Cinnamon Bun Cheesecake Mini Calzones

I tend to get a little bit obsessed with something one it gets in my brain.

Take this recipe for example...

I was trying to think of something to make using Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls and/or Philadelphia Cream Cheese that wasn't already all over the internet. (Don't ask me why I had those 2 ingredients stuck in my head... too much time on Pinterest, I think...) 

Suddenly calzones popped in my head. 

Know what? I have not been able to find anything similar anywhere online. Oh, sure...there are sweet/dessert calzones...but no cinnamon bun, cheesecake, or cinnamon bun cheesecake calzones. 

I decided these had to be made ASAP.

They are a little messy to make so be prepared to rinse your hands a million times, but other than that, they are super simple.

Oh, yeah, they are also super amazingly delicious with only 5 ingredients. 

Nice.

Cinnamon Bun Cheesecake Mini Calzones

Ingredients

8 oz (1 pkg) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temp

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

2 cans of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the Philadelphia cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the brown sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Stir in the pecans.

Set bowl in fridge while preparing cinnamon rolls.

Lay a large strip of parchment paper on your work surface.

Open both cans of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls and unroll the dough. Lay the strips side by side on the parchment paper. 

Pinch the strips together at the seams. Then, lay another strip of parchment paper on top of the dough. Carefully flip the dough over onto the top parchment paper. 

Peel off the parchment paper that is now on top. Pinch the seams together on this side as well. Use your fingers to spread out the lumps of cinnamon filling that you may have on the dough. 

Take a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter about 4 inches across and cut out as many circles of dough as you can get. 

You can re-roll the scraps once to get about 2 - 3 more circles. (This is a very messy process so be patient)

In the middle of each circle place approx 1 Tbsp of the cheesecake mixture.

Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the edges shut. Use the tines of a fork to further press the edges of the dough firmly together. (This is the part where you may have to rinse your hands a million times. The dough can get a little slippery while you are handling it!)

Place the mini calzones onto your prepared cookie sheet. 

Repeat until all the dough is used. (I get anywhere between 12 - 14 in total and usually have a bit of the cheesecake filling leftover. Which I eat. Hey - it doesn't have raw eggs and it's delicious. Don't judge me.)

Bake at 350 until dough is golden brown, approx 20 - 25 minutes. 

Remove from heat and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Carefully transfer to wire rack to cool completely. You can serve as is....

Or...you can drizzle with the frosting that comes in with the Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls. 

Don't worry if your seams come apart a little bit. They still taste amazing. A little bit of cheesecake filling might poke out but I didn't seem to have any major leaks. 

From start to finish I think these took me about 20 minutes. (Then another 25 to cook them) 

Look at all that yummy, gooey, cheesecake-y, calzone-y deliciousness. 

Admit it...you want one.