Tag: Blue Ribbon Group

Blue Ribbon Beer Bread

Say hello to this award winning Blue Ribbon Beer Bread. The recipe features the pilsner Wonderstuff, from Bauhaus Brew Labs in Minneapolis, along with cheddar cheese, rosemary, and honey. A thick slice of this bread solo or with a swipe of butter is pure bliss. It’s tender but hearty, and has a beautiful golden brown exterior.

The recipe comes from Cortney Carlson who won “best beer bread” with it at the 2021 Minnesota State Fair.

This was her first blue ribbon win ever! In fact, she had only competed one other time, in 2019 for a special sugar cookie competition. Cortney shared, “Nothing came of the submission, but it ignited my interest in competing.”

Her recipe is easy to follow and replicate. It also great starting point for variations. After tasting and loving Cortney’s Blue Ribbon Beer Bread, we tried a cheddar, chive, and jalapeño version. It was really good also.

Winner Q&A

We caught up with Cortney for a Q&A recently. Read on to learn about her backstory.

BRG: What can you tell us about your Blue Ribbon Beer Bread recipe and why you chose it?

Cortney: While you’d think most people just KNOW they are submitting their (insert favorite recipe here… sugar cookies, sourdough, etc.), I actually stumbled across mine. When the categories for baking categories were released, I scanned the list for something to jump out at me. I like to try new recipes, new areas of baking, new techniques… so I didn’t go into this with a plan or recipe.

Immediately beer bread jumped out at me. My experience with bread was virtually nonexistent, but all the breweries around town, especially coming from Northeast Minneapolis? Not so much a mystery to me (hehehe).

Knowing little about bread, I looked at dozens of different recipes. I looked for types of beer bread, what types of things people added to them, and then just dove in. I liked the idea of adding an herb…I tried different cheeses, different styles of beers, and went back to the drawing board the more I tried things (that’s a MN nice way of saying the first attempts were gross). Once I started researching the right things, things started clicking and here we are. I landed on the attached final recipe.

BRG: What do you think your secret to winning was?

Cortney: The only thing larger than the amount of foods on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair is the Minnesota pride that you can feel in the air the entire twelve days of the fair. My recipe included ingredients made or headquartered in Minnesota. From local beer, honey, and cheese, to Pillsbury flour and rosemary grown at home… every part of that bread was a nod to people (myself) who say “ope” several times a day.

BRG: What is the worst disaster you’ve had in the kitchen and how did you deal with it?

Cortney: I’ve experienced the most average disasters – burning things, undercooking things, messing up a recipe, missing key ingredients, etc. The thing I’ve learned about kitchen disasters is that while it’s so disappointing and frustrating that day, the greatest lessons I’ve learned in the kitchen have come from the time I did it wrong.

BRG: What advice would you give young people wanting to cook/bake more?

Cortney: Learn your staple dinners/desserts/contributions to potlucks, but don’t stay there. Try new areas of cooking. You like pie but have never made one? Try it. And know that you may not knock it out of the park the first try, but the more you try the more you will learn and can apply to the next recipe.

Great advice Cortney! Now everyone, get ready, set, and bake this bread!

-Cyndi

p.s. If you’re into breads, be sure to bake this blueberry winning recipe and this whole wheat winner.

State Fair Apple Raspberry Pie

This State Fair Apple Raspberry Pie is a show stopper. It won both “best creative apple pie” and “best overall pie” at the 2021 Minnesota State Fair. Carol Marsh is the star state fair baker here. Her pie is beautifully designed and absolutely delicious. The filling tastes fantastic and has a firm yet tender texture. Fresh raspberries add a splash of color. Their sweetness pairs perfectly with tart apples.

Carol has been competing at the Minnesota State Fair since 2010 and baking since she a child. This year, 2021, was a big year, with her winning four blue ribbons. They were for a 2-layer chocolate cake, a raisin bread, a classic apple pie, and this creative apple pie, which won best overall pie also. This makes her a 6 time pie sweepstakes winner (best overall pie 6x since 2010). That brings her total to 36 Minnesota State Fair ribbons for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place wins.

Carol, like a lot of us, finds much joy in baking. She knows the ideal texture of pie dough and how to have a thick filling. As a result, she finds baking pies a breeze. She has it down to a science.

Carol has won multiple times at the Minnesota State Fair with this recipe and slight variations on it. Carol recently baked her pie for me and we brought you along to experience the journey of making a perfect pie. Seeing her in action was so much fun!

Carol’s Pie Baking Tips – Step by Step

Chill your bowl and all your pie crust dough ingredients (dry, wet and shortening).

