Monday, October 4, 2010

Ugly But Delicious

I had a little teaser picture over the weekend for this recipe, and a couple people guessed what it was! This ugly but delicious recipe is Sopaipilla Cheesecake! Ever had a sopaipilla? Even know what a sopaipilla is? Well let me tell you. Here in Texas, we can get sopaipillas at Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants as dessert. It's a deep fried piece of dough that puffs as it cooks, making a pillow of sorts. They're served warm with a side of butter and honey for drizzling in the center or on top of them. See picture here. They're super light and airy, the slightest bit chewy and sweet.

I've had sopaipillas dusted with powdered sugar, plain with honey, drizzled with chocolate sauce and now with cinnamon sugar. The recipe calls it cheesecake, but these are more like cheesecake bars as they consist of a crust on the bottom and the top of the sweetened cheesy filling. This is by no means a low-cal dessert, although you could use neufchatel or reduced fat cream cheese as well as reducing the sugar and using margarine in place of the butter. However, if they taste like dirt, don't be complainin' to me!

This recipe came together in a matter of minutes. I wasn't so sure they would amount to much, flavor wise, because it was rather ugly looking, but sometimes those are the best recipes. Can I get an Amen?! The best part, in my opinion, was the flaky buttery cinnamon sugar on top of the crescent dough. It reminded me very much of cinnamon toast...with a side of cheesecake. Does it get better? I preferred these cold because I don't like warm cream cheese, but slightly warmed with a drizzle of honey would also be delicious. I would definitely make these again, only next time I'd increase the filling. You can never have too much filling!

Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars from Food.com

Printer Friendly Verison

  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
  • 2 (8 ounce) tubes refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (Pillsbury brand)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Using a greased 9 x 13 baking pan, unroll one package of refrigerated crescent rolls. Line the bottom of the pan and flatten, pinching seams together as you go. In a medium bowl, add together the cream cheese, sugar and extract. Mix til well blended. Spread mixture over the crescent rolls.

Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture.

Pour one stick of melted butter over the top and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, eat at room temperature or serve chilled. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Hope you have a great day. Thanks for stopping by!

48 comments:

Katie said...

They don't look ugly - delicious more like! Cinnamon toast with a side of cheesecake - yes please!
You always manage to show me desserts I've never seen before and make me very jealous in the process :)

Coleens Recipes said...

Oh my goodness, how can you say these are ugly? How delicious is that??? I'm definitely trying this.

Jeanette said...

They sure don't look ugly to me. Yummy pops into my mind.

Debbie said...

No way are those ugly Monica...are u crazy???? They look mouth watering. I am going to try these soon. They are my type of recipe!

Julie @ Willow Bird Baking said...

I LOVE sopaipillas! You better believe I'll be tryin' this!!

From the Kitchen said...

I think these look delicious. They're not ugly at all. And, if you had a square cake stand, you could pop them on top and put fresh fruit or something around--just saying = ) !!!!!

Best,
Bonnie

Avril said...

Drooling over here! :-)

My Little Part of Heaven said...

I want one of everything you have made!
I am sooooooo happy to have stumbled on your blog this morning.
Happy baking......... ♥

cookies and cups said...

That is true beauty right there, nothing ugly, just yummy sweetness!

Hilary said...

This is such a delicious dessert. A friend of mine shared her recipe with me last year after she brought this cheesecake to a party. It's so easy! Your pictures are fantastic.

Cassie said...

This looks so amazing! Around here, they serve savory sopapillas too, which are my absolute favorite thing in the world. The sweet version is delicious too, though, and I love that you turned it into a cheesecake!

Misc Momma said...

They look delicious to me! Maybe I'll make these for my work birthday treat!

Would you just make 1.5x the cream cheese mixture? Or double? I like more filling too.
Tara

Selena said...

Mmmmm...I grew up on sopapillas! These look fantastic!

Julie said...

I've had sopapillas but never in cheesecake form. I'll take two please!

Healthy and Homemade said...

OMG yummmmmmmmmmmmmm

cla517 said...

OMG! I LOVE Sopaipillas!! And it's rare to find them here in florida. I'm trying this recipe this weekend for sure!

Sue said...

I don't think they are ugly at all! I have a recipe from a lady at our old church for something called cheesecake bars. She brought them in for coffee hour and I remember they were made with crescent rolls. I'll have to look to see if it is the same recipe. If so, they are delicious. Yours look thicker than I remember hers being. You don't like warm cream cheese? I like cream cheese any way!

Abby said...

You are too hard on yourself because those are FAR from ugly! That dripping honey is killer.

megan @ whatmegansmaking said...

I don't think they look ugly at all! I tried to take a picture of no-bakes a few weeks ago - now those are ugly :) But these look delicious!

Unknown said...

ive heard the word sopapilla many many times before but i never knew what it was. i always though it was some kind of dinner haha :D but now i know and it looks absolutely delicious! :P

Kate H.(www.sprinkletherapy.blogspot.com) said...

