Tag: best recipe

Swedish Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

This recipe for Swedish Cookies & Cream Ice Cream makes the very best homemade vanilla ice cream. Seriously. Thanks to the whole vanilla bean/extract combo, the richness of the heavy whipping cream, and the gooey deliciousness of the sweetened condensed milk, this ice cream is magical. Truly. And don’t let the simple preparation steps mislead you, because the flavor is not at all simple.

Few Ingredients, Few Steps, Fantastic Flavor

Made with only 4 ingredients and no special equipment, this homemade ice cream takes just a few steps to prepare. The hardest part is waiting for it to freeze.

Mix your vanilla bean paste (seeds + extract) into the sweetened condensed milk
Whip the heavy cream into stiff peaks
Fold the two mixtures together
Fold in the crumbled cookies

You finish by putting it in a freezer-safe container. Just look at how creamy it is! This is right before freezing it.

The freezing step takes at least 4 hours, so plan ahead with that. I try and make it the day before I want to serve it.

Prep Tips:

Use a high quality extract. A few that I really like are Frontier Co-op, Penzey’s and Rodale. For the beans, I have used Penzey’s and ones off Amazon. I love the strong flavor you get by combining the vanilla extract with the seeds from the vanilla bean. The vanilla bean paste is essential, in my opinion.
Be sure to whip the heavy cream until you have stiff peaks. Adding that air makes for such a super creamy texture.
Do the gentle folding technique when combining everything together and your mix-ins. This way you maintain the ideal texture and volume you want.
A metal loaf pan works well to freeze the ice cream in, or paper containers. If you choose plastic, go with a thick, sturdy container. Thin ones easily crack.
You can change up this recipe by using your favorite mix-ins. Some that come to mind: pretzels, peanut butter, cocoa powder, caramel, nuts, and bananas or other fruits. Other extracts and flavors are fun also. Amoretti is a great source for a huge variety of flavorings. I love their cotton candy and pistachio options.
The last tip is to place it in the refrigerator 30 minutes before you serve it. The scoops come out well rounded and the flavor really blossoms when you eat it very slightly melted.

Ice Cream Inspiration – Blue Ribbon Friends

After making this Chocoholic Homemade Ice Cream a few weeks ago, I vowed to try a version with sweetened condensed milk. My opportunity came when my good friend Chris invited me over to make Swedish pizzas. She had signed up for a Nordic Table Foodways event from the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. It was an online video presentation with Patrice Johnson and it made for a great night. Among the information Patrice sent in advance was the simple dessert idea of mixing Swedish Punsch and Swedish cookies into a vanilla ice cream. That was the inspiration behind this Swedish Cookies & Cream Ice Cream recipe. We opted to have the delicious liqueur as an after-dinner drink, and sipped it between bites of our delicious dessert. WOW. What a wonderful experience. YUM!

Fun Fact: Patrice is a blue ribbon baker I met years ago when she won a cookie contest I managed.

As a big fan of the cookies and cream ice cream made with Oreo cookies, I knew I would like the texture and taste of this Swedish Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. The cookies soften in the creamy mixture but retain their sweet and snappy ginger flavor. Each spoonful is scrumptious; and each bite, a delight. Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Bake Your Best for the 2021 Minnesota State Fair

Calling all Blue Ribbon Foodies & Minnesota State Fair Lovers!!

Hit the kitchen and let’s bake together for the Great Minnesota Get-Back-Together! To celebrate the official return of our hometown Minnesota State Fair in 2021, the Blue Ribbon Group is sponsoring four special baking contests at the Minnesota State Fair including:

Best Banana Bread
Best Fruit Pie
Best Drop Cookie
Best Coconut Cake

Cash Prizes & Kudos

For this “Blue Ribbon Baking Day” at the fair, we’ve organized $175 in prizes for each competition, plus there will be special recognition for blue ribbon winners across several broader baking categories: Cookies, Cakes, Pies, and Breads. Don’t miss this treasured tradition that hundreds of Minnesotans take part in every year. You’ll rub elbows with like-minded home cooks and hobby bakers on “baking drop-off day” and once the fair opens see what wins in display cases throughout the Creative Activities Building. The experience is also a wonderful warm-up for the upcoming holiday baking season.

Special Thanks to our prize partner, King Arthur Baking Company.

