Soft, buttery salt bread is catching on with Atlanta bakeries.
Three examples of salt bread (from left): Toasted coconut salt bread from Butter and Bean (Courtesy of Lydia Huh); salt bread at Leftie Lee’s (Courtesy of Vivian Lee); assorted salt breads from Butter and Bean (Courtesy of Lydia Huh).
Move over, trendy pastries like crookies, brookies and Dubai chocolate — there’s a new bakery item in town: salt bread.
Unlike trends that involve shoving one pastry into another, salt bread’s virality is rooted in simplicity, capturing attention with little other than butter and a bit of salt. Shio pan, or Japanese salt bread, is the beloved bakery staple that has quickly gained traction and spread from Japan throughout Asia over the past decade.
Mochi salt bread from Leftie Lee’s in Avondale Estates. (Courtesy of Leftie Lee’s)
Why is salt bread so popular?
At first glance, salt bread looks like any other roll, something ordinary and easily passed over in search of flakier or more colorful pastries. Someone unfamiliar with salt bread might even suspect a major baking error, seeing a questionably smooth croissant that entirely missed the lamination process, adorned with only a few flecks of salt acting as its saving grace. The Bake in Duluth said it well in a social media post: “Looks Innocent. Tastes Criminal.”
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All salt bread has a butter hole, a cavity left behind in the baking process after a triangular strip of dough is wrapped around a piece of butter. (Courtesy of Lydia Huh)
Butter holes, crispy bottoms and salty finishes
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A variety of sweet and savory versions of salt bread from Butter and Bean in Duluth. (Courtesy of Lydia Huh)
Atlanta bakeries offering salt bread
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Pastries A Go Go owner, Adriana Park holds a plate of assorted cookies and a Bacon and Eggs Biscuit with home fries at her location in Downtown Decatur. Pastries A Go Go sometimes offers salt bread as a special. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)
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Toasted coconut cream cheese salt bread from Butter and Bean in Duluth. (Courtesy of Lydia Huh)
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