Salted Caramel and Pecan Cheesecake Banana Puff Pastry

Oh yeah - this one is as naughty as it sounds. It’s amazing for dessert, it makes a great breakfast. Serve it alone, top it with real vanilla ice cream. It’s incredible warm out of the oven, room temp and chilled out of the fridge. This bad boy doesn’t last long in our house and it always heats back up like new.

Ingredients

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted

2 cups pecan halves

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 package [8 ounces] cream cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup half-and-half

2 tablespoons butter

1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large bananas

Pinch salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Roll out one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly greased baking pan. Mix together the cream cheese and granulated sugar until the mixture is smooth. Add 1 egg and mix until just together. Spread the mixture onto the puff pastry, leaving about a half inch space without spread on all 4 edges. Sprinkle with the pecan halves and place the second sheet of puff pastry on top.

Press, roll and fold the edges to create a look, almost like a little pizza crust. Toss in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove the puffed up pastry from the oven and gently press any extra air out of the pastry with a spatula, then let it rest while you…

Mix together the butter, brown sugar, half and half and salt in a pan over medium low heat. Cook and stir for approximately 8 minutes, or until the mixture starts to thicken.

Add the vanilla and cook another couple minutes to thicken even more. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Cut up your bananas...

Spoon a few tablespoons of the salted caramel over the middle of the tart and spread evenly. Then lay on your banana slices. Finally, top with the remaining caramel. 

Bake in the oven a final 5 minutes. That’s it! Slice and serve!