Maybe I am the only one, but I have lost count of the number of frozen bananas I have placed in the freezer with the full intention to make banana bread with them. As I was cleaning out said freezer, I realized that not only did I have one bunch of frozen bananas, but I had three! It was then I decided that I was making banana bread asap. Maybe it is just me, but there is a personal victory in the fact that I used bananas I had frozen with the intention of making bread.
Since it has been a while since I made one of the recipes from my grandma's recipe box I decided this was a perfect time to make one. As some might know, I am cooking my way through my grandma's recipe boxes, yes I said boxes. Some recipes are hers, but many, like this one, are shared by a Mennonite Community many years ago. With my family heritage, many of our recipes and influences on our cooking come from the Mennonite Community.
As best as I can tell the recipe appears to have been submitted to a newspaper or recipe book and was then shared after being retyped on typing papering. According to the paper, this recipe is from Doris Unruh from Halstead, KS. When I read the first ingredient, shortening, it instantly brought a smile to my face. After all, there was always a tub of Crisco in my grandma's kitchen!
A couple of notes after making this recipe myself, I wish I would have used four bananas. I only added three and a half because I was worried four would have been too much, but we found it to be slightly dense. I think if I had added a little more banana this bread would have been perfect! The recipe also calls for nuts to be added and I am not a fan of nuts in any baked goods so those were omitted. A local shop here called the Fork In The Road sells, Bull and Steet Banana Bread, no surprise I chose steer! LOL
I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think and whether you chose to make your version, bull or steer!