Dorothy Kern
These Sopapilla Cheesecake Hand Pies are perfect for your Cinco de Mayo party! They are a baked version of the popular treat – using pie crust!
My 22nd birthday was way better than my 21st. Before you all go assuming I had too much fun on my 21st birthday, if you know what I mean, I can assure you, that wasn’t why.
My 21st birthday was spent with friends…and my then 20-year-old boyfriend. He wasn’t yet 21 on my birthday and he pouted the entire night because I had wine with dinner. He then took me on a walk after dinner and told me that I shouldn’t have been drinking on my 21st birthday…because he couldn’t drink with me.
Yeah, I look back and wonder why the hell did I stay with him for three years? too.
No, my 22nd birthday was way better. For one thing, my now-husband was my fiancé, and I got to drink all the margs I wanted since he was well over the 21 year mark.
There is this restaurant where I grew up, a fabulous Mexican place called Celia’s. I’ve been going there as long as I can remember and I’m drooling now knowing I can’t eat there until I visit my parents again.
For my 22nd birthday, a big group of us ate at Celia’s. For dessert, they give you a sombrero hat to wear, and bring you sopapillas and ice cream.
Drooling over Sopapilla Cheesecake
Seriously, I drool thinking about those sopapillas. Tortiallas deep fried with cinnamon sugar. Is there anything better?
It was about time I made my own version – Sopapilla Cheesecake.
And, in true Dorothy Crazy fashion, I pie’d them up for you.
These Sopapilla Cheesecake Hand Pies are made with pie crust. I used a refrigerated kind, because it’s easy and it’s good. I like easy sometimes. But feel free to use my favorite pie crust if you prefer.
I sandwiched the crust with a cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla mixture. That becomes a cheesecakey wonderfulness when it’s baked. But I didn’t stop there – these are Sopapillas after all!
When they come out of the oven, you drench them in melted butter and dip them in cinnamon sugar while they’re still warm. The cinnamon sugar sticks and melts to the pies a little and ohmygod they really do taste like Sopapillas with ice cream…but they’re cheesecake.
These Sopapilla Cheesecake are perfect for your Cinco de Mayo Party. Or, a random Friday night. Preferably with a margarita.
But make sure your boyfriend is 21. Or he might get jealous.
Sopapilla Cheesecake Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened (low-fat is okay)
- 3/4 cup sugar divided
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 ” round cookie cutter
Instructions
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until no lumps remain. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla.
- Unroll pie crusts, one at a time. Cut 2” circles of crust, re-rolling as needed.
- Place half the circles on the prepared cookie sheets. Spoon a little bit of the cheesecake mixture into the center. (I found it easiest to transfer the cheesecake mixture to a ziploc bag with the tip cut off, and pipe it on.) Place the remaining pie crust rounds on top of the filled ones. Use the tines of a fork to press and seal each pie.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until they begin to turn golden. Let cool for just a minute, until you can touch without burning your fingers, but they should still be hot.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a microwave safe dish. In a separate bowl, stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Take each still warm pie and brush with butter, then place in the cinnamon sugar and turn over a few times to thoroughly coat. Place on another cookie sheet lined with wax paper to cool.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Sweets from friends:
Spicy Mexican Chocolate Fudge by Wine and Glue
Churro Bites with Chocolate Dulce de Leche Dip by Oh Sweet Basil
Banana Chimi by Crumbs and Chaos
All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
Published on: April 21, 2013
Just made these for Spanish class and they are so yummy!
These would be great for dessert at our clubs Cinco de Mayo party. We’ll need approximately 304, at least 13 batches. Do you think making two days in advance and freezing them would work? And would that be freezing without the butter/brown sugar and added after defrosting? I can’t wait to make a sample for club members. Thank you.