Grandma Gator's Banana Bread

Some of my fondest memories growing up were of skipping school and spending the afternoon with my Grandma Gator. She was a wonderful baker (her chocolate pie has yet to be duplicated), and we would often bake together. I would make mini loaves of this banana bread while she made the full sized ones.

The original recipe calls for nuts to be included, but I left them out of this batch. Although Tim likes nuts, he claims that when they are in baked goods, they make his teeth itch. I would also suggest that you don’t double the batch unless you have an industrial mixer. I had to transfer the batter into a large bowl and mix in the flour by hand, as my KitchenAid mixer was going to overflow. My double batch yielded four mini loaves, one medium loaf, and three large loaves.

Banana Bread

1 c. Shortening
3 c. Sugar
4 Eggs
2 tsp Baking Soda
4 c. Flour
1 ½ tsp Salt
1 c. Sour Milk*
2 c. Bananas, Smashed
Nuts (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour several bread pans. In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each new addition. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients, milk, and bananas. Mix well. If including, fold in the nuts. Fill the bread pans ¾ full and bake for 65 minutes.

I put the smaller bread pans on a cookie sheet to easily insert and remove them from the oven.

* Originally, this recipe may have used milk that had been left sitting out. But nowadays, there is a better way to get sour milk. Simply add 1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice for each 1 c. of milk