Made with crescent rolls, cream cheese, lemon and sugar – these lemony cheesecake crescent rolls are the perfect treat for breakfast, brunch, dessert or afternoon snack! Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Rolls are so easy to make, insanely delicious!
Lemon Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls
Delicate flaky crescent rolls are stuffed with a dreamy lemon cheesecake filling, topped with a quick sweet-tart lemon glaze. This fantastic lemon treat could not be easier to make!
This wonderful recipe is a tried and true from Pillsbury, Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Roll-Ups.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not a sponsored post. I have no affiliation with Pillsbury or any of the products shared in the post. I am just a fan.
Tips For Making Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Rolls:
- Top the crescent rolls with a dusting of powdered sugar in place of the lemon glaze after baking, or sprinkle tops with crystallized sugar before baking.
- Be sure to pinch the seems closed after rolling. Some filling may leak out – just scoop it up and serve, it’s delicious.
- To soften the cream cheese faster, remove from foil packaging, place on a microwave safe plate and microwave for about 10–15 seconds.
- These are best served warm – you can reheat them in the microwave. I personally think they are great served chilled right from the fridge too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can prepare the crescent rolls 2 hours before baking, storing them in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. They may take a few additional minutes to bake.
Yes. The original recipe is from Pillsbury and uses Crescent Dough Sheets. Sweet Hawaiian Crescent Rolls work well too.
Ingredients needed (See Recipe Card for Full Recipe)
- cream cheese
- granulated sugar
- 1 large lemon (used for grated peel and juice)
- 8 ounces, 8 count can of refrigerated crescent rolls
- butter, melted
- powdered sugar
How To Make Cheesecake Crescent Rolls
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium size bowl add cream cheese, sugar and grated lemon peel (use a zester tool for grating). Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until smooth and creamy.
Open the crescent rolls package, carefully separate the dough into 8 individual triangles, then place them on a clean flat surface like a cutting board. At the widest end of the triangle, add about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese lemon mixture, dividing the cream cheese mixture evenly among the 8 rolls.
Next, roll the crescents, starting from the wide end, tucking the pointy end underneath then pinching the seams closed. Repeat filling and rolling the remaining crescent rolls. Place them evenly on baking sheet.
Brush with melted butter.
Bake on middle rack of the oven for 11–14 minutes (baking times will vary depending on oven). Crescents are ready when they turn golden brown.
Remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, then place on a cooling rack.
While cooling, prepare glaze – in a small bowl, add powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, mixing well until there are no lumps and the glaze is smooth. Add a small amount of additional lemon juice (1/4 teaspoon at a time) to reach the desired glaze consistency, then drizzle over rolls.
WANT MORE GREAT CRESCENT ROLL RECIPES? CHECK THESE OUT:
Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
Lemon Cheesecake Crescent Rolls
- 1 block package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons grated lemon peel from 1 large lemon
- 1 can (8 ounce) refrigerated crescent rolls or crescent dough sheets *see recipe notes
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Lemon Glaze Topping
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- fresh grated lemon peel for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium size bowl add cream cheese, sugar and grated lemon peel (use a zester for grating). Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until smooth and creamy.
- Open the crescent rolls package, carefully separate the dough into 8 individual triangles, then place them on a clean flat surface like a cutting board. At the widest end of the triangle, add about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese lemon mixture, dividing the cream cheese mixture evenly among the 8 rolls.
- Next, roll the crescents, starting from the wide end, tucking the pointy end underneath then pinching the seams closed. Repeat filling and rolling the remaining crescent rolls. Place them evenly on baking sheet.
- Brush with melted butter.
- Bake on middle rack of the oven for 11–14 minutes (baking times will vary depending on oven). Crescents are ready when they turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, then place on a cooling rack.
- While the crescents are cooling, make your lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- In a small bowl, add powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, mixing well until there are no lumps and the glaze is smooth. Add a small amount of additional lemon juice (1/4 teaspoon at a time) to reach the desired glaze consistency.
- Drizzle lemon glaze over crescent rolls. Serve warm. Enjoy! *see recipe notes
- Store in fridge.
Notes
-
- Top the crescent rolls with a dusting of powdered sugar in place of the lemon glaze after baking, or sprinkle tops with crystallized sugar before baking.
-
- Be sure to pinch the seams closed after rolling. Some filling may leak out – just scoop it up and serve, it’s delicious.
-
- To soften the cream cheese faster, remove from foil packaging, place on a microwave safe plate and microwave for about 10–15 seconds.
-
- These are best served warm – you can reheat them in the microwave. I personally think they are great served chilled right from the fridge too.
- You can prepare the crescent rolls 2 hours before baking, storing them in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. They may take a few additional minutes to bake.
- The original recipe is from Pillsbury and uses Crescent Dough Sheets. Sweet Hawaiian Crescent Rolls work well too.
Phyllis
Absolutely delicious! Only thing was I used a tad over 1 TBS of filling in each- otherwise it was wicked hard to roll up. But they were absolutely delicious!
Kathy
I love this recipe so much I wanted to make them for Christmas. I added fresh chopped cranberries 1/4-1/3 cup. The rest of the recipe was the same. Thought possibly next time I would use orange zest instead of lemon with the cranberries. The filling became pink when mixing the cranberries in with the cream cheese filling. Turned out wonderful and had a Christmas touch to the them.
Kathy T
Made these for my family. They were a big hit!❤️
Tracey
This would probably work as a crescent ring.
Mary Neumann
It would!
Tracey
If you do it as a crescent ring, would you double the filling ingredients?
Mary Neumann
Tracey, I would make sure you pinch the seams close to prevent the filling from oozing out.
As for the amount of filling – you may need to double if using more than one roll of crescents. I haven’t made a ring in years, so depending on the amount of bread and filling…you can adjust.
Elise Pierce
Can I use lemon juice instead of the zest?
Mary Neumann
Hi Elise,
For this recipe, you need the zest with the cream cheese to get the lemon flavor. If you use lemon juice, it will make the filling too loose. Hope that helps.
Janet Ward
I would like to save this lemon cheesecake roll. I can’t seem to find a way to save it. I would really like to try it.
Mary Neumann
Hi Janet,
At the very top of the post, look for brown “Jump to Recipe” or “Print Recipe” buttons. When you click print, all you need to do is change the destination to PRINT.
You can learn how to do this here: https://www.howtogeek.com/235134/how-to-print-to-pdf-on-any-computer-smartphone-or-tablet/
If you still are not able to save the recipe, please send me an email to this email address – mary@sweetlittlebluebird.com, and I will send you the recipe directly.
Patricia Knight
Janet you can click the “share” button on the FB post and choose “send in messenger” then send it to your self. Or clic the 3 dots at the top right side of the FB post and click “save”. I have created several “catagories” using this method. Hope this does not sound too confusing.
Jana Garrett
I bought the sheets, thinking it would be easier, but there arent any instructions using them. So I just improvised.
Meghan
I’d love to try this with an addition of blueberries!
Mary Neumann
Blueberries would be a great addition, Meghan!