In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, combine water, butter, honey, and sourdough starter until just combined.
Switch to the dough hook attachment, add 3 cups of flour and knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes.
While kneading, lightly coat a large glass bowl with coconut oil.
Stop kneading and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Next add sea salt, and more flour (only if the dough is still pretty sticky - I find that 3 1/4- 3 1/2 cups is best)
Knead for another 10 minutes.
Turn off the mixer and do the windowpane test, meaning, pull a piece of dough up and stretch it - you should see light coming through the dough before the dough rips).
Scrape the dough into your greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or beeswax wrap and ferment at room temp for 8-24 hours while the dough rises. You can get away with the longer end of that spectrum during the cooler months.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide it into about 12-14 pieces.
Roll the pieces of sourdough pretzel dough into long ropes (about 1 inch thick).
Shape each rope into a pretzel and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover and let rest for about 30-60 minutes.