Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars

If you follow my Instagram, you may have seen what “tough” research I had to do this weekend for this post. With the 3rd Annual South Street Spring Festival just days away (Saturday, May 2), I visited Sweet Life Bakeshop at 7th and South to try their signature Banana Pudding.

This. Pudding. Is. Fantastic. I gobbled up the whole thing in minutes, so I’m surprised I even was able to get a photo of it beforehand!

Sweet Life Bakeshop’s banana pudding will be available at the South Street Spring Festival, along with nearly 30 other eateries, bars, and food trucks, so come hungry! From 11am to 8pm this Saturday, 8 blocks of South Street (between Front and 8th) will be shut down and turned into a huge (and free) block party!

Headhouse Plaza will also be in on the fun, so be sure to check out 2nd Street between South and Lombard. The plaza will be transformed into a giant lawn concert complete with grass, lawn chairs, games and beach balls!

Along with all of the delicious food, South Street will feature more than 40 bands on three stages and seven performance areas. Over 100 boutiques, small businesses and other other retailers will cater to your style, beauty, health, fitness and other shopping needs. In conjunction with the Festival, Brauhaus Schmitz will host the third annual German Maifest on the 700 block of South Street, with German beers, dancers, music, food, flower headbands and even a Maypole.  Outside of Atomic City Comics (638 South Street) look for free giveaways and character appearances during Free Comic Book Day.

Whew!  Ok so, to highlight one of the amazing offerings, I decided to make a spin on Sweet Life’s banana pudding — Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars! This recipe is adapted from a Southern Living Banana Pudding Cheesecake recipe, but adds in some peanut-buttery goodness and then is topped with a drizzle of chocolate and some fresh whipped cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 22 vanilla wafers
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

optional garnishes:

• whipped cream
• 1 oz semisweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• vanilla wafers

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch square baking pan.

Add two heaping cups of vanilla wafers to a food processor and process to finely crush.

Add the chopped walnuts and process to combine.

Add the melted butter and mix to combine.

Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan.

Line the edge of the pan with the vanilla wafers, with the rounded side pressed against the pan.

Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven and add to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes. While waiting for the crust to cool, add the ripe bananas to a small saute pan and mash with a fork.

Note: Go for your really ripe bananas. The ones that you completely forgot about. Like these guys:

Add the lemon juice and brown sugar, and heat over medium-high heat until the brown sugar is completely combined, about 1 minute.

Add the peanut butter and mix until fully combined, another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Beat the cream cheese on medium high speed with an electric mixer until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Gradually add the 1 cup of sugar while still mixing. Add each egg one at a time, waiting until each egg is fully incorporated before adding a new egg.

Add the vanilla extract, stirring to combine.

Mix in the banana peanut butter mixture until fully combined.

Pour into the prepared crust.

Add the 9 inch pan to a larger pan, and fill the larger pan with water until it reaches about half way up the 9 inch pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until the center is mostly set.

Remove from the oven and run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill overnight. Cut into squares and add toppings if you so choose. I went with a quick ganache drizzle (combine the heavy cream and chocolate in a double boiler over medium high heat until smooth), whipped cream, and a vanilla wafer.

Holy moly. These are uber decadent. I was afraid I’d eat them all on my own, so I swindled some friends to taste test, and they didn’t really seem to mind much 🙂

The bananas keep the cheesecake pretty gooey, so it still has a banana-pudding texture to it. The peanut butter flavor comes through but doesn’t overpower the bananas.

The vanilla wafers soften up in the oven. SO YUMMY. It was kind of torture to wait for these to refrigerate overnight though. So I’d suggest hitting up Sweet Life Bakeshop and just grabbing one of their puddings if you don’t have the patience 🙂