Blueberry Pretzel Bombs with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
Pillowy soft, blueberry-studded dough with that classic pretzel crust. Sweet and creamy lemon filling inside. A hint of crunch from the buttery sugar topping. It’s hand held heaven!
Ingredients
Blueberry Pretzels
- 1 package rapid-rise yeast
- 1 ¼ tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ¾ cup dried blueberries, roughly chopped
- 4 cups flour
- 6 tbsp salted butter
- ¾ cup baking soda for boiling the pretzels
- 1 egg
Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
Pretzel Topping
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp salted butter melted
Instructions
- Warm 1 1/2 cups water to between 110-115 °F (water that is too hot will kill the yeast = flat pretzels!).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, gently mix the warm water, yeast, sugar, and salt. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make this dough by hand, but it will be a lot of kneading!
- Allow the yeast to proof for 10 minutes (foam should begin to form on the surface).
- Turn on the mixer to a medium speed and add in the blueberries and soft butter.
- With the mixer running, slowly add the flour in 1/2 cup increments. You may not need all of the flour, or you may need a little more. You’ll know the dough is finished when its exterior is smooth and elastic, only slightly sticky, and the bulk of the dough wraps around the dough hook.The process of adding and kneading in the flour should take around 10-15 minutes for adequate kneading.
- Move the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Place the dough in a warm area (inside an oven that is off but with the oven light turned on works well). Allow the dough to rise for an hour (it should double in size).
- While the dough is rising, make the filling by mixing together the cream cheese, heavy cream, vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice, and sugar, until smooth.
- ou can taste the filling and add more lemon zest or sugar to adjust the filling to your liking. Place the filling in a plastic bag, pressing out excess air before closing, and put it in the fridge until it is time to fill the pretzels.
- Once the dough is finished rising, preheat the oven to 425 °F and bring 10 cups water plus the baking soda to a boil on the stove.
- To prepare the pretzel bombs, divide the risen dough in half 4 times until you have about 16 even pieces of dough.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough until it becomes a flat disk, about 1/4 inch thick. Snip off the corner of the plastic bag of filling and use the bag to pipe about a tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough disk. Fold the edges of the dough into the center and pinch the sides together to seal in the filling.
- Place the filled pretzel seam side down onto a greased baking sheet. Continue until all the dough pieces have been filled.
- Once the water + baking soda have come to a boil, dunk each pretzel bomb into the boiling water, one by one, for 30 seconds each before draining and placing them back on baking sheet. This gives them that classic pretzel crust!
- Whip together the egg and 2 tablespoons water to make an egg wash, then lightly brush the tops of the pretzel bombs right before they go in the oven.
- Bake the pretzels for 15-18 minutes. When the pretzels are browned and shiny, remove them from the oven, brush the tops with melted butter, and sprinkle sugar over them.
- Serve warm and prepare to fall in love!