Banana Rum Coffee Cake

Banana-wana-fo-fana   Fe-fi-bo-bana ... Banana!

Any banana fans out there?

I like bananas.

plain ol' Chiquita
fresh banana cheesecake {my fave from Cheesecake Factory}
banana nut bread
banana cake
bananas foster
banana split muffins
banana split cake
banana splits ...
you see the pattern.

And it forevermore seems I am looking for a new & inventive way to use ripe bananas.
Not that the go-to banana bread recipe isn't cutting it, cause it still is ...
but every now & again, I just wanna bake something else!
Ya know, mix it up a little.

Last night, I turned to a cookbook given to me by a friend & found this recipe.
I had all the ingredients & put this together lickity split!

The guys raved.
{It's so fun to cook for them.}

I adjusted it a teeeeny bit.
Instead of adding vanilla extract, I added rum extract ... thus the fun new name!
It went from Banana Coffee Cake to Banana RUM Coffee Cake.
Definitely bumps up the fun factor a notch, huh?!
That & it made the hubs happy ... he's a fan of rum flavoring.

So here's the recipe, found in my Taste of Home Baking Cookbook:

Banana Rum Coffee Cake

1   8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas {2-3 medium}
1 tsp. rum extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, & sugar until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add bananas & rum.
Combine the flour, baking powder, & soda.
Gradually add to the creamed mixture.
Combine topping ingredients; stir half into batter.

Transfer to a greased 13x9 baking pan.
Sprinkle with remaining topping.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or til toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool.

12-15 servings.

Here's an up-close of that yummy pecan topping.

Go ahead ... bake up this coffee cake this weekend.
It'll make your cup of coffee a great companion ... & the men in your life will love you =)




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