Easy Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars (+Video)
Easy Sopapilla Cheesecake is made with crescent roll dough, cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. A deliciously easy dessert!
A SIMPLE CINNAMON SUGAR DESSERT
I absolutely love the sopapillas. Sopapillas are basically light and fluffy fried dough that’s been rolled in cinnamon sugar. They are amazingly delicious when drizzled with honey! Around here we jokingly call them sofa pillows. My Grandma actually made these when she visited us years ago and I’ve been making them her way ever since!
TIPS FOR MAKING SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE BARS:
- If you can find the crescent roll dough sheets, they will be a lot easier to use here since you won’t have to push the seams together.
- For a richer flavor, try using a combination of white and brown sugar.
- Try serving these with a little honey or chocolate or strawberry syrup drizzled on top!
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a maximum of 3 days.
- If you like lemon flavors, try my Lemon Cheesecake Bar recipe that is made similarly!
- Leftovers can also be frozen but the texture of the crescent roll dough might be a bit soggy once they defrost.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- refrigerated crescent rolls – if you can find the crescent roll dough sheets, I would purchase those since it makes it a bit easier and you don’t have to worry about pinching the seams together.
- cream cheese – it is really important that the cream cheese is softened to room temperature. If not, it will not whip up smooth and you’ll end up with a bunch of lumps you can’t get out.
- sugar – I like to use regular white granulated sugar but you could also use brown sugar here too for more depth of flavor since brown sugar has molasses in it.
- vanilla extract – you can play with the extract flavors here if you like. I think maple or even a butter extract might be a fun switch.
- salted butter – it might seem weird to use salted butter in a sweet dessert but the tad bit of saltiness is a nice contrast of flavor to all the sweetness.
- sugar and cinnamon – you can purchase the cinnamon sugar that is already combined instead of mixing it together yourself. Whatever is easiest for you here!
HOW TO MAKE SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE BARS:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind that has flour in it.) Unroll one tube of crescent rolls and layer in bottom of pan, pressing seams together.
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until blended.
Spread cream cheese mixture over bottom layer of crescent rolls.
Layer remaining crescent rolls on top. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
Bake, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into 12 squares. And serve.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: February 2012
Updated and republished: April 2021
Easy Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2 (8 ounce) tubes refrigerated crescent rolls (or crescent roll dough sheets)
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Spray a 9 x 13- inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (I like the kind that has flour in it).
- Unroll one tube of crescent rolls and layer in bottom of pan, pressing seams together (unless you are using the crescent roll dough sheets.
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until blended.
- Spread cream cheese mixture over bottom layer of crescent rolls.
- Layer remaining crescent rolls on top, pressing seams together (again, not necessary when using crescent roll dough sheets.)
- Drizzle the top with melted butter.
- Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
- Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until light golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- If you can find the crescent roll dough sheets, they will be a lot easier to use here since you won’t have to push the seams together.
- For a richer flavor, try using a combination of white and brown sugar.
- Try serving these with a little honey or chocolate or strawberry syrup drizzled on top!
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a maximum of 3 days.
- Leftovers can also be frozen but the texture of the crescent roll dough might be a bit soggy once they defrost.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
great recipe!!
can you substitute pie crust instead of Cresent roll dough?
I would worry it would be soggy. I’m not sure the bottom pie crust would puff up enough and it would stay thin under the weight of the filling and not get fully cooked. You really need a sturdy bottom because these are not light (in weight).
I had this years ago at a friends whos neighbour brought them for dessert! LOVED IT and searched for years to find out what they were called and a recipe. Made this….OMG..I’m in trouble. DELICIOUS!
Easy, easy, easy and beautiful to look at and taste!
How would you adjust the baking time, if you cut the recipe in half and make in a 8 by 8 inch pan?
Will try this for sure! Looks yummy!
Everything I see looks great. Thanks for the recipe!
I was wondering how well you think this would freeze? I know it’s a silly question. I am the only one that likes the sopapilla. It pretty large for one person. If it freezes well it would easy to enjoy several different times just making it once.