Blue Ribbon Baking Contest Series: Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 9:30am – 1pm (Competitors: Sign Up by Aug 10, 4:30pm)

All registration goes through the Minnesota State Fair competition department. Registration is free! There’s also no obligation if you later can’t participate. Go to the Competitions/Creative Activities/Baked Products section at MNStateFair.org to sign up (under the Participants tab). Three quick-start tips:

Create your online account here
For step-by-step guidance, go here.
Sign up for the Competition Department email list here and be sure to choose “Creative Activities” as your email list.

Sign Up! *Registration is Closed; Stay Tuned for Follow-Up Posts ******************

Registration is open now. It closes August 10 at 4:30pm. No late registrations are allowed so don’t miss the deadline
Registration is FREE
You drop off your entry the Saturday before the fair opens, so it’s easy in, easy out. Drop off is 9:30am to 1pm on Saturday, August 21. You can even have a friend drop it off if you can’t make it
Open to Minnesota residents only

If you are on social media, be sure to follow BLUE RIBBBON FOODIES on Instagram or Facebook (or both =). Help us grow. Like and comment on what you see there. Save and share your favorite posts. Also, stay tuned here for inspiration and award-winning recipes from Minnesota and across the country.

Want to see all the official rules? Download them here.

Good luck. We’ll be cheering for you all!

Cyndi & Crystal (aka The Blue Ribbon Group & Blue Ribbon Foodies)

Fresh Tomato & Fontina Cheese Tart

This Fresh Tomato & Fontina Cheese Tart is colorful, scrumptious and extraordinarily simple to make.

Aromatic crushed fennel seeds in the crust deliver a delicious dimension you smell and taste with every bite. As a result, the tart’s flavor is distinct and unforgettable.

Fontina, an Italian cheese known for its smooth texture, gives the tart a richness that pairs perfectly with fresh tomatoes. The onions, olives and fresh thyme sprigs add to the tart’s gourmet taste and vibrant appearance.

This Fresh Tomato & Fontina Cheese Tart is hearty but not heavy, which makes it perfect for brunch or dinner. It also reheats well. Add it to your meal-planning today. You are going to love it!

Recipe credit goes to Anne Crouss who won at the Big E Fair (2013), first place in a contest General Mills’ baking division sponsored for family-favorite meals. We simply made it with a thicker crust. We’ve made the crust both with Bisquick, and a flour version (Fennel Seed Pie Crust). Both are delicious!

Baking Tips

Follow the step by step images below to take a tour through this blue ribbon winning recipe.

Don’t skip placing the tomato slices on paper towels stage as it dries them out just enough to prevent too much juice draining into the pie and making the crust soggy.
Can’t find Fontina? Go with a Gouda, Gruyere, or provolone as substitutes. They have comparable texture and richness.
If you prefer thinner crusts, use an oversize 12-inch pie pan (which is how Anne, the recipe creator, made it originally).
Want to use Bisquick for the crust? Use 1 1/2 cups of the mix and 6 tablespoons butter instead of the flour and butter amounts listed.

If you love savory pies, be sure to also try this Savory Butternut Squash Pie or these Spicy Chicken Hand Pies.

Step by Step Images

First, prepare your crust. Use the Bisquick version the winner did (in recipe below), or if you prefer flour instead, use the Fennel Seed Pie Crust recipe we tested and approved.

Second – once the crust is parbaked and cooled…begin the layering. Start with the Italian Fontina Cheese.

Third, load up most of the tomatoes.

Next, combine the chopped olives, onion, fresh thyme, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add them on top of the tomatoes.

After adding the olive/onion mixture, as the last step, add the remaining tomatoes. Now it is ready to go into the oven.

Finally, bake, then let it cool a bit before adding fresh thyme sprigs, slicing. and serving.

Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Almond Joy Cookie Bars

These Almond Joy Cookie Bars will bring utter joy to any almond, chocolate, or coconut lover. With three decadent layers, these bars are thick, dense and delicious!

Thanks to almond extract, whole toasted almonds, and sliced toasted almonds, these sensational sweet treats burst with almond flavor. The shredded coconut filling, chocolate, and almonds altogether give them an addictive texture that’s crunchy, chewy, and rich, all at the same time. AND…they are super easy to make.

