Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Everyone needs a pick-me-up to get through the week. There's no better thing sometimes for a difficult week (in my opinion), than to just spend an evening baking. Last night I enjoyed a low-key night with my amazing husband who needed it because he had a written certification exam coming up today for his job. (GOOD LUCK, BABE!). I was hoping to have a delicious dessert made for last night to enjoy before he went to bed, but I failed. We instead rode bikes for an hour or so, made dinner (I'll share that recipe later because it turned out delicious), and spent a couple hours just hanging out on the couch with him and our pup watching our Netflix show of choice right now (Prison Break), which we are loving. We try to watch a series a couple times a week together until we're done and then start a new one (Burn Notice and How I Met Your Mother are our favorites we've completed so far!). We're not very good at staying up with on-going shows, though. We always seem to watch them after they have gone completely off air, ha ha. Oh well. It's fun for us. :) Any suggestions for other series to start after this one? Anyway, I ended up starting baking after he had already gone to bed because I got caught up in the show. I have a friend that is leaving the lab today, so I decided that I would make a couple different desserts and then have half for us and half for my co-workers. It was incredibly fun and relaxing, and baking/cooking probably always will be for me. :) It's one of my favorite things to do. I love to sit down and plan out meals for a couple weeks (rotating through our favorite recipes and adding in new ones I find on the internet (blogs/pinterest) or from our cookbooks and add it to our rotation). I do a lot of crock pot recipes, as well, which I will share with you one of these days! :) For now, on to one of my favorite desserts that my husband actually started making. He made it for a party with our friends for Cinco De Mayo a year ago (isn't he awesome--a husband that bakes and cooks as much as I do sometimes!), and it has been a staple in our house for when we're craving something delicious.

For today, I am linking up with Katherine's Corner, Over Fifty Feeling 40, and Vintage Mama for Thursday's Favorite Things! You can find a ton more amazing things that other blogs have linked up here! My "Thursday's Favorite Things" are these Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars that I made last night, along with Turtle Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe for that later, as well!).

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars - these are amazing, divine, cheesecake filled dessert bars. If you like cheesecake, you will love these! The best part is most of the ingredients are usually staples around the kitchen if you like to bake!

Ingredients you will need:

3 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese (I actually only used 2 to cut down a little bit, and they still turned out great!)
2 cups white sugar total (1 1/2 for first part of recipe; last 1/2 cup for the top!)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 (8 oz) pkgs of crescent rolls (I used Kroger brand, which worked just as well as Pillsbury brand has in the past!)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional--I didn't use these for mine last night and preferred them without, so it is entirely up to your tastes!)

Recipe: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until completely smooth (whipped consistency).
3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough. Lay and press the dough on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish (glass is preferred). Pinch the individual triangles together and spread the dough into the the seams of the dish. Note: You will want the dough to be as consistent and without breaks as possible.
4. Evenly spread the mixture of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla over the baking dish.
5. Cover with the remaining pieces of crescent dough, and again, make sure to seal all the breaks in the individual pieces together creating one flat sheet of dough on the top.
6. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake.
7. Mix the last 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl and then sprinkle over the butter mixture. At this point, you can add the sliced almonds on top if you would like.
8. Bake in the preheated over until the dough has turned golden brown for about 25-30 minutes.
9. Cool completely in the pan (about 20 minutes).
10. It is easiest to cut after being refrigerated (preferably overnight).
11. Enjoy!

Adapted from here!

Hope everyone is having a good day! The week is almost over, which is the reason I'm getting through each day. It's been a rough week, but these made it better, and if you have time to try to make them, I think you'll feel the same way! Happy Thursday everyone!

Love,