Banana Crunch Cake with Praline Topping

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 large bananas, mashed

¼ cup peanut butter

1½ tablespoons rum extract

1 large egg

1¼ cups of flour

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

¼ cup pecans, chopped

Praline topping

¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed

¼ cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 tablespoons milk

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

½ cup Melissa’s Almond Clean Snax, chopped

¼ cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour (or spray with Baker’s Joy) a 9” x 9” pan.

Cream sugar, butter, and bananas until smooth. Beat in rum extract and egg.

Blend dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl; add to wet mixture alternately with buttermilk.

Pour mixture into prepared pan, smoothing top, and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until top is golden brown, cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick tests clean. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Praline topping

Bring butter and sugar to a boil in a medium/large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for one minute or until slightly thickened. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Whisk in milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Fold in Clean Snax and pecans, and pour over the top of cooled cake.

Allow cake to set, uncovered, at room temperature for eight hours or overnight before serving. This cake does not keep well, so it if it isn’t consumed the following day, freeze for up to three months.