Twinkie lovers, get ready to go bananas.The sweet treat known for its golden spongy cake and its creamy vanilla center is returning to its roots with banana-creme filling — the flavor that first made the snack a hit with sweet-toothed people more than 70 years ago.

Hostess, owned by Kansas City, Missouri-based Interstate Bakeries Corp., began selling the banana-creme snack cakes last week at retail stores nationwide. The filling tastes just as sweet as the standard vanilla but with a subtle hint and smell of banana.

Old-timers may remember the taste from the pre-World War II years. From 1930, when the Twinkie was first invented, to the 1940s, Twinkies were filled solely with banana creme. But a banana shortage during the war forced Hostess bakers to replace it with the vanilla flavor.

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