I am not sure of the origin of this recipe, but if I had to guess, I would say it came about during the Great Depression, or some time when America was in an economic crisis, as this is the most affordable “American” dessert that I know off! The great part is, it is an absolute crowd-pleaser. Who would have thought that white bread, cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar could grace a dessert table?! LOL
The first time I had this dessert was at a BRIDAL SHOWER held at one of my Mom’s friend’s houses – of course, I BUGGED my mom to ask for the recipe, and I am sure glad I did. Although now that I have the recipe, I am certain that I could have made this dessert without, as it is easy-peasy and basically cannot be screwed-up!
As ALWAYS feel free to make your own spin, use strawberry cream cheese instead of regular, or Nutella with sliced strawberries! Also, you can make these ahead and freeze BUT my fav way to eat these ARE frozen!! Don’t judge me – you! 🙂
Cream Cheese “Cigars”
Ingredients
1 loaf THIN white bread
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened to room temp
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup white sugar
3 TBSP Cinnamon
Directions
- In a small bowl combine cinnamon and sugar, set aside.
- In another small bowl, have the butter melted, set aside.
- Mix cream cheese in a bowl with vanilla.
- Remove crusts from all of the bread slices. With a rolling pin, roll each bread slice one at a time, until completely flat.
- With a butter-knife spread each flat bread slice with cream cheese, roll up (will resemble a fat, short white cigar).
- Brush each “cigar” liberally with butter and then roll/dip in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Either leave whole as is, or cut into three “bites.”
Each loaf makes enough to fill a dinner-sized serving plate. Also, they can be made ahead of time and frozen until ready to serve!
Click here to download a printable copy of the Cream Cheese Cigars Recipe