This Banana Nut Bread recipe won the blue ribbon at the Oklahoma State Fair. It’s hard to beat this bread for rich banana flavor. Did know: Banana bread is a recipe rooted in American history? Read on.

Like San Francisco sourdough, banana bread is a very American baked good. As the Smithsonian states, “Banana bread first emerged in the 1930s, after baking soda and powder became mass produced and the Great Depression pushed people to make use of everything, including overripe bananas.”

This delicious Banana Nut Bread recipe is from Tammy Reiss from Moore, Oklahoma. It was a blue ribbon winner at the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

We think walnuts add a nice texture to this bread and complement bananas, but if you don’t like nuts or you are allergic to nuts, you can certainly omit them.

BANANA NUT BREAD

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 cup nuts, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, cream the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, bananas, and buttermilk; beat well. Stir into the dry ingredients, then stir in the nuts. Pour into a greased 9×5-inch pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Makes one loaf.

From the Old Farmers’ Almanac