Dough mixture (with chilled shortening already cut in) should resemble cornmeal.

Carol strains her egg/vinegar mixture into the crust’s dry ingredients.

Allow enough time to also chill the dough, for at least an hour. Check out the beautiful texture Carol gets.

For the filling, Carol prefers using a combo of Granny Smith, Braeburn, and Pink Lady apples.

Layer the apples, butter, and raspberries. You’ll get a colorful look that doesn’t “bleed” much or look messy.

Let your artistic side out by cutting and etching the leaves for the top crust like Carol did.

Layer and distribute the leaves evenly, so the top crust will bake uniformly.

Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar for some beautiful browning and sparkle.

The pie will be heaping with apples. While baking, the apples shrink, resulting in a full, lush-looking pie.

The pie cuts beautifully and has a firm yet tender filling.

This State Fair Apple Raspberry Pie is a classic. Put it on your holiday baking list. And if you want another 2021 Minnesota State Fair winning pie, check out this blue ribbon winner also.

Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Chewy Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies

These Chewy Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies are a well-deserved blue ribbon winning entry from the Washington State Fair.

The award-winning cookie recipe features the nutty deliciousness of browned butter, combined with oatmeal, coconut, and toffee bits. The cookies are full of flavor and have an amazing aroma. As the finishing step, you drizzle melted chocolate and sprinkle extra toffee bits on top.

Recipe credit goes to Rachel Atwood who won 1^st place with this re-invented oatmeal chocolate chip cookie at the Washington State Fair (2015, Gold Medal Cookie Contest). Rachel originally titled them as Brown Butter Coconut Chewies. Magically, they are chewy, crispy, and tender all at the same time.

Chewy Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies are an all-time favorite recipe we make again and again. They wowed the judges at the Washington State Fair and they wow us and every taster every time we bake them.

The recipe takes about two hours max, start to finish and makes about 24 cookies. You might want to double the recipe. It is that good!

Ingredients

The variety of ingredients in this recipe reminds us of kitchen sink cookies, but the texture is quite different.

Aromatic Browned Butter

Browning the butter is an essential step. Also key, is using these mix-in ingredients: toffee bits, oatmeal, coconut, and rice krispies cereal. Altogether they bring on the cookie’s crispy addictive chewiness. You can almost foresee the texture once you mix the dough.

Before baking, you’ll want to slightly flatten each ball you roll.

Use a scale and make them 1 ounce each if you want a consistent size and look. On the baking sheet, be sure you give ample space, about 3 inches, between the balls of dough, as they spread out more than the average cookie.

If you love browned butter like we do, this will become a fast favorite of yours like it did with us. And if you’re looking for another creative oatmeal cookie, check out this strawberries & cream themed one. It will be love at first bite with both. Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Best Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This Best Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe from Kathleen McCarron took first place at the 2021 Minnesota State Fair. Kathleen won top honors in the Blue Ribbon Best Fruit Pie special contest (and won $100 in King Arthur Baking Company gift cards). Her pie has a delicious, flaky crust you make with shortening, cold water, and of course, flour, sugar, and salt. The filling is chopped rhubarb and sliced fresh strawberries, making for a sweet, slightly tart taste to every bite.

Read on for some insights direct from Kathleen with our Winner Q&A:

What is your secret to baking great pies?

For me, the secret to a great pie is having a great crust. I love my family’s recipe, and rarely bother to use anything else, but (a perfect pie crust) is fairly tricky. It took me a number of years and at least a dozen pies to actually get the technique right, as judging exactly how far to cut the shortening into the dry ingredients took practice. To me, the effort is worth it because it tastes so good. We’ll sometimes bake the crust on it’s own with a bit of cinnamon sugar and eat it like cookies.

What can you tell me about your strawberry rhubarb pie and how the recipe came to be?

I first made this pie at the request of my father-in-law. I asked him what dessert he would like me to bring for a Father’s Day celebration, and he said that strawberry rhubarb was his favorite. After a quick google search, this one looked the best to me, as it had the least amount of sugar and he mentioned liking a tarter pie. I then doubled the cinnamon and substituted my family’s pie crust.

Do you have any helpful tips for someone making your recipe?

The trickiest part is the crust. Cutting the shortening to the size of small peas is important. A pastry cutter is faster, but it is possible to do this with a fork as well, as I did that for years. Leaving time to chill is also important, if you don’t rolling out will be more difficult.

Presentation is important. What are some of your tricks?

