Make the dough: Secure the dough hook attachment to your stand mixer. To the bowl, add the water, yeast, brown sugar, salt, 4 Tablespoons of the melted butter and 5 cups (600g) of the flour. Mix for about 1 minute, until the ingredients are fully incorporated. The dough should pull together into one mass. Stop the mixer and lightly tap on the dough with your finger. If it feels wet and sticky, add 2-3 Tablespoons of flour to the dough and fully incorporate. Feel the dough again and mix in additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and pliable without sticking excessively to your hands. Once you've reached the right consistency, knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

First rise: Place dough in a large, oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in size (about 60-90 minutes).

Prepare the baker's twine by cutting 12 pieces, each about 30-inches long. Place them in a small bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil, soaking the twine. Set aside.

Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Spray nonstick spray on top of your liner. Set aside.

Divide & Shape the dough: Once dough has risen to double in size, punch it down and turn out onto a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Round each piece of dough by tucking the sides under and pinching the dough together on the bottom. Place the dough ball on your works surface and while cupping the dough ball with one hand, rotate the dough in a circular motion until the outer surface of the dough ball tightens and you feel the interior of the dough come together to form a solid ball of dough with no air pockets. (See my shaping video in my post for Skillet Dinner Rolls for a demonstration of this technique.)

Once all 12 of the rolls are smoothed out to round balls, it's time to wrap them with the baker's twine. Remove one piece of string from the bowl of olive oil, pinching off any excess while sliding it between your thumb and finger tip.

Wrap the dough: Find the middle of the piece of twine and place it over the center of the dough ball horizontally. Flip the dough over and bring the ends of the twine together. Tie a double knot in the center of the dough ball, making sure not to pull the twine too tightly around the dough. Take the ends of the string and arrange them vertically (in the opposite direction as the twine you just double knotted). Flip the dough back over, bring the ends up and tie another double knot in the center, loosely wrapping the twine around the dough. Arrange the ends of the twine diagonally, flip the dough over and bring the ends together. Tie a double knot. Arrange the ends of the twin diagonally in the opposite direction. Flip the dough over and bring the ends together, tying a double knot again in the center. Cut off the excess string. You should now have a dough ball that is wrapped with twine, creating eight sections.

Place the twine-wrapped dough ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat step with remaining dough balls. Lightly cover the wrapped dough balls with a clean kitchen towel and let them slightly puff up while your oven preheats and you prepare the baking soda bath (be careful not to let them rise too much during this time, or the twine will bake too far into the roll, causing it to be a bit deformed).

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Baking Soda Bath: Combine 5 cups water and 1/3 cup baking soda in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil while whisking frequently until the baking soda is dissolved. Reduce heat to a simmer. Carefully place 2 to 3 rolls in the water. Simmer for 30 seconds, flip with a metal straining spoon and simmer the other side for an additional 30 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, draining any excess water over the pan, and place back onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough balls. If desired, sprinkle pretzel salt over the tops of the rolls while still wet.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until deeply golden.

Right out of the oven, brush the tops of each roll with a small amount of melted butter. Let cool for 15 minutes before clipping off the twine and removing from the roll. Insert a sliced pecan half or a couple of pumpkin seeds to the top center of each roll to resemble a pumpkin stem.

Serve warm, but make sure you give it at least 15 minutes to cool slightly (the bread is continuing to bake internally when it comes out of the oven).

Enjoy these festive rolls alongside your favorite Fall soup, chili or meal.