Ingredients

• 2c. All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1/2c. Shortening
• 1c. Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1c. Mashed Ripe Bananas
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar
• 1/2c. Milk

The first thing you need to do, an hour or so before you want to start your bread, is measure 1 tbsp. of white or cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup and add whole milk to equal 1/2 cup. This is a “quick” way to clabber the milk and get a sort of mild sour/tart flavor. It will look kind of chunky and thick.

Set aside the milk and measure the flour, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift once. Set this aside and take your bananas and peel and mash them. NOTE: Black bananas give the best flavor. The more ripe the bananas are the more concentrated the sugars so there will a more pronounced banana flavor. My husband likes to say if you can pour the banana out of the peel thenit is about right. Two bananas is about 1 cup of mashed pulp.

Grease one large loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350º.

Put the shortening into a large bowl and add the sugar. Beat with and electric mixer until the sugar is incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Now, add 1/3 of the flour and mix thoroughly. Add 1/3 of the milk and mix. Add 1/3 of the bananas and mix.

Continue by adding half of the remaining flour, milk and bananas, mixing in between each addition. Continue adding the remaining ingredients alternately and mixing thoroughly between each.

Pour into your bread pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. Test by using a butterknife inserted into the highest part of the bread. If it has only a few crumbs clinging to it, your banana bread is done.