And to think there was a time when I thought I’d never be able to eat another ham & cheese sandwich ever again for as long as I lived!
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It was 2003, and I was working as a summer camp counselor on a US military base in Sagamihara, Japan, after my sophomore year of college (Camp A – holla!) Twice a week, the kids and us counselors would head out on field trips to the finest and most fun destinations eastern Japan had to offer – wave pools so big they’d be outlawed in the US, aquariums with crabs that were bigger than buses (horrifying,) city parks, cultural landmarks, zoos, and every amazing place in between – with camp-provided sack lunches in tow.
Among the contents of said sack lunch were approximately 1 1/2 clementines (sometimes 1, sometimes 2 – it was always a surprise) those packaged cheddar cracker sandwiches thingies with crumbly peanut butter in the center, and a ham & cheese sandwich on stale white bread, which had inevitably come to room temperature on the bus while we were out playing the morning away.
I don’t think the kids ever really cared what was in that sack lunch, as long as they got to go to Tokyo Disney after they ate it, but by the end of the summer us counselors had resorted to hoarding their uneaten 1 1/2 clementines just to avoid choking down another lukewarm ham & cheese sandwich for lunch.
It was years before I would even think about having another one, and buttery, warm and chewy versions like Baked Ham & Cheese Pretzel Sandwiches with Garlic Butter sure help with the healing process! 
The star of Baked Ham & Cheese Pretzel Sandwiches with Garlic Butter is the Pretzel Rolls I used to replace the bread in the sandwich. The squish factor on these babies is insanely high! I got my rolls at Trader Joe’s, but I just saw ‘em at Costco this weekend, too.
Start by cutting the rolls in half to make a bun for the sandwich, then scrape out the excess bread inside. You can save it to feed to the ducks at your local pond/hungry husbands after work, or turn ‘em into bread crumbs.
Next, mix up some honey mustard using Dijon mustard and honey, then thinly spread it on each side of the bun.
Pre-made honey mustard works great too!
Pile on thinly sliced deli ham, and a slice of cheddar cheese next.
Use whatever kind of deli ham you prefer, btw. There were about 26 different kinds to choose from at the store, and I blabbered out peppered ham in a panicked state at the deli counter when I was called before I had made my final decision.
Anyways, here’s where it really gets good. Place the sandwich on a sheet of foil, then brush the top with a wee bit of melted butter mixed with garlic powder.
Can you say Auntie Anne’s Pretzel?! You know you hate walking by that place at the mall too! 
Wrap the sandwich the rest of the way, then toss it into the oven just as it is, to bake, melt, and warm the sandwich through and through, about 20 minutes.
Keep the clementines, kids!
Baked Ham & Cheese Pretzel Sandwiches with Garlic Butter
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 pretzel buns
1/4 cup honey mustard, divided
1lb deli ham, sliced thin
4 slices cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut buns in half and scrape out excess bread in the center. Spread 1 Tablespoon honey mustard on each bun , then layer on ham and cheese. Wrap each sandwich in foil, leaving the top open.
- Mix together melted butter and garlic powder, then brush over tops of pretzel sandwiches. Close foil, then bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted, and ham is hot.
UNbelievable! The pretzel gets even more soft and chewy in the oven, and the sweet honey mustard is just divine with the salty ham. That garlicky butter top is absolutely sinful too, for just a few additional calories. Worth it! 
In other news…
I have to tell you about the book I read on the way to California last week – The Paris Wife. It was so good I finished the whole thing before I got home!
This fiction novel based on fact is set in the 1920s, in post-war Paris, and tells the story of legendary American author Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Elizabeth “Hadley” Richardson, trying to survive life (and each other) during the early years of their marriage.
I’ve always known Ernest Hemingway as a famous author, of course, but it was fascinating to get to know him more as a person, and reading it all from Elizabeth’s point of view made it even better. Plus, reading about life in Paris in the 1920s killed me! Travel, drink, travel, eat, travel, drink, drink, fight, drink, fight, drink, travel. I couldn’t put this book down! Have you read it The Paris Wife?
Now that my Kindle is back on the market, got any reading suggestions for me?
Have a great night!
Oh my gosh, this is the most beautiful sandwich I have ever seen!!!
I am not a ham and cheese girl by any means, but I may be if I make this sandwich. The bread sounds to die for!
oh my gosh, these are drool worthy!
