen, transfer it back to your flat surface (sprinkled with flour). Cut into 8 equal pieces. Taking each piece individually, roll each into a 1 inch by 12 inch rope. Cut the ropes into several equal pieces of about 1 inch each. Set the dough pieces aside, and repeat this step for the rest of the dough.

Preheat your oven to 450 F and grease 2 large lipped baking sheets. Set aside.

Combine the 10 cups of water and baking soda in a large Dutch oven and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Once the water has reached a boil, gently add the dough bites in batches of 12 with a slotted spoon. Boil the bites for 30 seconds and then remove them from the water (again with your slotted spoon). Transfer immediately to your prepared baking sheets and spread them out so that no two bites are touching. Repeat this step for the rest of your bites.

Combine the egg and cool water in a small bowl. Brush each bite with the egg and water (egg wash) and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Bake at 450 F for 10-12 minutes or until the pretzels are golden brown (this happens very quickly so be careful). Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool slightly before serving.

For the honey mustard, combine the mustards, honey, mayo and lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the pretzel bites. Will store for about a week in the refrigerator.