3 Easy Pieces

Making these Almond Joy Cookie Bars, only takes three main stages. You par-bake a lush cookie crust made simply with butter, corn syrup, egg yolk, flour, baking powder, and salt.
Next you mix shredded coconut and sweetened condensed milk with almond extract, then bake that mixture on top of the cookie crust as the filling. Check out the gooey good look of the filling (image below).
You finish these fabulous treats with whole almonds, melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, and sliced almonds.

Top Preparation Tip

Using parchment to line your pan will make removing the bars from the pan and cutting them easy peasy. Once they’re chilled, all you need to do is lift them out by the parchment edges. Here’s a shot of the bars once they’ve chilled. This time I made them, I didn’t add the almond slices until just before serving. Just look at how is golden brown the crust is and how jammed the bars are with almonds.

Blue Ribbon Winning Sweet Treat

Recipe credit goes to Tammy Michalec of Leesville who won a KARO best recipe contest at her local fair, the South Carolina State Fair with this recipe.

Want More Almond Joyfulness?

Hey all you almond, coconut and chocolate lovers! If you love this recipe, be sure not to miss our Mounds of Joy Cake also. In January 2021, it was one of our #1 most popular recipe on the site.

Enjoy!

Cyndi

Sweet Savory Pear Dessert Pizza

This Sweet-Savory Pear Dessert Pizza features an unexpected ingredient combination that works deliciously.

Sweet Meets Savory Ingredient Combination

There’s cream cheese and brown sugar, as well as onion, bacon, and pecans, plus a mix of provolone and mozzarella cheese. The gorgonzola cheese is key. It is buttery and has a bite to it. Pair all that with the sweetness of fruit and honey, and you’ve got an amazing, unique, and award-winning dessert. In fact, this “best recipe” won 1^st place at the Minnesota State Fair. It’s another all-time favorite from our archives.

Recipe credit goes to Lynda Decker. She won the “best dessert pizza” that Fleischmann’s Yeast sponsored back in 2013. One of her tips is to try a flavored honey like raspberry honey, which she got at a Minnesota farmer’s market.

Delicious Crust, Creative Toppings

You start with an easy homemade pizza crust that you brush with butter and brown sugar. Make the dough ahead of time (two hours before baking or the day before). You par-bake the crust then add your toppings: a cream-cheese-brown-sugar layer, pear slices, onion, bacon, and two cheeses, including that slightly funky gorgonzola. You finish it with pecans and a drizzle of honey. Altogether it is a lot of ingredients, but wait until you taste it! Wow.

I was blown away when I first tasted this Sweet-Savory Pear Dessert Pizza. It is both creative and tantalizing to taste. This is a must make for any cheese lovers out there, as well as any foodies that like complex flavors, texture contrasts and surprising ingredient combinations.

Blue Ribbon Winning Recipe

At judging, long-time Minnesota State Fair Judge Mary Bartz shared her expert opinion about this pizza. (This pizza recipe has) a powerful combination…a savory and fruity sweet topping over a thin, tender, yet chewy crust…a dynamic result!

Be sure to bake this one up soon!

-Cyndi

Note: This is an edited repost from our former website, StateFairRecipes.com.

Homemade French Macarons

Homemade French Macarons are made easy with this best ever macaron recipe using almond flour, powdered sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, almond extract, and superfine sugar. The blue ribbon “best cookie” winner has just 6 main ingredients for the cookie part (plus your favorite food color). You make the Italian buttercream with just 4 more ingredients: egg whites, granulated sugar, unsalted butter, and pure vanilla extract.

Perfect Texture, Perfect Taste

You’ll love the smooth and crisp outside “shell” these cookies have. Their chewiness inside is also key to their deliciousness. And the Italian buttercream? To die for!

Recipe credit goes to Marianne Carlson who won “best overall cookie” honors with it at the 2015 Iowa State Fair. That means the judges ranked this cookie better than hundreds of others, 453 to be exact. That’s how many entries there were that year: 454! Wow. One taste and you’ll know why they won.

Given how intimidated people can be about making macarons, we were pleasantly surprised with how simple they were to make. My niece Crystal came to visit and she took the lead in re-creating Marianne’s winning cookie. It was the first time either of us had attempted them. The hardest part perhaps was getting the cookies a consistent size so they look good once “sandwiched” with the filling inside. I think templates are the secret to success for size consistency. With macarons in general, I also think practice makes perfect. You are off to a great start with Marianne’s recipe.

