Strawberry Cheesecake Danish Bars

When I was younger, my mom would always buy strawberry and cheese coffee cakes from the grocery store. While they were amazingly delicious, I have always been looking for a way to recreate the taste. When I saw a pampered chef recipe that seemed like it would be similar, I thought I’d give it a whirl. Making a few changes - most notably, the addition of pie filling - this came out very close. This recipe can also be modified by substituting neufchatel cheese or by halving the cream cheese mixture (1 package cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 whole egg and a 1/2 tsp. vanilla). You can also substitute milk for the orange juice in the glaze.

2 cans ready-to-use refrigerated crescent rolls (Pillsbury butter flake is my favorite)

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 21-oz. can strawberry pie filling

1 egg white

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. orange juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly. Use a spoon to spread the pie filling over the cream cheese mixture. Lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the strawberry filling and brush with egg white. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Allow the bars to cool for 20 minutes. Combine all glaze ingredients and pour over the top. Allow to sit one hour before cutting. Refrigerate leftovers.