So funny that you posted this recipe! My mom made this a few weeks ago and again this past weekend for our Pastor Appreciation at church :) It is a hit, especially for men! My husband & my dad couldn't get enough of it!

Holly said...

These bars look easy and yummy!:)

Leslie Harris said...

Okay hun, where are the ugly pics? I read this post twice and didn't see any ugly food or pics! :)

I've never had sopapillas, but after seeing them topped with honey, I will be trying them very soon. :)

Ingrid_3Bs said...

AMEN! LOL, those are NOT ugly by any means or stretch of the imagination, Monica!


I just love, love, love that photo of the honey dripping on!
~ingrid

kelly said...

i think it looks delish! i made this for a cinco de mayo party and people went crazy, almost everyone asked for the recipe. i eat gluten free so i couldn't taste it but apparently it is quite tasty!!
not sure why i torture myself with your blog but everything just looks so yummy i think i should make it for my husband!

Anonymous said...

You call THIS ugly? come on girl! ;) I think they look scrumptious! And I have never heard of sopapillas and I love in latn america! And with cheesecake! Perfect! Thanks for this (:

-Amalia

http://buttersweetmelody.wordpress.com

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

im getting hungry just looking at this. they look fantastic. thank you for sharing.

Rina said...

Ok I always thought sopaipillas were savory...shows how much I know!! LOL

Thanks also for entering my CSN stores contest!!!

Anonymous said...

what ugly? these are gorgeouss!!

oneordinaryday said...

Monica! These are far from ugly! I've never heard of this before, but it sounds delicious.

Patti said...

I don't think it's ugly at all...quite the opposite! I'm so going to make this! Even if it means that I have to eat it all myself because hubby and the boys hate anything with cream cheese. (such a shame huh? LOL)

Foodiewife said...

I'll give you an Amen. Pass a slice here, please. Amen. I love that drizzled honey. No way is this ugly, by the way. Amen.

Natasha @ Saved by the Egg Timer said...

Amen to that! Fast, easy, looks delish (what is not to like? Cream Cheese, Croisants and Cinnamon? yummy) and not ugly!

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

Doesn't look ugly to me....looks totally wonderful! Mmmmm!

Keeley said...

I've had these, but we don't call it sopapilla cheesecake! It's sooo yummy. They aren't ugly at all. One of my coworkers brings this in when we have brunch at meetings and we enjoy it with coffee. I've used reduced fat cream cheese and reduced fat crescent rolls and it still comes out great!

Unknown said...

Ha-ha! Love the title. Trust me, mine was truly ugly. Unlike yours which looks pretty darn tasty if you ask me.

Treehouse Chef said...

These look delicious! I am going to make this recipe for sure.

Deanna S. said...

If you've made something "ugly" look that fantastic, then you are an incredible photographer! Must try since there was a huge sale on crescent rolls recently and I stocked up! Thanks...

Unknown said...

I'm in a quandary over here...I LOVE sopaipillas but don't really like cheesecake. I think I may need to give this a try anyway. Hmmm...

Heather S-G said...

Oh my gosh, what a great idea! I love sopapillas...and now I must make this. Thank you, Monica. ;P

Pip said...

I made these on Saturday night for a party I had on Sunday. The recipe went together very quickly, although I had some difficulty getting the to layer of crescent rolls on properly. I also used low fat cream cheese. the house smelled totally amazing while they were baking. All that buttery cinnamony goodness was divine.

They are/were delicious! They were the most favorite thing of all the things I baked for the party, and that included a caramel apple tart that was to die for. I cut them into little triangles and it made bunches. I sent the leftovers to work with my husband on Monday and the guys he works with loved them with thier morning coffee.

I highly recommend this recipe if you're looking for a yummy treat. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

Lamchops said...

My family loves these! We have been making them for a few years now but the recipe we use has you put your favorite pie filling on top & a scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream-YUMMM! Try it.

Karla said...

love your blog... was totally surprised when i saw the word sopaipillas! My Dad made them all the time when i was groing up, he is from Durango,Mexico... going to make this treat today!! Thanks for sharing!!

Reagan said...

I've made Sopapilla Cheesecake for years! It's my most requested recipe for potlucks! Haven't made it for the family in a while, that just might happen for Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

It's in the oven. I halved the recipe as I had only one pkg of crm cheese and one roll of cresent dough. It was so easy! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have made these 4 times in the past two weeks for various events. They were a HUGE hit every time. Thanks for the great (and easy) recipe.

Niki said...

these are so delicious!! another twit on them... put a can of pie filling on top!! cresent rolls, then crm cheese mix, then pie filling, thne cresent rolls. Delish!!

Anonymous said...

I found this recipe today. These are wicked good!! My husband said he even liked them better than my cheesecake! Not sure if I am jealous here!! :0
A friend came over and I offered her some, over hubby's loud objections (kidding - just!)she took my copy of the recipe, her verdict was the same - wicked good!! Thanks so much

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