Party Pretzel Bites

Directions

1. 1
   In a large bowl stir together the warm water and honey. Sprinkle with yeast and let stand until the yeast is foamy (about 5 minutes). Stir in the butter, salt, and eggs.
2. 2
   Stir in the flour until it is entirely incorporated and it comes together in a shaggy ball. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for several minutes, until smooth. Put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until it rises and collapses (90 minutes - 2 hours)
3. 3
   Punch the dough down, and on a floured surface roll it out into 8 ropes, each about 3/4 of an inch wide. Cut the ropes into 1 inch pieces, separate them from each other placing them on a tray or baking sheet and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
4. 4
   Preheat oven to 425F. Bring a large pot filled with 8 cups of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, stir in 2 Tbs. sugar and 1/4 cup baking soda. It will bubble up like crazy! But then it will subside. Turn the heat down to a high simmer and add your little dough pieces, about ten at a time, making sure they're not crowding each other or bringing the temperature down. Let them simmer for about a minute, giving them a couple little stirs during the process to make sure both sides cook. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and put onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. 5
   Repeat until all the little dough bites have been cooked in the water and have been placed onto baking sheets. You can squeeze on quite a few per sheet, as long as they have a space between each of them. Brush the bites with egg white and sprinkle with fleur de sel.
6. 6
   Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until they are a deep chestnut brown, make sure you don't take them out when they're too pale. Remove onto cooling racks immediately to cool. These pretzel bites are best eaten the day they are baked (very best fresh baked, of course), so I guess you'll have to do it the morning or afternoon of the party!
7. 7
   Serve with a little bowl of mustard, blue cheese dip (1 cup crumbled blue cheese whisked with 1/2 cup mascarpone), or chocolate fondue.