Mexican Hot Chocolate Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
A Mexican hot chocolate twist on sopapilla cheesecake bars! A sweet and mellow cheesecake filling sandwiched between layers of chopped rich Mexican hot chocolate tablets and buttery crescent roll dough... Topped with cinnamon brown sugar. Super easy to make, they only take a little over an hour to make!
I just heard of sopapilla cheesecake bars like, two weeks ago. I knew I immediately wanted to try them, but I wanted to create my own version. I'm allergic to following other people's recipes, if I follow a recipe exactly I get hives. Most of the quick n' easy recipes I saw just called for cream cheese, crescent roll dough, sugar, cinnamon, butter, vanilla, and occasionally an egg. Mine calls for a combo of cream cheese and blended cottage cheese to mellow out the cheesecake flavor a bit. And, mine calls for chopped Mexican table chocolate, the kind you use for making Mexican hot chocolate.
I used Abuelita brand chocolate tablets for this recipe because that's what my store carries. But, you can use any brand you like. Ibarra is another common brand. If you're in the US like I am, check the international section of your grocery store. You could sub semi-sweet chocolate chips if you truly can't find any, but it probably won't be quite as delicious.
These Mexican hot chocolate sopapilla cheesecake bars are great for dessert. But, I think they'd also be great as a holiday breakfast treat or served as part of a brunch spread! They honestly remind me of an opposite cinnamon roll (cream cheese filling instead of icing and cinnamon topping instead of filling) with a touch of rich chocolate.
I think these are best served a little bit warm. You can reheat them in the microwave. You should store any leftovers in the fridge. These also freeze pretty well. So, what are you waiting for? Give them a try!
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablet mexican hot chocolate (or 3 ounces)
- 2 cans crescent roll dough
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp salted butter (plus a little more for buttering the baking dish, softened or melted)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and butter a 9x11 baking dish.
Add the room temperature cream cheese, white sugar, and vanilla to a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly until its fully combined. 
Add the cottage cheese and the egg to a blender and blend until smooth.- Add about a third of the blended cottage cheese to the cream cheese mixture and mix until fully combined.
Add the rest of the blended cottage cheese and mix until smooth. Set aside.- Finely chop three ounces of Mexican hot chocolate tablets and set aside.
- In a small bowl, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter and mix. Set aside.
Open 1 can of crescent roll dough and place on the bottom of the baking dish. Press the seams together to make a cohesive crust. 
Sprinkle half of the chopped chocolate on the dough.
Scoop all of the filling into the pan and evenly spread over the chocolate and dough.
Evenly sprinkle the rest of the chocolate on top of the filling.- Open the other can of crescent roll dough and lay it on top.
Gently spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top.- place in the oven and bake for 37 minutes.
Let cool at least 20 minutes before slicing. Store these in the fridge or freezer.
Enjoy!