My most wonderful mother-in-law will be arriving later today for the weekend. We are pretty excited about her coming for Mother’s Day!
I wanted to make something extra special for her so I contacted my sister-in-law to find out her favorite desserts. One of them just happens to be The Cheesecake Factory’s Banana Cheesecake.
After a little bit of searching online I found the recipe and dived right in to create this treat for her.
I will warn you that it takes a bit of patience to make, but the result is most definitely worth it!
Ingredients for Banana Cheesecake.
Smash cookies until finely crushed (or pulse in food processor). At least this way, I could put Captain Cavedweller to work!
Press obliterated cookies into the bottom of a springform pan.
Mash up enough bananas to make 1 cup. I used three, and then made Captain Cavedweller mash them for me.
Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy.
Add your eggs one at a time.
Pour batter into crust.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes then reduce temp to 200 for 75-90 minutes. Mine was closer to 90 when I took it out of the oven and could probably have gone another 5-10 minutes to be done the way I would have really liked. I recommend not deciding to make this at say 7 p.m. at night because you'll be standing in your PJs staring at the stove waiting for this to be done!
You can garnish the cheesecake with slices of fresh banana, a dollop of whipped cream, whatever floats your boat. My boat was floating on caramel sauce, Heath bits and chocolate swirlies.
Enjoy!
Banana Cheesecake
1 package vanilla sandwich cookies
1/4 cup butter, melted
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. banana flavoring
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cookies in a resealable bag and smash the dickens out of them with a cast iron skillet or a meat tenderizer. If you have a food processor, just pulse until they are finely crushed. Mine were finely crushed by Captain Cavedweller. Crushed by the fine Captain Cavedweller. Finally crushed finely. Oh, you know what I mean.
Add melted butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of a 10″ springform pan and refrigerate.
Beat cream cheese on medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch, beating until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, cream and vanilla and banana flavoring. If you don’t have banana flavoring, just add another spoon of vanilla. Place springform pan on cookie sheet. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking 75-90 minutes until center is just set. Loosen edge of springform pan but do not remove. Let cool completely then take off pan rim. Refrigerate cheesecake for at least six hours before serving.
Happy Entertaining and Happy Mother’s Day!
She Who Can’t Wait for my MIL to Arrive!
Savvy Entertaining 