Texas Twinkies: Jalapeño Stuffed With Leftover Brisket
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Take a jalapeño popper and stuff it with brisket, and you’ve got yourself a Texas Twinkie.
These delicious appetizers are loaded with leftover smoked brisket, and cheese, wrapped in bacon, and coated with bbq sauce.
They are easy to make on the smoker, so, let’s get on with the recipe.
Smoked Texas Twinkies
Texas Twinkie is a combination of all that is great about BBQ. Smokey, spicy, smooth, sweet, cheesy, and BACON. What’s not to like?
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If you’re wondering where the “Texas” comes from, it’s the addition of chopped smoked brisket to the cream cheese mixture.
You’ll need some leftover brisket for this recipe. If you’ve never smoked a brisket before, check out our in-depth brisket guide. We also have a smoked pellet grill brisket and a hot and fast brisket recipe, if you are short on time.
What you need for Texas Twinkies
- Beef brisket – Hopefully, you have some leftover brisket stashed in your freezer, or maybe you just smoked a brisket. I like to use the fattier point end of the brisket.
- Thin-cut bacon – To make sure it renders properly and gets crispy.
- Fresh whole jalapeños
- Softened cream cheese – For extra flavor, use our smoked cream cheese.
- Shreddedd cheese – I like using Colby jack, but shredded cheddar or Gouda would work
- BBQ rub – I used our brisket rub, but BBQ rub will work fine.
- BBQ sauce – Brushed on at the end, any sweet barbecue sauce will work.
How to make Texas twinkies
1. Prep
Take your leftover or thawed brisket and chop it into small pieces. The smaller pieces allow you to get more brisket into the jalapeño, which is the goal here.
You’ll need about one cup of leftover chopped brisket.
To prepare your jalapeños, either split them lengthwise or keep them whole and core out the inside, removing the seeds and membrane.
If coring out the inside, cut the tops off and use the back handle of a spoon to push it in and twist. The seeds should come right out. If there are a few bits stuck inside, run some water from your sink, and everything should be nice and clean on the inside.
If you like a spicier bite, don’t remove all of the seeds. Leave a few of them in there, or you can mix them in with your filling later.
Make sure to wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly afterward. You don’t want to be touching your eyes or going to the bathroom during this process. Trust me; it’s not fun.
2. The filling
Take your chopped brisket and add it to a bowl along with 16oz of softened cream cheese and one cup of shredded Colby Jack cheese. Then add one tablespoon of BBQ rub.
Mix all the ingredients together until the brisket mixture is well combined.
3. Stuff the jalapeños
Place the cream cheese mixture into a piping or zip lock bag, then cut the corner and pipe it into each jalapeño. Be careful not to overfill, as the mixture will expand when it warms up.
You can also use a spoon to scoop the cream cheese mixture in and press down with your finger to ensure the entire jalapeño is filled.
Wrap each jalapeño with a piece of bacon and secure it with a toothpick if needed.
Place on a wire to make it easy to move the twinkies on and off your smoker. You could place them directly on the grill grates, but it can be fiddly to remove the Twinkies one at a time.
4. Smoke your Texas Twinkies
Fire up your smoker and get it up to temp around 350°F. I used my Traeger Timberline with hickory pellets from Bear Mountain BBQ. Use any smoke wood that you would pair with brisket.
The bacon and brisket are already smoked, so the high heat will help get the bacon crispy and the jalapeño soft. The jalapeños will take on some smoke flavor during the process, but it’s not really our focus here.
Smoke the twinkies for about 45 minutes or until the bacon is where you like it. If you used thick cut bacon, you may have to smoke a little bit longer.
About 10 minutes before you remove them from the smoker, brush on some BBQ sauce and let the bacon glaze before you bring them inside and devour.
It really is that easy!! I serve these as is, but a zesty ranch dressing would also work for dipping.
Other spicy jalapeño recipes to try
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
- Jalapeño Popper Dip Recipe
- Grilled Brisket Breakfast Burrito with Jalapeño Cheese Blanket
- Smoked Armadillo Eggs
Texas Twinkies
Ingredients
- 12 whole jalapeños - fresh
- 1 cup leftover brisket - chopped
- 16 oz softened cream cheese - Smoked cream cheese would also work great
- 1 cup shreded Colby Jack cheese - Gouda or mozzarella would also work
- 1 tsp BBQ rub
- 12 slices thin-cut bacon
- 2 tbsp BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Fire up the smoker to 350°F.
- Cut the tops of each jalapeño and use a spoon handle to remove seeds and membrane
- Dice up the brisket into small chunks that will fit into your jalapenos.
- Mix softened cream cheese, Colby Jack, BBQ rub, and brisket in a bowl together.
- Fill a piping bag or zip-lock back with the cream cheese mixture and fill each jalapeño.
- Wrap each jalapeño with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick if needed.
- Smoke for 45 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
- Glaze with your favorite BBQ sauce and smoke for an additional 10 minutes to finish.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation only. If you’re worried you could always add a side of kale.
About Your Pitmaster
Jordan Hanger is a grilling enthusiast known for bold, approachable recipes that blend American and Asian BBQ. Growing up with an American dad and Korean mom, he developed a love for fusion flavors, inspiring his brand, Ninjacue.
With over over one million followers on social media, Jordan makes great barbecue fun and accessible for everyone.
Fantastic.