Sopapilla Cheesecake

Creamy cheesecake filling is sandwiched between a buttery crescent roll crust and finished with cinnamon sugar and honey in this surprisingly easy sopapilla cheesecake.

Have you ever wanted something that tastes like your childhood? It may not be the most sophisticated food in the world, but does it bring back great memories?

For me, some of these foods include homemade orange julius, orange fluff, ice cream sandwich cake, and this sopapilla cheesecake.

What are Sopapillas?

If you grew up eating at Chi-Chi’s in the ’90s or if you’re familiar with Tex-Mex cuisine, you probably already know what a sopapilla is.

Sopapillas, as we understand them here in the United States, are squares of puffed and fried dough, coated in cinnamon sugar and served with honey. This style of sopapilla is common in New Mexico and Tex-Mex cuisine.

There are other types of sopapillas, from savory to sweet, popular throughout Latin America. But today we’ll recognize that the kind we’re talking about aren’t exactly “authentic,” but they’re still delicious.

As a kid growing up in the Midwest in the ’80s and ’90s, there wasn’t much authentic Mexican or Latin American food around. We thought we’d get caught by going to eat at a place like Chi-Chi!

Even though I grew to love much more authentic Mexican food as an adult, I still remember the waiters bringing out those plates of fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar and being totally delighted. And this is a beautiful memory.

(If you want to try an authentic Mexican version, try this one sopaipilla recipe!)

What is Sopapilla cheesecake?

Sopapilla cheesecake combines the cinnamon-sugar goodness of those sopapillas with one of my all-time favorite foods: cheesecake.

A simple cheesecake filling – much like my grandmother’s easy cheesecake filling – is sandwiched between layers of crescent roll dough. Everything is garnished with a bunch of cinnamon sugar and finished with a drizzle of honey.

This recipe does not make a traditional style round cheesecake. Instead, it’s made in a 9×13-inch pan and cut into bars, just like my classic cheesecake bars.

It’s a super simple recipe, perfect to bring to a party or lunch, as you can cut the cheesecake into as many pieces as you want. And I can bet that more than one person will be transported back to their childhood with just one bite!

How to prepare this recipe

This sopapilla cheesecake is so easy to make, you may find it becomes your new favorite recipe.

Ingredients you will need

You know, when I say a recipe isn’t fancy or complex, the ingredient list is going to be pretty simple. For this, you will need:

• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar, divided use
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 8-ounce cans, refrigerated crescent rolls or sheets
• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons of honey

Pillsbury makes crescent-shaped pasta sheets. They come in a jar like the classic crescent rolls, but the dough is not perforated. This makes it super easy to use in this recipe, as all you have to do is unroll it and press it into the pan.

But if you can’t find the pasta sheets, don’t stress. You can absolutely use regular crescent roll tins. You’ll just want to pinch the perforated seams together before using them in the recipe.

Warehousing

Store the sopapilla cheesecake in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days.

If you want to freeze leftovers, you can. Place the sliced ​​bars on a baking tray lined with baking paper and place the entire pastry in the freezer for 1-2 hours.

Once the cheesecake bars are frozen, store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. Leave them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Recipe FAQs