I have been making this for a few years. My kids favorite dessert. Sometimes I add a can of caramel apple pie filling on top of the cheesecake mixture. They love it that way.
I would love that cookbook! There are so many of your recipes that I would love to try off of here as well! I made your sopapilla cheesecake today and blogged about it on my blog I started a couple weeks ago! I gave you credit of course 🙂
I would love to win this book just because it's nice to just enjoy the simple things <3 <3
Anything to help save time in the kitchen is a God send to busy moms today. I love recipes that add to any shortcuts I might already have in my file. I love using pre-made pie shells to make quiche for my family or the tubes of herbs that are in the vegetable aisle now. One thing nice about Gooseberry Patch cookbooks are they use common items found on the pantry or refrigerator shelves.
I love to use Zipper storage bags to combine ingredients together. When I make apple pies or chex mix or thins like that it makes it so much easier to mix all the things together and the clean up is a breeze, I either throw it away or wash it out and use it again. When I make Chex mix I can use it 3 or 4 times in a row before the bag has to be thrown away. I love your sight I get so many new ideas for homemade food that I am always impressing my neighbors with my new dinners and desserts, until I share the recipe with them and then they see how easy it was.
I so love your recipes for making dishes so easy to make, and I love a new cookbook.
This has got to be one of my favorite "go to" desserts! Everyone absolutely Ooooh's and Ahhh's over it every time I whip one up! I actually made one yesterday and added a can of cherry pie filling on top of the cream cheese layer. It was sooo yummy! I omitted the cinnamon for the cherry, but I have also used apple pie filling, and I leave the cinnamon for it. Both are a yummy twist to this already decadent dessert! Try 'em out if you haven't already!
I make these all the time, and bring them to every potluck! This recipe is a keeper in my home lindseyharding94@gmail.com
Hi Brandi,
I have to tell you that you have gotten me hooked on gooseberry patch books! Ever since you posted about the new harvest cookbook that they put out, I've been requesting them like crazy from our inter-library loan system (the system requests books from other libraries in the state). The local librarians kept looking at the books that would come in for me and started requesting them for themselves. Then, they decided to do a fundraiser for the local library by selling gooseberry patch cookbooks! I just wanted to let you know the effect one of your posts had on our neighborhood! Lol! Keep posting your great recipes and know that there are A LOT of people out here who appreciate you and all that you do! 🙂
Jennifer
jenkania@bex.net
I LOVE your blog and all the recipes you share with all of us 🙂 I really NEED all the shortcuts I can get! Between work and my commute I get home at the time most people are washing up AFTER dinner! Needless to say I'm exhausted but still hungry! I try to cook "ahead" and plan out meals but even that takes time (and weekends are so precious with little time for everything that MUST get done before Monday rolls around again too quickly it seems). Again thanks for all you do – incl these great little giveaways (keeping my fingers crossed 🙂
I love your recipes! And I would love a cookbook,but Im way at the bottom here!You might not see me! Im Marie marsc@fastmail.fm
I'm loving your recipes, but I just wanted to clear something up. A sopapilla is not what you describes. We eat sopapillas like bread with our meals. It is simply fried dough that puffs up. We also stuff them with beans, meat, cheese and smother them with red or green chili and more cheese. We do eat them after a meal sometimes with honey. Just giving you a little lesson in our food here in New Mexico.
You should be able to substitute Splenda in this. I don't see why not…
Can i substitute the sugar for like splenda? I love the cheesecake bars but i have to watch my sugar intake.
I like chopping onions, celery and bell peppers and portioning them in baggies to put in the freezer. I love your recipes and have made several of them.
I'm a new step mother to 3 growing boys ages 13, 12 and 10. I could use a new cookbook full of shortcuts! I feel helpless in the kitchen now.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to win!
taralorraine@hotmail.com
I love Gooseberry Patch. This looks like a wonderful cookbook. Could use some simple recipes. Thanks! 🙂 Teri