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It's easy to forget that pretzels are baked goods, given the dry twigs passed off in snack-sized bags and the tasteless loops of wheat-based insulation that constitute the average "soft" pretzel. But at the Pennsylvania Dutch Market near Hunt Valley (open Thursday-Saturday only) soft pretzels are a destination food. The Lancaster County Pretzels stall hand-makes golden-brown pretzels ($1.39 each) right before your eyes, brushing them with butter and sprinkling them with salt; the result is something like a thin savory doughnut with a buttery crust, an invitation to gorge (a half dozen goes for $7.31, a dozen for $13.25). Cinnamon sugar, garlic salt, and other alternate toppings are available at slightly higher price points, but they improve nothing. Small meat-stuffed "pretzel logs" take the sublime to the nearly ridiculous for something nominally more like breakfast or lunch. The sausage and cheese log ($2.65) fills a yielding fresh pretzel tube with the real crumbly country stuff and tangy cheese, while the chipped steak log ($2.65) oozes with tender beef, slightly sweet barbecue sauce, and yet more cheese. Unbelievable. Real fresh-squeezed lemonade ($1.14 small, $1.30 medium, $1.75 large), too.

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