Pour the warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir in the yeast until dissolved. Let that sit for 5 minutes until foamy.

Then fit the mixer with the hook attachment, and add the pumpkin puree and the rest of the pretzel ingredients ending with the melted butter. Mix on low speed until smooth. This will take about 10 minutes. You can scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary, but towards the end it should form a ball that naturally pulls away from the bowl. If it seems too sticky, you can add a little more flour as necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead for about 6 minutes. Then place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning over once to coat the top. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Towards the end of the proofing time, preheat the oven to 425F/ 218C and line two sheet trays with parchment paper. Put the 9 cups of water and 1/2 cup of baking soda into a large pot or dutch oven and bring to a boil.

Once the dough has doubled, punch the dough slightly and place onto a lightly oiled surface. Evenly divide it into 10 pieces.

To shape the pretzels, roll each piece into about an 18" rope. Shape into a wide U, start to make a heart and then twist the two ends over eachother and criss-cross down into the classic pretzel shape, pushing the ends into the dough a little to secure. (see below pictures) Place the shaped pretzels onto the parchment while assembling the rest.

Once all the pretzels are shaped, carefully drop 2-3 pretzels at a time into the boiling baking soda water for 30 seconds. (be sure not to leave longer than 30 seconds or the taste will be negatively affected.) Remove with a slotted spoon and place back on the parchment paper, leaving a few inches in between each pretzel while you finish the rest.

Then make an egg wash by whisking the egg yolk with the tablespoon of water.

Brush the tops of each pretzel with the eggwash and give a generous sprinkling of the course salt. Bake in the preheated oven for about 11 -13 minutes until golden brown.

Make the Maple Mustard while the pretzels bake. Add all of the ingredients for the mustard to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Start with the smaller amount of cinnamon and maple syrup and adjust to taste.

Once the pretzels are done, let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes then carefully use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack. Enjoy warm or at room temp dipped in the maple mustard.

*For a sweet contrast to these savory pretzels, you can brush some of the baked pretzels with some melted butter a few minutes after they come out of the oven, then dip them in cinnamon sugar. (For the cinnamon sugar, mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon.)