Cheesecake Pillows

We had some friends over for dinner this weekend. The theme was Italian, with Lasagna, Bruscetta, and Oil/Vinegar dipping sauce. I had seen this recipe on Allrecipes.com, and was instantly hooked.  I decided to use my muffin top pans and make individual "pillows'.

Let me just tell you... Wow. These are little pillows of heavenly goodness. I expected to bite into a big glob of cheesecake filling, but that's not what happened. The filling cooked into the crust, and it was one big, yummy, pillow of goodness. Seriously good.  We drizzled blended strawberries over the top, and every last person loved them.  There was a little 4 yr old boy in the group who sat eating his saying "Mmmmm... Mmmmm..."! His mom called it his "Yummy Motor"!

After I snuck another pillow when cleaning up, I decided that these are going to be made again and again and again... they are even good cold!


Cheesecake Pillows 
Recipe by Double Dipped Life

Makes 12 pillows

2 cans of Crescent Roll dough. *Pillsbury now has a seamless crescent dough that makes this really easy.
2 packages cream cheese, softened. *You want this at room temperature so the filling isn't lumpy.
2 cups sugar
2 teas vanilla
1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) of melted butter 
3/4 cup sugar
1 TB cinnamon

Strawberries or chocolate for topping!

Preheat the oven at 350.  Spread the crescent roll dough out, and cut to fit your muffin tins. I used muffin top pans, but you can use regular muffin tins. The other option is to use an 9x13 pan,  layer one crust on the bottom, spread the filling on top, and cover it with another layer of dough. Then you have cheesecake bars instead of pillows.

Once you have your dough placed in the tins, spoon roughly 1/2 cup of filling into the middle.

Now, fold each corner up and over the filling. Try to enclose it completely. A few leaked after cooking, and deflated when cool, but they were still yummy!

Melt the butter, and brush generously over each pillow. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, and sprinkle over each pillow.  Bake for 30 minutes, and let cool for 10 minutes.

Drizzle strawberries or chocolate over the top and enjoy!