16 Pretzel rolls

I think these are delicious, but they are a mess to make, so I don’t make them often.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Activate the yeast: Add yeast (and some sugar) to warm water (100° - 115° F) and allow to sit for approximately 5 minutes. The yeast should start to bubble a bit.
Add sugar, salt, then add flour and mix until the dough comes together. Let it rise until doubled in bulk.
Preheat oven to 400, cover baking sheet with tinfoil and grease it.
Bring the 7 cups of water, with baking soda, to a boil.
Cut the dough into chunks (to suit desired size). Shape them into balls, trying to develop surface tension, and drop them into the boiling water 1-2 at a time. Leave them in the water for approximately 1 minute, then use the spoons to remove and place them on the baking sheet.
Cut a cross in the balls if desired (carefully) to help them rise.
Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until dough browns.

Variations:

I’ve read you can use lye instead of baking soda, but that it’s a bit more violent reaction, so be careful.

Notes:

You may want/need to flip the dough balls after dropping them into the boiling water.
I suggest making slightly larger pretzel rolls. While pretzel bites are pretty phenomenal, it’s really annoying to make and boil a lot of small pretzel bites.
Be prepared for a lot of cleanup.