Flavor & Color Variations

You can easily make these your own by changing the filling and colors. We did some blueberry macaron simply by switching the food coloring gel and adding blueberry jam to the buttercream. I see many more brightly colored ones in our future come spring and summer. Homemade French Macarons are marvelous. You can find a wonderful chocolate macaron recipe here. It is the most popular cookie we’ve shared to-date. It also happens to be another blue ribbon winning recipe.

Winner Tip: Marianne believes her winning French macarons taste best after being refrigerated 4 days, then served at room temperature. I bet that’s true…but our batch was gone in less than a day. Next time we’ll do a double batch.

Definitely give these French macarons a try. They’ll win you over too!

-Cyndi

Note: Midwest Living Magazine and Gold Medal Flour sponsored this Iowa State Fair best cookie competition in 2015. This is an edited repost from our former website, StateFairRecipes.com.

Maple Cream Cheese Monkey Bread

Maple Cream Cheese Monkey Bread – Mini Size: If you want a yummy, buttery, gooey pull-apart bread that you can have all to yourself, bake this best-ever recipe. All you need is milk, instant yeast, cream cheese, an egg, and a few other pantry staples. You bake them in cupcake or muffin tins…so you get single servings… and no sharing required. Ha! Now is when you can hear my hushed, evil voice saying: mine mine mine! All mine!

Recipe credit goes to Kaitlyn Wiener who created these for a best-ever bread baking contest at the Minnesota State Fair (Fleischmann’s Yeast, 2013).

Monkey Bread Made Easy

To get rolling on this maple cream cheese monkey bread recipe, you make a quick-rise, plump dough, cut it into squares, then wrap a cream cheese/maple syrup filling inside. Do a quick toss in a bowl of cinnamon and sugar. Drop them into muffin tins, top them with a butter/maple syrup sauce, and pop them in the oven! So darn simple, and so completely delish.

I really love the ease of working with instant yeast like Fleischmann’s RapidRise yeast. It’s fast acting and consistent (always reliable.) RapidRise yeast also works great in coffee cakes. Watch for one of those, another state fair winner, coming in the next couple weeks.

My niece Crystal and fellow Blue Ribbon Foodie was the lucky one to recreate these mini maple cream cheese monkey breads. She gave it two thumbs up and had this to say:

This recipe was fun to make and a great chance to get kids involved because of the simplicity of the steps.
The cream cheese filling adds a nice tang, especially when paired with the frosting and the sauce.
If by chance they don’t all disappear, the mini monkey breads do reheat well, however I recommend eating them right away when the bread most soft and light, fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!

By the way, if you’re looking for a great full size monkey bread to make, try this pumpkin pull apart bread.

Crystal and Cyndi

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles: this award-winning recipe is a delicious, fun spin on classic snickerdoodles, with cayenne, cocoa, and baking chocolate kicking up the heat and yum factor. You end up rolling the dough in sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and sea salt, making the flavors bloom with your first bite. They’re equally soft and chewy with a slightly crisp texture. One taste and you’ll know why it won top honors.

Choose Your Hotness

If you like a bit of heat in your baked goods, try these spicy snickerdoodles “as is” or choose your “hotness” by adjusting the cayenne (up or down). I actually added the cayenne because, frankly, I love all things spicy. You can certainly leave it out. Recipe credit goes to Kim Dame who won 1^st place in at the L.A. County Fair with this recipe. (Gold Medal Flour, best cookie contest, 2014)

Inspiration, Preparation

Kim’s Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles were inspired by a favorite coffee cream flavor. When she won, Kim shared that in preparation for the recipe contest, she baked a huge variety of cookies. The flavors ranged from coconut to molasses and orange. Her co-workers and friends were the lucky taste testers. They were most wowed by the Mexican Hot Chocolate, and the rest is history.

Bake these Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles. You’ll be wowed as well.

More for Chocolate Lovers

Double Chocolate S’More Sandwich Cookies, another L.A. County Fair winner

Potato Chip Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, another must-make cookie recipe

Blue Ribbon Biscuits

These Blue Ribbon Biscuits – made with buttermilk, butter, coconut oil, and baking powder – are based on a State Fair of Texas winning recipe. (Hey there Big Tex). Bake these and you’ll see how easy great biscuits are to make.

