I continue to be on a mission to find as many banana desserts as I can that only use ripened bananas. I always have bananas in the house and want to build a repertoire of recipes that I can use them in. There is nothing worse to me than artificial banana flavor so I promise that any recipe you find on my site will steer far clear. I was really impressed with this cheesecake recipe. I had never seen a banana cheesecake recipe before and this one turned out perfectly. I served it with strawberry and blueberry compote. Recipe and photo courtesy of bakingbeauty.net.

• 3 cups crushed vanilla wafers
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 4 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 4 8 ounce blocks of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 powdered sugar

For the crust, preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake or springform pan. Wrap the outsides with aluminum foil. Set aside. Place vanilla wafers into a plastic bag or food processor. Process/crush until you have fine crumbs. In a medium bowl, combine wafter crumbs and melted butter. Press vanilla wafer mixture evenly into pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely.

For the filling, mash bananas with a for until smooth in a small sauce pan. Stir in brown sugar and lemon juice. Cook for 3-5 minutes until sugar is dissolved and bananas are cooked. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Let cool completely. In a large bowl mix cream cheese til light and fluffy. Cream in sugar until fully combined, scraping the bowl as necessary. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Stir in banana mixture until just combined. Evenly pour filling into prepared crust. Place cake pan into a roasting pan. Fill pan around halfway full with hot water. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until the center is firm. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

For the topping, in a large chilled bowl, whip cream with a chilled whisk. Whisk until thickened. Stir in powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whip until soft peaks form. Garnish with whipped cream, sliced banana, and vanilla wafers if desired. Store in the refrigerator.