Simply the Best Above All the Rest Banana Bread

My mother used to make this banana bread for us often. I have fond memories of waking up in the morning to smelling mom's homemade banana bread baking in the oven on a cold rainy day...AHHHH!!! She would cut off a big slice and place it on a napkin and off to school I went with a WARM piece of mom's LOVING homemade Banana Bread! I seached here to see if anyone else had the same recipe and I noticed that my mom's recipe has one ingredient different from everyone elses and I think it is the secret ingredient why my mom's recipe is Simply the Best Above All the Rest Banana Bread! Here is the recipe In Loving Memory of My Mother who passed away May 31, 2009...Mom I Love you thanks for the fond memories!!!

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup shortening
• 1  cup sugar
• 2  eggs
• 1  cup banana (usually 3 medium)
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2  cups flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350% and grease a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the Shortening and sugar. Then add in the eggs and mix. Now add in your mashed up bananas(the blacker the skin on the bananas the sweeter the bananas will be) and add the Vanilla.
3. Now mix in the flour, baking soda and salt.
4. You do not need a hand mixer mix everything with a spoon.
5. Pour the batter in the greased loaf pan and place in the oven for 1 hour or 45 minutes depending on how hot your oven gets. Test the middle with a toothpick. You should have no batter on the toothpick that means its done.
6. SPECIAL NOTE: Make sure your bananas are over ripe. The blacker the skin is the better!
7. Now for the Secret ingredient -- it is the shortening. DO NOT substitute the shortening for butter or anything else. I promise this is what makes the crust so brown and YUMMY! I'm not a big fan of using shortening except I make an acception to this recipe.
8. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have through the years =).