Sopapilla Cheesecake

This easy recipe for Sopapilla Cheesecake takes a few simple ingredients like crescent roll dough, cream cheese, and cinnamon sugar, and turns them into the best dessert bars ever!

In Mexican and South American cuisine, sopapillas are a fried pastry that can be enjoyed sweet or savory. If you were to enjoy a sweet sopapilla dessert in Mexico you might be served puffed-up fried dough triangles drizzled with honey or sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

That’s not exactly what we’re making here today though. This extremely popular recipe for Sopapilla Cheesecake is loosely based on the traditional sopapilla recipe, but redesigned for maximum enjoyment.

Instead of mixing up a fresh dough, we’re using crescent dough sheets. And instead of deep frying it, we’re baking it, with a rich layer of cheesecake filling in between two doughy layers.

The resulting sopapilla cheesecake (aka sopapilla bars, sopapilla pie, cream cheese delight, or sopapilla cheesecake pie) is a divinely tasty dessert!

Cheesecake bars are always welcome! Try my pumpkin cream cheese bars, or blueberry cheesecake bars too.

Why You’ll Love This Sopapilla Dessert Recipe

1. Tasty Mexican Dessert – Since sopapilla cheesecake is made to taste like Mexican Sopapillas, this cheesecake is wonderful when paired with tacos, nachos, or enchiladas. You can also make sopapilla bars for cinco de mayo!
2. Simple Flavors – I love the simple sweetness of this easy dessert recipe. Buttery dough, creamy, tangy cheesecake filling, and a cinnamon sugar topping all come together in the best way here.
3. Easy Recipe – You’ll need just 6 ingredients and 15 minutes to put these bars together. Give them 40 minutes in the oven and then a little while to cool and you’ll be ready to dig in!

key ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this sopapilla cheesecake recipe:

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Crescent Roll Dough: This recipe works best with the Pillsbury Crescent Dough Sheets, but you can also use a regular roll of crescent roll dough. You’ll just need to patch up the holes in the dough with your fingers as you go.
• Cream Cheese: Regular full-fat cream cheese is the main ingredient for the cheesecake filling for these bars. Avoid low-fat or fat free cream cheese in this recipe, it’s just not the same.
• Cinnamon and Sugar: Sugar sweetens the cream cheese. It’s also mixed with cinnamon to make a crisp, sweet topping.
• Vanilla Extract: This is added to the cream cheese as well to give it the flavor of cheesecake.
• Butter: The top of your sopapilla cheesecake bars will be crispy and amazing because you’ll pour melted butter over the top layer of crescent dough and then sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar!

How To Make Sopapilla Cheesecake

1. Get Ready: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Then unroll one of the crescent roll tubes and lay it on the bottom of the pan. Press the seams together if needed. I’m using the non-perforated crescent dough here.
2. Make Cinnamon Sugar: Mix ¼ cup of sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and set the mixture aside for later.
3. Mix the Cheesecake Filling: In a mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese with vanilla and 1 cup of sugar until well combined.
4. Layer: Add the cream cheese mixture to the pan, and spread evenly over the crescent roll dough.

1. Add The Top Layer: Unroll the second can of crescent roll dough onto a flat surface. Seal the seams with your fingers and then transfer the sheet to the pan, covering the cream cheese layer completely. Then, drizzle the melted butter over the dough.
2. Sprinkle: Grab the cinnamon sugar mixture you created earlier, and use a spoon to evenly sprinkle it over the buttered dough.
3. Bake: Bake the sopapilla cheesecake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until it’s slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Recipe Tips

• Some Recipes Call for an Egg. I didn’t add one here, but you could mix in an egg with the cream cheese filling if you’d like a richer flavor and velvety texture.
• An Offset Spatula is very helpful for smoothing out the cream cheese filling so that the bars are even.
• Be sure to let the bars cool completely before cutting them. They cut best when they’ve been chilled first.
• Cut to Size: Large squares are best if you’re serving this cheesecake as a plated dessert. If you’re serving sopapilla cheesecake as finger food, try cutting it into smaller squares or triangles instead.

Storing Tips

If you should happen to have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can enjoy leftover sopapilla cheesecake bars cold, or heat them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to take the chill off first.

What To Serve With Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

A Sopapilla Dessert is the perfect ending to your taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo feast!

My favorite Mexican meals include Mexican Shredded Beef Tacos, Grilled Shrimp Tacos, Cilantro Lime Chicken, and Chicken Nachos piled high with toppings.

While this sopapilla cheesecake is a nod to a traditional Mexican dessert, you can truly enjoy it with any type of meal.

I’ve been known to make these cinnamon sugar cheesecake bars for brunch, and they are particularly tasty on Christmas morning too, with this delicious Cracker Barrel hashbrown casserole. A perfectly brewed cup of coffee is all that’s missing.

FAQs

Forget all your other dessert recipes – Sopapilla Cheesecake is the dessert you want to make this week! You’ll probably end up making it over and over again, so be sure to Pin the recipe for later.