Can you come to NH and cook this for me? Thanks.
I need this right. now. I wonder how it’d be if you replaced the honey mustard inside the sandwich with more garlic butter…?
yummm, that trader joes pretzel bread looks delicious.
If you enjoyed that book you’d really enjoy A Moveable Feast by Hemmingway. It is a set of his memoirs from that same time period in Paris.
Omg, this sandwich has me drooling on my keyboard! Seriously, it looks incredible…also, I read the Paris Wife earlier this year, and I loved it too! It was such a great book
Mmm…pretzel rolls
Love the idea of just putting the sandwich in the oven in foil, so easy!
I loved The Paris Wife too! Right now I’m reading The Heart and the Fist, it’s written by a Navy Seal who chronicles his journey through many different countries, doing humanitarian work as well as in combat. It’s eye-opening and i highly recommend it!
OMG!! This will be the first dinner I make in June!!! (I already have my May meals planned and shopped for the rest of the month). These look insane!!!!!
I shouted out the title of your post to my husband and his response from the other side of the house was “DAMN!” I’m thinking we’ll be trying this one ASAP.
I just made homemade pretzel buns last weekend! Seriously, so delish!!!
A friend read The Paris wife too… She loved it! I’m working on the Maisie Dobbs books… Post WWI England. I’m loving it!
I loved The Paris Wife! I’m currently reading The Namesake. It’s about Indian immigrants and adjusting to life in America. Very interesting to see an alternative view of America.
There is something spectacular about pretzel bread. I’m pretty sure I would eat Spam if it was sandwiched between baked soft pretzels.
I adore warm sandwiches served on pretzel rolls, these look amazing!!
Hahaha, I have those moments too at the deli counter! glad I’m normal! this sandwich looks great. I think I’ll pair mine with some watermelon and call it a night.
Sandwich looks wonderful! I just finished the book, Water For Elephants on my Kindle. Normally a book about the circus wouldn’t be my cup of tea but this was the most beautiful love story! I tore through that book and then raced to Redbox to rent the movie (which wasn’t as good as the book, of course!).
Love this recipe, trying it tomorrow!!
PS My roommate Jess and I graduated from Iowa schools (Simpson and Univ.of Iowa–go hawks!) and met doing Camp A 08 in Germany! We love your blog and love Camp A just the same. From time to time we’ll randomly break into camp songs (‘I was born on a farm in Iowa’ being the fav., naturally). We’re in the twin cities now and if you’re looking for a great place to check out on a visit, we LOVE the Barbary Fig in St. Paul. Thanks for all the great recipes
Haven’t read The Paris wife yet, I try to either find free Kindle books or rent them from the library otherwise I’d be broke! The last one I rented from the library on my Kindle was Girl on Fire (book #2 in the series). I’m actually thinking of breaking down and buying Shades of Gray.
I just finished The Violets of March by Sarah Jio and it was AMAZING. Loved it!
I love ham and cheese and those pretzel rolls look SO good! Thanks for sharing the book, it looks like a good one and I’m always on the lookout.
Did you read Rules of Civility by Amor Towles yet? I couldn’t put it down!
I love pretzels and cannot wait to try this recipe. I am new to your blog, but have already made many of your recipes. They have all been delicious!! My family thinks you need to write a cookbook!
I read The Paris Wife and did not like it…I couldn’t stand Hemmingway and all the nicknames they had for each other.
OMG the German-American in me is wanting to reach through the computer screen for those! They look so good. I obviously love pretzels.
I loved The Paris Wife and read it pretty quickly too. Not sure I have any suggestions on good books at the moment, but interested in seeing what others share!
I read the Paris Wife a while ago and enjoyed it a lot too!!
Right now I am about half way through A Grown Up Kind Of Pretty…. and am really loving it! It’s about 3 generations of women in the South, sorta like a modern The Help. Sorta.
Love your blog, but love it even more now that I know you’re a Camp A alum! I’m a moldie oldie (summer of ’94 and summer of ’95) but I feel like we’re comrades nonetheless!
If you liked The Paris Wife you should check out Loving Frank! It’s about Frank Lloyd Wright and the love of his love. It is SO GOOD.
Cannpt recommend Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder highly enough! Also loved Cutting for Stone, CJ Sansom’s Wiinter in Madrid, second the Maisie Dobbs rec!
