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This is an Easy Churro Cookie Recipe that is a cute and creative dessert that’s perfect for any party. It is a cheesecake inside a mini pie gorgeously coated in buttery cinnamon sugar. Inspired by sopapillas, these cookies are sure to be a hit!
Easy Churro Cheesecake Cookies
My easy churro cheesecake cookie recipe is basically a cheesecake hand pie but it’s inspired by churros and sopapilla. The churro cookie is drenched in cinnamon sugar butter which makes this hand pie so good.
I sandwiched the crust with a cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla mixture. That becomes a cheesecake 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.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 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 it easy sometimes. But feel free to use my favorite pie crust if you prefer.
- The cinnamon sugar sticks and melts to the pies a little and oh my god, they really do taste like Sopapillas with ice cream…but they’re cheesecake.
Ingredients needed
- Cream cheese: to make the cheesecake, make sure it’s room temperature
- Sugar: I’m using granulated sugar but you can also use light brown sugar
- Pie crusts: from scratch or from a package of 2 refrigerated crusts
- Cinnamon Sugar : a requirement for anything churro flavored
- Butter: unsalted butter at room temperature
How to make churro cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until no lumps remain.
- Mix in ¼ cup granulated sugar and vanilla extract.
- Unroll pie crusts, one at a time. Cut 2” circles of crust, re-rolling as needed.
- Place half the circles on the prepared baking sheet. 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.)
- Wet your finger with a bit of water and run it around the edge of the pie crust. 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 15-20 minutes, until they begin to turn golden. Let cool until you can touch without burning your fingers.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a microwave safe dish. In a separate bowl, stir together remaining dry ingredients, 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.
Expert tips
- You can use reduced fat cream cheese if you wish.
- Refigerated pie crust is a semi-homemade hack no one will guess – so save yourself some time!
- Once pies are dipped in butter and sugar they’re best eaten within 2 days.
- Freeze undipped cookies for up to 3 months, defrosting before dipping.
FAQs
Yes! These sopapilla cookies taste amazing with chocolate chips.
They are best eaten within 2 days from dipping in the churro butter.
Yes. freeze the undipped cookies for up to 3 months. Defrost completely before dipping.
Churro Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar , divided
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 pie crusts from scratch or from a package of 2 refrigerated crusts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter , melted
Instructions
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until no lumps remain. Mix in ¼ cup sugar and vanilla extract.
- 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.) Wet your finger with a bit of water and run it around the edge of the pie crust. 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 15-20 minutes, until they begin to turn golden. Let cool until you can touch without burning your fingers.
- 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.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- You can use reduced fat cream cheese if you wish.
- Once pies are dipped in butter and sugar they’re best eaten within 2 days.
- Freeze undipped cookies for up to 3 months, defrosting before dipping.
Recipe Nutrition
Other Churro Recipes
Last Updated on April 26, 2023
These are awesome. Love that they are hand pies, just perfect.
Thanks Aimee!
goodness…I rally cannot remember my 21st birthday, I suppose that means I had fun right:) but these hand pies, and a margarita {or two} sound like a great way to celebrate
Ha ha! Thanks Heather!
I don’t think I’ve had sopapillas before. What have I been missing out on? Looks like a lot. I love your version, especially dipping them in cinnamon sugar afterwards.
Yes, you MUST have them. SO good!
OMG Sopapilla’s are one of my most Favorite Desserts of all time!!! These look amazing Dorothy! I am going to try these for sure!
Thanks Chandra!
These are so cute and look too yummy! And I think we’ve all had one of “those” boyfriends. Just make our now signifiant others look that much better! 🙂
Totally! Thanks Ashley!
My 21st was no fun for the same reason. Honestly, my adult birthdays haven’t been any fun. They’re usually fraught with work and deployment or something lol.
But these look amazing!
Well, hopefully they’ll be better (and warmer!) from now on! Thanks Kristin!
OK, we’ll have to make a trip to Celia’s the next time you come down. We don’t go that often.
These look really good…I bet the are better than Celia’s.
Love,
Mom
Yum! I’m counting on it… 🙂
The bread and the snickerdoodle bars are both recipes Ive never seen! Love those vintage finds 🙂
and these hand pies are too cute! I’ve made something very similar to sopapilla bars before but in bar form. They would have been a mess as a hand pie. Lol Yours are just adorable!
Thanks Averie!
Very fun hand pie! My 22nd birthday was more fun than my 21st too. I actually only have 1 drink on my 21st though, it was a low key bday. 22nd was a bit crazy, but a blast!
Funny how that works out! Thanks Erin!
OMG. Okay, my 21st was HOOOOORRRIBLE too! But it was for way different reasons (mom recently diagnosed, taken out by my older brothers, drank too much, they carried me out of a bar, my mom got the pleasure of watching me puke the next day . . . . #shameful). And when I turned 22 it was way better! I wasn’t quite engaged yet, but Nathan and I had just bought our first house and the rest was history.
These look awesome Dorothy! I’ll be there in five minutes with a pitcher of margaritas. You still have some left, right??
What is it with 21? Overrated, I guess. 🙂 Thanks Lisa!
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