The Best Banana Cream Cheesecake
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. Full Disclosure Policy.
Banana Cheesecake is a delicious hybrid of Banana Cream Pie and cheesecake. A rich, creamy, pile of cheesecakey banana deliciousness. It’s the perfect finale to any meal!
This cheesecake though. Vanilla cookie base. Creamy filling with banana pudding, real bananas, topped with whipped cream and garnished with more banana.
Banana flavors are my jam! Try my Banana Pudding Cookies, or my highly rated Banana pancake recipe, too!
Step-by-step photos and instructions are below. Jump to the recipe card if you wish!
The Cheesecake Factory makes a Banana Cream Cheesecake…. and I like mine better. Yup, I said it.
Baked cheesecake can be intimidating to make, I get it – but below is the step by step recipe, including water bath, and possible substitutions if needed. I hope you give this a try, it really is worth it!
Why you’ll love this
- Make ahead. This cheesecake is the perfect choice for making ahead for a celebration.
- Delicious. Banana cream pudding mix in the cheesecake filling makes the banana flavor pop!
Water baths for Cheesecake
I have made this recipe a few times – with a water bath, and without. I know, I know – many of my previous cheesecake recipes have been either mini cheesecakes, or have been non-water bath methods. BUT – and this is important – just this once, try the water-bath. For me?
Without it, the edges get brown, but the center is still wobbly and unset. Or, it cooks up, then cracks after cooling. The cracking is usually no big deal – if you are covering the top with ganache like in this To Die For Triple Chocolate Cheesecake. The ganache just fills the cracks and actually improves each slice that is lucky enough to HAVE a crack!
I’ve actually messed up with my water bath – and water got into my pan. If this happens to you – don’t freak out. Just CHILL. Literally.
Chill the cheesecake overnight (24 hours is awesome), and everything will work out just fine. Trust me.
Step-by-step photos and tips and tricks are below. Jump to the full recipe card instead
Key Recipe Ingredients
Note: This highlights some ingredients. Full list is in the recipe card.
How to make Cheesecake
This is a step-by-step photo guide. Full ingredients and instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
JumpWould you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Make the crust
Heat oven to 325F In a food processor, crush the cookies until they become crumbs. Melt the butter the add to the crushed cookies with the sugar, and mix well. Press into the bottom and a little way up the sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes then remove, and cool.
Make the filling. Reduce oven temp to 300°F. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attached (or a large bowl and a hand mixer) beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour and pudding mix with an electric mixer until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each. Add the mashed banana and vanilla. Mix on low speed until well combined, but still lumpy.
Let’s bake! Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
Wrap the outside of the pan in a double layer of foil, covering the underside and extending all the way to the top. Set wrapped pan in a large roasting pan, and pour hot water into the roasting pan—to a depth of 2 inches or about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
Bake for 90 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave in the oven with the door closed for 20 minutes. Crack open the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 20 minutes or until set.
Remove from oven and chill overnight.
Serving. Slice and decorate as desired – with fresh bananas, extra vanilla wafers and whipped cream (heavy cream whipped with a little powdered sugar).
Kylee’s Notes
Whipped topping (like Cool Whip) can be used instead of whipped cream if you prefer.
Make the Banana Cream Cheesecake ahead – I typically can’t wait to try desserts and might make it the same day – for eating that night. However, I’ve found that the flavor develops more with more chilling time, the crust is more solid.
Brush the sliced bananas with a little lemon juice to stop them from going brown!
Water bath – if a little water gets into your springform pan, no worries – just chill overnight, it will be just fine!
The crust – if you prefer a graham cracker crust, just switch them out in place of the wafer cookies.
What do do with leftovers
Hide them. You aren’t going to want to share. But if you do have any – just place in a sealed container and refrigerate until needed.
More recipes to love
- Toffee Caramel Cheesecake. Creamy. Dreamy. Easy to Make.
- Triple Chocolate Cheesecake. It’s rich, decadent, and full of chocolate dessert (the best kind!). Seriously, just go make this immediately.
- Classic Cheesecake from Sugar Spun Run
- All Dessert Recipes
Get free recipes in your inbox!
Find me on Pinterest, Facebook & Instagram.
If you make this recipe, please comment and let me know how it turned out and leave a star rating! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Banana Cream Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 28 vanilla wafer cookies
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons white sugar
Filling
- 1 ½ pound softened cream cheese 3 boxes
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3.4 oz package dry banana cream pudding mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish
- sliced bananas
- mini vanilla wafers
- whipped cream
Instructions
Crust
- Heat oven to 325°F
- In a food processor, crush 28 vanilla wafer cookies until they become crumbs.
- Melt 5 tablespoons butter then add to the crushed cookies with 5 tablespoons white sugar, and mix well.
- Press into the bottom and a little way up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes then remove, and cool.
Cheesecake filling
- Reduce oven temp to 300°F.
- Using an electric mixer with the paddle attached, mix 1 ½ pound softened cream cheese, 1 cup white sugar, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 3.4 oz package dry banana cream pudding mix with an electric mixer until combined.
- Add 3 large eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each.
- Add the 1 cup mashed bananas and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until well combined, but still lumpy.
- Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
- Wrap outside of pan in a double layer of foil, covering the underside and extending all the way to the top.
- Set wrapped pan in a large roasting pan, and pour hot water into roasting pan—to a depth of 2 inches or about halfway up the sides of cheesecake pan.
- Bake for 90 minutes. Turn off heat and leave in oven with door closed for 20 minutes.
- Crack open the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 20 minutes or until set.
- Remove from oven and chill overnight.
To Serve
- Slice and decorate as desired – with sliced bananas, extra mini vanilla wafers and whipped cream.
- Devour.
- Hide the leftovers.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Make sure to follow @kyleecooks on Instagram for more and tag me #kyleecooks so I can see!Update: This recipe was originally published in January of 2017. It was republished with updated photos in November of 2020.
About Kylee Ayotte
I am a born and raised New Zealander (a Kiwi), now living in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m happily married to the love of my life – a hot American boy I met while traveling the world. I’m a mama to 2 awesome little boys and love red things, rugby, cheesecake, and bacon. Mmmmm. Bacon. Meet Kylee
I have an question the pudding mix is it instant or not
The one I use is instant, but either will work.
Yummy recipe! Definitely need to try this one, because I love bananas soo much! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Happily, I did not (and would never) make any anti-cheesecake New Year’s resolutions! I didn’t used to like banana desserts very much, but I’m positively drooling over this cheesecake. It looks phenomenal!
Banana cream pie is kind of my downfall along with banana pudding and banana popsicles. My mom ate them while pregnant with me so I think I inherited it somehow. I love banana everything. I sometimes have the problem of my tops cracking but, like you, I don’t sweat it and cover it with chocolate, whipped cream, or lots of sliced fruit!
Dessert is not meant to be stressful! I use ganache to cover cracks in my Triple Chocolate Cheesecake – but this one, the water bath seemed to make it so it DIDN’T crack!