The other day my son asked for a cheesecake and at first I was going to make a regular one.  Then I noticed that I had some bananas that were getting old and wondered how the cheesecake would taste if I tossed those in too.  I decided to give it a try and it turned out very well.  I paired it with a rich almond and butter crust, topped it off with some fresh whipped cream and a drizzle of dulce de leche.  Usually I don’t care for cheesecake, however this one has that delicious banana flavor which I enjoyed a lot!

 Ingredients are as follows:

crust:
1/2 C ground almonds
1/4 C brown sugar
1 C flour
1/2 C butter, softened
batter:
2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
1/2 C mashed banana
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
optional garnish:
fresh whipped cream
dulce de leche sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease a 10″ springform pan.
Mix together the ground almonds, brown sugar, flour and butter.
Evenly pat into the bottom of the springform pan.
Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and set aside to cool.  Whip together the cream cheese, sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla until creamy.
Pour this onto the par-baked crust.
Bake for 35-40 minutes; until the center is set and the edge is golden brown.
Allow to cool for about 10 minutes; refrigerate until completely cool.  Before serving, run a knife around the edge of the pan, release it and slice.
Top with whipped cream, a drizzle of dulce de leche and enjoy!