What Do Sopapillas and Pedicures Have In Common?

The women at church organized a BBQ and bake-off last night with some great prizes- gift certificates to Panera, Barnes and Noble, Regal, etc. There were individual prizes for specific categories (e.g., best pie, best cookies, most fruity, most colorful), and then the top three overall winners won gift certificates for different treatments at a spa. If you've read my blog for a while, you know that I like to bake so this activity was a good challenge for me. I've got a handful of desserts that I make constantly, but all of them are somewhat normal. Striped delight, raspberry angel food cake, red velvet cupcakes, etc. Delicious but not prize winning.

So I called my mother-in-law for an idea, and she gave me a great one. Great because it was simple, creative, and delicious. And guess what, I didn't win, but out of 26 desserts I got 3rd and won a spa gift certificate. My last pedicure was right after the half-marathon so I'll be making a pit stop at Nail Excel this weekend.

So if you're looking for a new, simple, and delicious dessert look no further than below. This one's a winner (literally). I'm not how it would taste with substitutions made, but you could definitely substitute all of the items below with reduced/low-fat versions and try it out.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

1 1/2 (or 2 cups) sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 packages 8oz cream cheese
2 packs of crescent rolls
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (one stick)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Roll out one package of crescent rolls into a glass 9x13 pan sprayed with PAM.
3. Beat cream cheese, 1 (or 1 1/2 cups) sugar, and vanilla together until smooth.
4. Spread cream cheese mixture over crescent rolls.
5. Roll out second package of crescent rolls on top of the cream cheese mixture.
6. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon. Spread cinnamon sugar mixture over rolls.
7. Dot cheesecake with cut up stick of butter.
8. Bake for 25 minutes (don't degree).