easy sopapeesy

I know you've seen these somewhere over the rainbow internets recently. If not, I'm thrilled to be the one to bring such a delight to your attention!

Basically, this is sweetened and silky cream cheese sandwiched between two layers of buttery crescent roll dough. That'd probably be good enough, but the kicker for me is the layer of crunchy cinnamon sugar on top--that's what makes these so sopapilla-esque.*

*If I'm being honest, I haven't actually had an authentic sopapilla since Spanish class in high school, but I do remember them fondly.

If you haven't tried these for yourself yet, please do. There's no reason not to do so, except, of course, for severe lactose-intolerance. That is all.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
Yield: 12 huge pieces or 15 more reasonably-sized ones

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 20 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar, divided use
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F.
Unroll 1 can dough. Place in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch glass baking dish. Stretch to cover bottom of dish, firmly pressing perforations to seal.
In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and 1-1/2 cups of the sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Spread over dough in baking dish.
Unroll second can of dough. Carefully place on top of cream cheese layer. Pinch seams together.
Pour melted butter evenly over top. Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over butter.
Bake about 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool slightly, about 20 minutes. Refrigerate for easy cutting. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.