In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, oil, and honey, whisking until well mixed.
Layer the flour, 3 tsp of salt, yeast, and diastatic malt powder on top of the liquid. Having the liquid at the bottom rather than at the top aids in the mixing process, requiring less bowl-scraping.
With the dough hook and on the lowest setting of the stand mixer, mix the ingredients until they come together, scrapping the bowl if needed.
Increase the speed to your mixer's recommended dough setting (2 on most Kitchenaid mixers), and knead until the dough clears the sides of the bowl, is smooth, and elastic. That takes about 8 minutes.
Knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface just enough to form into a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise at room temperature (about 70°) until doubled in size; about 1 to 1½ hours.
About half an hour into the rising of the dough, place one oven rack in the top third of the oven and another in the bottom third. Preheat the oven to 425°.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Punch down the dough to deflate it, and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. With your hands, form the dough into a rectangle about 12 inches wide.
Using a pizza cutter or a bench scrapper, cut the dough into 10 or 12 strips where the short side of the rectangle is the long side of the strips.
Keep the dough you are not currently working with covered with a towel or plastic wrap.
Roll each strip of dough into a long rope about 20" long, keeping it as even in thickness as possible. Make a long U shape with a wide base with the rope. Twist the ropes about ⅓ of the way down from the ends together twice, then bring them down to the base of the U. Press the ends down to secure them. The dough may fight back a bit and want to shrink, that's just what gluten does. It's OK if your pretzels don't look perfect; they will still taste great.
Place each pretzel knot side up on the lined baking sheets, leaving some space between them. Lightly spray them with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise for about 15 minutes.
In the mean time, bring 4 cups of water with the baking soda to a boil over medium heat in a saucepan.
Working one or two at a time, place the pretzels in the water for about 45 seconds, turning over once halfway through.
Remove the pretzels, knot side up, to a cooling rack to drain, then place them back on the lined baking sheets.
Sprinkle the pretzels liberally with either pretzel or kosher salt. Bake for 15 minutes, or until they are nicely browned. You may need to rotate the baking sheets halfway through.
Remove the pretzels to a cooling rack and cool for a few minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
