This sopapilla cheesecake is a satisfying treat made from a light and airy crescent roll dough, a delicious cream cheese filling, and a cinnamon sugar topping. It’s the perfect dessert to complete your Cinco de Mayo celebration!
This Sopapilla Cheesecake is one of the tastiest and most delicious desserts I’ve ever made. It’s also extremely easy to put together from start to finish!
Made from the perfect combination of a light and airy dough filled with a creamy and sweet cheesecake filling and topped with cinnamon sugar. There’s literally not a single thing about this sopapilla cheesecake recipe I would change, and I’m so excited for you to try them! A word of warning – they’re highly addicting, so proceed with caution.
What are Sopapillas?
Traditional New-Mexican sopapillas are fried pastries that are covered in cinnamon sugar, drizzled with honey, and eaten for dessert. When fried, the pastry often puffs up and creates a big air pocket in the middle, making the sopapillas very pillow-like.
For this recipe, I’m achieving the pillow-like light and airy texture by using 2 rolls of refrigerated crescent roll dough. Not only does using the pre-made dough make this recipe much easier to make, but it also doesn’t need to be fried like traditional sopapillas.
Sopapilla Cheesecake
What’s better than buttery dough covered in cinnamon sugar? An easy cheesecake filling sandwiched in between two sheets of buttery dough covered in cinnamon sugar!
The cheesecake filling is super easy to make – just mix together cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Ingredients
- Cheesecake filling: Made from butter, eggs, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. It’s a smooth, creamy, and rich filling that makes everyone want just one more bite.
- Dough: Using refrigerated crescent roll dough makes this recipe quick and easy to make! You need 2 8-inch tubes.
- Cinnamon sugar: Granulated sugar and ground cinnamon add the perfect sweetness to this dessert.
How to Make Sopapilla Cheesecake
Make the cheesecake filling: Add cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Using a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients together until smooth.
Assemble the sopapilla cheesecake: Open one can of crescent roll dough and lay it into a baking dish. Pinch together the perforations of the dough with your fingers so that it’s sealed.
Spread the cream cheese mixture in an even layer on top of the dough. Open the second can of crescent roll dough just like the first can of dough. Place the dough on top of the cream cheese seam side down.
Bake: Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake it for about 30 minutes in a 350°F oven until the dough is golden and cooked through.
Serve: Let cool and slice into 12 squares.
Quick Tip!
To make a small batch, halve all the ingredients and assemble it in a 9×9-inch pan. Half of one crescent roll dough tube can be placed on the bottom and the other half on top.
Recommended Tools
- Baking dish. A good 9×13-inch baking dish is a must have for all things baking.
- Glass mixing bowls. These bowls are my favorite for measuring out ingredients and mixing.
- Electric hand mixer: Perfect for those times when you don’t need to take out the stand mixer. A great inexpensive kitchen tool!
Storage and Freezing
If you’re only feeding a few people and have some bars left over, you can store them in an airt tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you want to store them for longer, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat them, simply take them out of the freezer, place them on a plate, and defrost them in the fridge or in the microwave.
More Dessert Recipes
Ingredients
- nonstick cooking spray or oil, for greasing
- 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- 2 (8-inch) tubes refrigerated crescent roll dough
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the cinnamon sugar topping
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or grease with cooking oil.
- Make the cinnamon sugar topping by mixing together the sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix together all the ingredients until mostly smooth.
- Open one can of crescent roll dough and lay it into the prepared baking dish, making sure to stretch it to reach all the edges of baking dish. Pinch together the perforations of the dough with your fingers so that it’s sealed and makes one solid sheet. Do the best you can – if there are still a few holes here and there, it’s okay.
- Spread the cream cheese mixture in an even layer on top of the dough.
- Open the second can of crescent roll dough, lay it out on a sheet of parchment paper and pinch together the perforations just like the first can of dough. Remove the dough from the parchment paper and place it on top of the cream cheese seam side down.
- Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with prepared cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes, until dough is golden and cooked through. Let cool and slice into 12 bars.
Video
Isabel’s Tips:
Nutrition Information
Photos by Erin Jensen of The Wooden Skillet.
These are delicious and easy to put together! Thank you for another great recipe!
It was a big hit to two different groups. The second group got a frozen (2 weeks) one and now I’ve got. Another one in my freezer for drop-in company
This was an easy to follow recipe and sooo yummy! I took some to work and Everyone enjoyed it! I bragged about this recipe to my mom and I will be making it for her and the rest of my family too to enjoy!!
Delicious, easy to make snd a hit with everyone❤️
Looks delicious! Do you think you could use puff pastry in place of the crescent roll dough? I just happen to have some on hand…
Hi Laura! We haven’t tried this with puff pastry but you can definitely try it! Let us know how it turns out!
Your recipes sounds so scrumptious delicious and I will try some out
Another delicious and easy to make recipe! My partner loves sopapillas so this was such a treat to make her!! I am not a good baker and this was incredibly easy to make!
This was easy to make and delicious! I found crescent roll sheets, so I did not have to piece the crust together. I did cut back on the sugar -used only a 1/2 cup – that is mixed into the cream cheese batter. After I put the batter in the pan I added some cinnamon and swirled it into the batter. Turned out great!
I place a piece of parchment paper on the cabinet and draw lines around the bottom of the baking pan. Next, I spread out the second container of crescent rolls on the paper to almost fit the drawing of the pan . Then I just turn the paper over and carefully detached the rolls on top of the filling. Perfect every time.
What an awesome find this recipe is, thank you for sharing!! I just made this for a Mexican-themed potluck, and it was a hit! So easy to make, quick to bake, and quick to be eaten lol. The only slightly tricky part was placing the second crust on top, but with another set of hands helping me it was fine. I will definitely be making this again.
So happy it was a hit! It’s so addicting, haha 🙂