Sopapilla Cheesecake
Sopapilla cheesecake reinvents the classic Mexican dessert: creamy cheesecake layered between flaky croissant dough, topped with cinnamon, sugar & honey.
What Are Sopapillas?
Sopapillas are a fried pastry that is usually associated with Mexican cuisine. The traditional sopapilla is a dessert made from dough that is cut into triangles, fried, and topped with powdered sugar, cinnamon, and honey. This was the inspiration for our crunchy cinnamon sugar crust.
Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
This is one of the most-requested dessert recipes in our family! My husband started making this sopapilla cheesecake almost 15 years ago for special occasions and it is still a favorite celebration treat!
Real, creamy cheesecake layered between flaky croissant dough and topped with cinnamon, sugar, and honey – it’s easy to see why there are never any leftovers with this one!
Around the holidays, my husband might make five cheesecakes at a time! Our friends and family just can’t get enough!
One taste and you’ll see why it is one of our all-time favorite desserts ever!!
As far as cheesecakes go, this one is relatively easy to make. However, unlike a lot of so-called “easy cheesecake” recipes you find online that are no more than cream cheese mixed with sugar, our creamy cheesecake filling is a real cheesecake!
You’ll drool over this creamy, yet light and fluffy cheesecake, sandwiched between layers of cinnamon-y sopapilla (a traditional Mexican dessert).
Honestly, I don’t think my descriptions do this one justice, so I’ll let the photos do the talking!
PS- My husband’s Guava Cheesecake is amazing too! If you’re looking for a unique cheesecake recipe, this is SO worth a try!
Ingredients
- 2 cans of Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough — Always check the date on the dough can, as older dough (even if it’s not expired) doesn’t taste as good and tears easier.
- 3 (8 ounce) Blocks of Cream Cheese — At room temperature
- 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Sour cream
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract
Toppings
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup Ground Cinnamon
- Honey, for drizzling
Helpful Kitchen Tools
For your convenience, I’ve included shop-able ad links to some of the products used to make this recipe. Disclosure policy available here.
Instructions
To Prep: Preheat oven to 325°F and coat the bottom and sides of your baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Unroll one can of crescent dough in the bottom of the baking dish. If needed, pinch together the seams or perforations to seal them so you have one layer of dough that covers the entire bottom of the pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer), beat together the softened cream cheese and granulated sugar. Add the heavy cream, flour, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the crescent dough. Open the second can of dough, unroll it, and place on top of the cream cheese layer.
- Whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle half of this mixture on top of the dough before placing into preheated oven. Bake at 325°F for 40 minutes.
Prep Tips
- Freezing the Dough – To make the crescent dough easier to handle and less sticky, freeze it for 10 minutes before making this dish.
- Crescent Dough – When we originally published this recipe almost 10 years ago, one can of crescent dough was enough for the entire recipe. However, readers have let me know since then that the size of the cans has changed and this may not be the case anymore. You will probably need two cans of crescent dough, so I would make sure to have enough on hand just in case!
- Gluten-Free Version – Believe it or not, when making them for me, my husband makes these sopapilla cheesecake bars gluten free! All you have to do is use almond flour where this recipe calls for flour and purchase gluten-free crescent dough.
- Substitutions – If you can’t find crescent dough sheets, you can use crescent rolls and unroll them and piece them together like a puzzle to form each of the two layers of dough.
- Serving – Allow cheesecake to cool completely before cutting and serving, so everything will set. After plating each piece, drizzle with honey and finish with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
- Storage – Because this is a real cheesecake, made with dairy products, you’ll definitely want to store any leftovers in the fridge. While it’s ok to leave out on the counter while serving, be sure to place in the fridge after 30 minutes to an hour. This dessert should keep for 2-3 days in a covered container in the refrigerator.
More Unique Cheesecake Recipes To Try:
- Pink Lemonade Mini Cheesecakes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
- Instant Pot Red White and Blue Cheesecake
- Instant Pot Godiva Cheesecake
- Funfetti Swirl Cheesecake
- Guava Cheesecake
- Tropical Fruit Cheesecake Bites
Sopapilla Cheesecake Recipe (Printable Recipe Card)
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Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Equipment
- 9x13 inch baking dish
Ingredients
Cheesecake Ingredients
- 2 cans crescent dough sheets
- 3 blocks cream cheese 8oz each
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- To Prep: Preheat oven to 325°F and coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
- With an electric mixer, beat together softened cream cheese and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add heavy cream, flour, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
- Mix in eggs one at a time, just enough to combine with the batter. Set aside.