I’m so glad you liked The Paris Wife! I heard the author speak when she visited The Rochester Public Library here in Minnesota a few months ago. She was DELIGHTFUL in person – and her life story is really inspiring, too.
Working abroad as a counselor sounds too cool! And these sandwiches? Totally delicious. Ham and cheese is my husband’s favorite, and serving it on those rolls would totally impress him. Definite win! Thank you
Yum! Those look good, would make an awesome lunch with a little cup of soup.
I’m reading Nora Roberts’ The Last Boyfriend. I needed a little fluff to break the tedium of school reading
I have read The Paris Wife! I also loved it. If you like those kind of books I would recommend Gatsby’s Girl – it’s the story of the woman that Fitzgerald based Daisy on. Very good read!
I have just got to take time at TJ’s to explore and find all the interesting items you do!
Loved The Paris Wife! I recommend The Kitchen House, it’s about a woman whose parents died while immigrating to America so she was forced into indentured servantry in the south. Also, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is fiction like the Paris Wife, but is based on the Japanese internments of WWII and a childhood love, both very very good.
I don’t think my Trader Joe’s has those pretzel rolls yet, I’m going to have to have a chat with them!
I just read The Paris Wife too! I am following it up with Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”. I’ve never read Hemingway and after feeling like I know him better from The Paris Wife it’s an interesting segue. I have been to Hemingway’s house in Key West…it has a saltwater pool and descendants of his pet cats live there – they all have 5 toes. Weird fact for you!
Ahhh I so want this now…for breakfast. Maybe with eggs? Guess I need to make some breakfast! Also, have you read 50 Shades of Grey yet? I’m about to start!
I am nearing the end of the first book in the Fifty Shades of Grey triology. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about but the story line is pretty good. On vacation a couple of weeks ago, I read the newest Kate White (editor of Cosmo) novel, “So Pretty It Hurts”. Enjoyed it.
I am so going to make these sandwiches for my kids. I think they’ll love them.
now that you’ve read The Paris Wife you HAVE to read “A Moveable Feast” by Hemmingway. It’s a look inside his time in Paris and it’s wonderful.
I don’t eat met but am envisioning some other sandwiches I could make with out the ham. The 50 Shades of Grey Triology was really good. I’m sure you’ve heard many mentions of it but the story is actually good. It’s a guilty pleasure that you can’t put down and I haven’t come across a person yet who didn’t thoroughly enjoy it.
My husband would die for that sandwich.
This sandwich looks amazing! If you liked The Paris Wife I think you’d like The Rules of Civility – it’s a fairly new novel about a woman living in New York City in the 1920s and has a similar tone to the Paris Wife. I loved both books!
The sandwich looks awesome and I just got those pretzel rolls at Costco – but didn’t know what to do with them. Thanks!
As for the book, you have to try “On the Island” by Tracey Garvis-Graves. She is a local Clive, IA author and this is her first book. She is on the Amazon top 10 and New York Times Best Seller list. Very cool.
The Paris Wife is hands down one of my favorite reads of the year….only surpassed by The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.
oo those pretzel rolls ARE good! I can see why you were hesitant to bring the ham & cheese back in your life!
The Paris Wife quickly found its place on my list of favorite books…and, just like others have suggested to you, I had to read A Moveable Feast by Hemingway. Great book suggestions from everyone here, as well!
This looks amazing! I cannot wait to try this!
I just started The Shades of Grey Trilogy on Sunday and finished the first book in 1 day. I am onto the next one, but my kids needed me so it is slower going! LOVE them so far.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamante is amazing. It is a fictional book based on Jacob’s family in the Bible. It is the stories that the narrarator hears monthly ‘red tent’ by all the woman and then some more story. It is a very very interesting read! Another book series you CANNOT miss is The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon! One of my ALL TIME faveorites! There are many more books, but I can go on forever!
Just wanted to say that I love your blog, so glad I stumbled upon it! The Paris Wife was amazing! It really made me think poorly of Ernest Hemingway though, I mean really? But, if you liked that you may enjoy Once Upon A Secret Affair, its about a young womans relationship with JFK. Really interesting but it kind of tapers off at the end, but man did it make me interested in JFK and that whole era. White Oleander (my all time fav book) is a great read, and so it Paint It Black both by Janet Fitch.