Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans and set them aside.

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar and butter. Beat until well creamed. Add the eggs and beat until fluffy. Gradually add the flour beating on slow speed until well mixed. Note: the batter will be thick at this point.

Step 3

In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the buttermilk and stir together well. With the mixer at low speed, slowly add the buttermilk to the sugar, flour, and egg mixture.

Step 4

In a small bowl, mash the bananas thoroughly. I use a fork to do this, but you can use a potato masher if you'd like.

Step 5

Add the mashed bananas to the batter. Mix at low speed until well incorporated. Stir in nuts, salt, and vanilla.

Step 6

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans.

Step 7

Bake at 300 for approximately 1 hour or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove loaves from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Turn the loaves out on the rack and let them cook completely.