Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Croissant crust, cream cheese filling and cinnamon and sugar.  If you've never tried this combination, make these bars, now.

I had never heard of Sopapilla Cheescake until just recently.  My friends were having a Mexican themed evening of appetizers and drinks so I wanted to bring a "traditional" Mexican dessert to keep with the theme.  I was perusing various recipes in search of a dessert idea and this was one of the most common recipes that came up during my search.  Now I can see why -- they are heavenly.

They can obviously be served as a dessert but these bars would also be a great addition to a brunch menu.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Source:  Cookies and Cups; originally adapted from Pillsbury

Ingredients
2 cans crescent rolls
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

Unroll 1 can of crescent rolls and lay flat in the bottom of a greased 9×13 baking dish. Stretch the rolls to cover the bottom of the pan. Pinch any seams closed.

In a mixing bowl stir or beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth.  Add 1 cup of sugar and vanilla and combine until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture over top of the crescent roll.

Unroll your remaining can of crescent rolls and lay this on top of the cream cheese mixture, again, pinching closed any open seams.

In a bowl mix the remaining sugar and tablespoon of cinnamon together; set aside.  Pour the melted butter over the top of the unbaked bars and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly on top of butter.

Bake for 30 minutes until top is golden brown.  Let cool for approximately 20 minutes and then put in refrigerator to completely chill before cutting into squares.