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!
Just finished Still Missing suggested by pbfingers……EXCELLENT book!
I just finished reading Defending Jacob. I couldn’t put the book down!
Yum, this sandwich looks fantastic! I always loved ham & cheese on a pretzel bun in my high school cafeteria… so I imagine this will blow it out of the water! And who doesn’t love some garlic butter???
I just grabbed “The Paris Wife” at the library this morning…our library is doing a summer reading for adults and this will fit 2 categories, decisions, decisions!
Reading through the Sookie Stackhouse series now! Then on to Fifty Shades of Grey!
I’m making these sandwiches this weekend. Great for kids AND adults!
A big thank you for the reading suggestion!! Amazon.com, here I come!
I love your website & everytime I read it I find out we have one more thing in common. I attended UNI, love to travel, try out new recipes, and today I learned you also did Camp A! I agree warm, white bread field trip lunches are the worst!
okay, I’m gonna need you to quit posting such AMAZING looking meal ideas while I’m on this fitmixer meal plan. I’m soft pretzel obsessed… and the knowledge of TJ having pretzel rolls is very, very dangerous.
I know! I always pass by the baked goods section of TJs so I don’t see diet-wrecking delicacies like this. Not that they would necessarily be diet-wrecking if you stuck to just one…but methinks that would not be easy
OOOOH I think I’m going to have a nightmare at just the thought of those giant crabs! Seriously, a bus?! Anyway, I’ve been wanting to read The Paris Wife (mainly because I want to name my future-baby girl Hadley
)so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! I’ve been hearing a lot about 50 shades of grey lately, so maybe give that a shot next? It sounds much different than anything i’ve ever read, but I want to know what all the hype is about!
I so need a Trader Joe’s in my area!! Those rolls look amazing!
What a great recipe! Thank you! My hubby is obsessed with those pretzel rolls! He’s going to love these.
A Thousand Spendid Suns is a really good book – I couldn’t put it down!
One of the best books I’ve ever read. Now it’s hard to find others as good.
Wow! I’m putting this on my meal plan immediately! What a great idea for a Saturday lunch or light dinner! One of my favorite books set in Paris is “Ravel” by Jean Echenoz. Written in the third person, it’s poetic, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I highly recommend it!
Yup, I picked up a pack at Costco on Friday. And I’d make these ham and cheese sandwiches but um er uh…they’re all gone! We just warmed them in the oven with honey butter and stuffed our faces.
That just sounds way too easy! And had my hubby drooling BTW. That books sounds right up my alley and now I see others are posting favorites, too. Time to catch up on some serious reading!
Yes! Loved The Paris Wife! Have you read Loving Frank? Also a wonderful read about another historical figure – Frank Lloyd Wright. Reads a lot like The Paris Wife.
I am a faithful reader of your blog and wanted to respond to your Camp A shout out! I did Camp 2 summers ago in Naples, Italy when I was a UNI student, and can TOTALLY relate to the warm nasty sandwhich comment. I also live in Des Moines and I always love reading when you write about local events and things! Love your blog!
omg, Naples – how fun! I wanted to go back the next summer to Europe, but alas, it didn’t happen…
Yummo looking sandwich!! I recently read Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt and highly recommend it!! love your blog…
The Kitchen House…great book!
I just found these rolls at Hy-Vee so I’m def. making these sandwiches, they look delicious! The Paris Wife was very good! I just finished The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, very clever and funny!
This looks AMAZING!!! I wanna make it soon! Thank you so much, love ur blog!
This became our dinner tonight! Thanks for the tip of cooking it all up in the oven – yummy!!!
I’m just staring Home Front by Kristin Hannah….my 5th or so book by her – love her!!
Hemingway was a real stinker, wasn’t he? If you liked that book, you might like the movie Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen. It’s a time travel – all about the artists and writers of the time. I thought it was well done.
I really like the Paris Wife. I just started the Tiger’s Wife and so far really like it.
Kristin, we were made to be friends. These.look.amazing. Thanks for sharing!
These look fantastic! Just got the stuff to make them today and planning to try them out this weekend, so excited! Will have to check out that book, sounds like an awesome read. I’m reading Firefly Lane now and love it. Some others I read recently that were awesome reads were: The Lost Wife, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, Wildflower Hill (LOVED this one) and The Weight of Silence (author is from Iowa).
I also LOVED The Paris Wife. Some other good reads are: Room, The Host, Testimony, Still Missing and The Art of Racing in the Rain
I love your blog! I am making this for my boyfriend tonight-Thank you!!
Drooling and can’t wait to try these. I was Camp A in Seoul, South Korea in 2001.
I actually just discovered Costco’s pretzel rolls and they are to die for! I still have a ton of rolls leftover so I will most definitely make these awesome sandwiches.
If you don’t have a TJ”s or Costco near you, you can also get the pretzel rolls at HOneybaked Ham! they sell bags of pretzel bread. MMM so good.
In fact, I think I may go get a ham & cheese sandwich at Honeybaked today for lunch on pretzel bread!
I’m a little late, but I made these tonight. Okay, that’s not true – I made pretzel rolls earlier (I can’t find them here?? Of course, I don’t have a Costco nearby). Then I was hanging out on Pinterest (is it obsessive to reorganize your Pins?
and came across my pin of this recipe. So, since no one but me and the baby were here, and she was asleep already, I decided to make one of the rolls into this sandwich.
Oh. Wow.
Now I know why I get your emails
So simple, yet I’m not sure I would’ve ever thought to do this. Yum. Yum yum.
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