Grandma's Banana Bread

This is my Grandma's recipe. She is a farm girl from Arkansas. I'm not sure if this is a recipe that's been in the family for some time or if she acquired it later on. Wherever it originally came from, it's delicious! I think what set's this recipe apart from others is whipping the egg whites and then folding them in. It gives it a really soft, fluffy texture. Also, one of my banana bread secrets is to grease the loaf pans and then instead of coating them with flour, I coat them with granulated sugar. When the loaves are done and you turn them out, there is a crunchy, sugary coating on the bread and it's really yummy. We like to spread cream cheese on it.

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 bananas, mashed
3 eggs, separated

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Cream shortening and sugars together. Add bananas, vanilla, and well-beaten egg yolks. (Reserve egg whites). Sift flour, soda, and salt together. Add to first mixture, alternating flour and nuts. Beat egg whites until stiff, and fold in gently. Put into greased and floured pans. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let sit for awhile before turning out onto cooling racks. We refrigerate and freeze the leftovers.