- Unroll one can of crescent dough and place in the bottom of the prepared pan, so the bottom is covered.
- Pour cheesecake batter over the first layer of crescent dough.
- Use the second can of crescent dough to cover completely the cheesecake batter.
- In a small bowl, toss together 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cinnamon. Use half of this mixture to coat the top of the cheesecake.
- Bake at 325°F for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for half an hour. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to fully set.
- Before serving, drizzle with honey and dust with remaining cinnamon sugar.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Pin our Easy Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars on Pinterest:
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Hi there Stacey I stumbled upon your blog via Pinterest. This dessert just looks and sounds delish!! Can’t wait to try making it. Just a question, how many eggs does the cheesecake require as it isn’t stated in the recipe above but was included in one of the steps.
Cheers,
Steph
The recipe calls for 4 eggs. Thank you so much for pointing out my accidental omission– I’ve corrected the post! You’re going to love it!!
Mouth is watering!! Pinned and shared on Facebook!
Aww thanks! I made hubby take the leftovers to work so I wouldn’t eat anymore…they are addicting!
Please clarify blocks of cream cheese. How many ounces?
Hi Becky, I’m referring to the standard “block” of cream cheese (usually in single serving box) — these are 8oz each. Sorry for any confusion! I’ll update the recipe to reflect this 🙂
Thank you. I am old enough to remember when there were 4 and 8 ounce blocks.
The printable version is missing a step…to put a second layer of dough prior to putting the cinnamon on top.:)
Thanks for letting me know! I fixed it 🙂
Hi! Is this ok to make the night before to take into work the next morning? I know it says to refrigerate for two hrs but wanted to make sure it would ok to refrigerate overnight.
Hi Kendra, we keep our leftovers in the fridge, so it should be fine to make ahead and keep cold overnight. You can pop it in the oven if you have a chance in the morning, or simply have people microwave at work when they cut a slice. Hope you love it!
Tried this recipe tonight and realized that the recipe was slightly unclear about the amount of dough to use. Most all other recipes call for two cans of dough, one for the top and one for the bottom. My bottom dough was a little thin so I busted into another can only to realize I should have used a whole can on the bottom. Now is the recipe was for an 8×8 I could see using one can of dough. It looks and smells delish otherwise! Can’t wait to test one!
I REALLY NEED TO KNOW IF YOU CAN FREEZE CRESCENT ROLL CHEESECAKE, FOR A MONTH. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE
CRUST WHEN THAWED.
Hi Dana – I would wrap the cheesecake in parchment paper and then place in a freezer bag. It should freeze and reheat fine, though the curst might not be quite as flaky as when it is freshly baked. Hope this helps!
Hi! When I made the recipe the crescent dough didn’t cook at all. Did this happen to anyone else? Not sure what I did wrong.
It shows just one can of dough.. so the bottom layer has only 4 triangles… half the can?
Hi Raq- we used the jumbo cans for this recipe, so if you use the smaller cans you’ll probably need two. Hope this helps!
Well, since the recipe doesn’t state that I bought one cam, so mine has just the bottom crust, and the top is an open cheesecake with the cinnamon and sugar and the honey on it
I feel like they have changed the amounts in the cans, so you may actually need two cans now. I’ll check and adjust the recipe. That’s shrink-flation for ya!
Hi you mentioned it can be gluten free with almond flour but doesn’t the dough have gluten ? My sis has celiac so want to make sure
Hi Joanna, you’d want to make sure to buy gluten free dough – I’ll make sure to update the recipe so that is more clear.
1/4 Cup of cinnamon?
Yes, this will be mixed with sugar for the topping
I would recommend changing the ingredients to clarify 1 jumbo can of crescent dough or 2 cans of the regular size (don’t think your typical stores carry Croissant dough). I’ve got everything started and the dough is only going to work on the bottom (as I see mentioned above). Wish I had known that, for now I have to stop and go back to the store.
Can’t wait to make it, just think this is an important detail.. Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback! This is an older recipe and it’s possible that product contents have changed…thanks shrinkflation! 🙁 I’ll take a look at it.