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A little while ago I made cream cheese and jalapeno filled pretzels.

I used a standard, mall-style, pretzel dough.

The filling was cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and minced jalapenos.

The dough was shaped into balls, allowed to rest and then spread into disks. One or two teaspoons of filling was placed in the center and the dough was gathered around the filling and pinched shut. The pretzels were formed into small logs about two inches long with the seam down.

They were then dipped in a baking soda solution, salted, let proof, and baked at 450F for around 10 minutes.

On baking, the majority of the pretzels burst open and the filling partially leaked out. They were still delicious and were eaten almost instantly by my guests.

How do I prevent my filled pretzels from blowing out?

Sobachatina
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  • What exactly is pretzel dough? I know we had a conversation about this once in chat, and Americans used the name 'pretzel' for everything in that shape, while me (and rumtscho perhaps) use the word for the crunchy, salty snacks. – Mien Jul 24 '12 at 22:39
  • @Mien- Edited to include a link to the recipe. Pretzels can be hard and crunchy or chewy- like salty bagel ropes. This was the chewy variety. – Sobachatina Jul 24 '12 at 22:41
  • I think this is a dupe, it doesn't matter if you dip your filled bread in lye or not. – rumtscho Jul 25 '12 at 11:25
  • @rumtscho- I agree the lye probably doesn't make a difference. A dupe of which question? I didn't find one. I don't care if this question is closed if the other one answers it for me. – Sobachatina Jul 25 '12 at 13:55
  • You can try stick the dough (toothpicks), until reach the fill, before baking. Works with breads but sometimes the fills melt and leak as well. – Diana Jul 26 '12 at 04:46
  • Did they burst along the seams or at random places? – FuzzyChef Jul 26 '12 at 04:56
  • @FuzzyChef- Both. – Sobachatina Jul 26 '12 at 14:14
  • Odd. I've never made filled pretzels, though, so I don't have a solution for you. – FuzzyChef Jul 27 '12 at 03:40
  • Finding the dupe was a bit hard, but then I was amazed to notice that it was asked by ... you. http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/21699/why-does-bread-with-filling-separate-and-how-do-i-prevent-it/21700#21700. If you think that it is not a dupe, please clarify why it is different, I think it is the same thing happening. – rumtscho Aug 15 '12 at 22:27
  • Yes- I wondered if that was the question you were thinking of. That question is about a lack of adhesion between layers of dough. This one is about a liquid (when melted) filling forcing its way through a solid layer of bread. I think the problem is caused by steam in both cases but I don't think the solution is the same. That said- I think a couple of the suggestions in that question may help here (roll tightly to reduce air pockets, proof well, prick to vent steam). I'm going to try those combined with Jergstar's suggestion below to freeze the filling. – Sobachatina Aug 16 '12 at 02:08

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I would suspect that it's steam from the filling causing your pretzels to split during baking. I would try freezing small globs of the filling before cooking, hopefully then it won't get hot enough to steam and split. This is a technique they use in the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook to make "Bagel Bombs". http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2012/04/everything-bagel-bombs.html

Jergstar
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  • Interestingly the bagels in your link exploded just like my pretzels! It looks like they were frozen just to make it easier to roll the dough around the filling. – Sobachatina Aug 15 '12 at 18:53
  • Hah, I should have looked more closely! Hmmm, maybe poking a hole in the top to help vent the steam? That might just exacerbate the problem though... – Jergstar Aug 15 '12 at 19:20