Back in 2015, Krysabelle Gilbert of Lindale, Texas made these blue ribbon biscuits and won “best of show.” She called them “Butter ’em up Biscuits” and they won out of 27 entries in her division. Nice work!

Most Popular Baking Categories at Fairs

Baked goods that year, as always, were a popular competition category. (You may recall the Texas winning Lemon Chess Pie from 2015 on our sister site; also yum). It was a big year. Check out what was entered at the State Fair of Texas that year overall. These were all made at home by amateur bakers, aka hobby bakers, people who don’t earn a living baking.

231 cookies
189 cakes
169 pies
158 breads

Whew! That is a lot of baking! It is also so inspiring.

Home-Baked is Best

Whenever I make home-made biscuits, from scratch, I ask myself, “why don’t I make these more often?!” So, when I had leftover buttermilk from another recipe, I dug out this blue ribbon biscuit recipe, a classic. With just 7 ingredients, all staples in my pantry, and 40 minutes to spare, it was game on.

I greased the pan with butter and measured out my portion for the dough. Then I realized I didn’t have any shortening on hand. (So much for a stacked pantry…) No worries though. I love baking with coconut oil and had plenty of that. I simply replaced the shortening with the same amount of coconut oil.

Overall, I ended up increasing the butter and coconut oil “shortening” amounts from Krysabelle’s version. After combining those two ingredients into the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar), I added the buttermilk and egg. I mixed it just until it was combined. That was something Krysabelle emphasized. Don’t overmix. If you want a tender fluffy biscuit, just follow that rule. Other than that, biscuit dough is hard to mess it up. I like that in a recipe.

Anyway, within 15 minutes, my biscuits were ready for the oven.

When they came out, 13 minutes later, they smelled and looked amazing. I let them sit a couple minutes. Then, with oversize spatulas, I moved the entire batch out of the pan and onto a wire rack. I waited a long 5 or so minutes, then smothered one with jam to eat. Delicious!

Great for Brunch Buffets

I hope you try your hand at these soon too. They work great on a buffet table or for a biscuit bar where people can build their own savory (gravy or sandwiches) or go the sweet route with various jams and jellies.

If you want to round out a Texas State Fair winning recipe theme with your brunch. Search the blog for “Texas” and you’ll find a few options, both sweet and savory.

-Cyndi

Lemon Raspberry Chiffon Cake

Sticking with my nostalgia kick, I did a deep dive for another best-ever archived recipe and pulled up this one, for a luscious Lemon Raspberry Chiffon Cake.

Blue Ribbon Baking at its Best

This best cake winner originates at the New York State Fair (1999). Luana Impellizzeri won 1st place with it, The cake is one of many major wins for this longtime home baker.

Making this lemon raspberry chiffon cake is easier than it first looks. And it tastes out of this world. The lemon curd cooks up beautifully and adds richness to an already decadent cake. It’s also colorful, lush, and full of flavor.

The homemade whipped cream melts in your mouth. You’ll love how it pairs with both the raspberries and lemon filling. Enjoy!

Cyndi

Few Ingredients, Few Steps, Fantastic Flavor

Prep Tips:

Ice Cream Inspiration – Blue Ribbon Friends

Calling all Blue Ribbon Foodies & Minnesota State Fair Lovers!!

Cash Prizes & Kudos

Special Thanks to our prize partner, King Arthur Baking Company.

Blue Ribbon Baking Contest Series: Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 9:30am – 1pm (Competitors: Sign Up by Aug 10, 4:30pm)

Sign Up! *********************Registration is Closed; Stay Tuned for Follow-Up Posts **************************************

Baking Tips

Step by Step Images

3 Easy Pieces

Top Preparation Tip

Blue Ribbon Winning Sweet Treat

Want More Almond Joyfulness?

Sweet Meets Savory Ingredient Combination

Delicious Crust, Creative Toppings

Blue Ribbon Winning Recipe

Perfect Texture, Perfect Taste

Flavor & Color Variations

Monkey Bread Made Easy

Choose Your Hotness

Inspiration, Preparation

More for Chocolate Lovers

Most Popular Baking Categories at Fairs

Home-Baked is Best

Blue Ribbon Baking at its Best

Sign Up! *Registration is Closed; Stay Tuned for Follow-Up Posts ******************