If I’m honest, I’ve always focused on taste first, presentation second. People will ooh and aah when something looks pretty, me included, but they only come back for more if it tastes good. Once I’m happy with the flavor, my next goal is usually to make it neatly, though sometimes I can’t even manage that. I almost didn’t turn this pie in because the juices burst through, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. And I won despite the untidiness!

What is the worst disaster you have had in the kitchen and how did you deal with it?

My family has a recipe for an apple cake with fudgy frosting that’s to die for. My mom had always made it as either a bundt cake or in a 9×13 pan, but I decided to try making it as a three layer cake. The first layer came out fine, but I didn’t leave time for the frosting to set before turning out the second layer, and the cake itself was too loose to hold together anyway. It was just this mound of broken cake and gloopy frosting. Unfortunately, I was making this cake for my sister’s birthday party, and didn’t have the time or ingredients to make anything else. Instead I just shoved some candles on top and apologized. Everyone at the party had a huge laugh, as this was by far the ugliest thing I had ever baked for them. Still tasted great!

Who does most of the cooking in your home?

I am both the cook and baker in my home, though both of my children are very interested in what goes on in the kitchen, particularly my son. There are times that I’m rushing to get dinner on the table, and it just doesn’t work to have a three year old helping. I have to promise him that he can help me make a dessert after we eat, and then he’ll happily mix together a box of pudding for us to enjoy.

What are some of your favorite family recipes?

I’ve always loved my mom’s apple pie, which is funny because she thinks it’s nothing special. She also makes a wonderful chicken salad and beef stew. For myself, I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I love, and there’s peach and apricot pie I’ve made that gets really great reviews. This summer I’ve been experimenting with fancy burgers, and I also once made a beef Wellington that had the flavors of Rouladen that was particularly superb.

What advice would you give young people wanting to cook/bake more?

The biggest advice I can give is to read the recipe all the way through! More than once, I’ve gotten stuck when I realize that a step I had just skimmed over was actually far more intense or difficult than I initially realized.

Also, it helps to have someone you can talk to about cooking, but who won’t step in and take over. I first really learned to cook during the summer after my senior year of high school. My parents told me that I was in charge of dinner on Tuesday nights. Inevitably, I would end up calling my dad 2-4 times over the course of the day to ask questions. What does this step mean? It calls for this cut of meat, but can I use this instead? I’ve watched mom make this before, but I’ve never seen her do this step, can I skip it? I think he really looked forward to those calls, and both of my parents were very encouraging about the meals I made. I think I only needed to throw the whole thing out once and declare a pizza night instead.

What has been your biggest win in recipe competitions?

I think this blue ribbon is my biggest win to date.

What do you do for work?

Before the pandemic, I worked at the University of Minnesota in the Theater Department as a draper in the costume shop and as an adjunct professor. Lockdown decimated the theater industry, so now I am back in school working on my Initial Licensure/M.Ed degree for English Education.

Other hobbies besides baking?

I don’t have much free time between school and family, but I like to sew, particularly cross stitch.

We highly recommend Kathleen’s winning pie. Happy baking ya’ll!

-Cyndi

Marjorie Johnson’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Celebrate great home baking with Marjorie Johnson’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

No blue ribbon recipe collection would be complete without something from Marjorie Johnson, the baking goddess who turned 102 last month. If you don’t know who she is, look her up. Marjorie is sweet, sharp, and so utterly endearing. My heart warms any time I’m fortunate enough to be in her presence. The first time I met her was of course at the Minnesota State Fair as we both took in the display cases of full of cookies, cakes, breads and pies in the Creative Activities Building. Then of course she has won special contests I’ve organized over the years.

In honor of Marjorie’s recent 102^nd birthday and because it’s so darn delicious, we made and are showcasing her Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake. It is also the infamous cake she made with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show way back when. By the way, if you want a great read about Marjorie, check out the feature that writer Kevyn Burger penned for the Star Tribune, here.

Here are the ingredients for the batter and streusel, and before/after baking shots, then read on for baking tips.

Tips from Marjorie

Here are some baking tips for Marjorie Johnson’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake, from the grand blue ribbon baker herself. Check them out, then pull out those cake pans and get baking!

This coffee cake is so quick and easy because it’s a quickbread so you don’t have to worry about using yeast.
The secret to a light and tender coffee cake is to beat the butter and sugar very well for a creamy consistency.
Be sure to only fill your pans half full (at the most) or they might overflow during baking because the baking powder and the baking soda makes the batter rise while baking. Any leftover batter can be baked in a small pan, it makes a nice sample for the cook.
It’s a great recipe because it makes two round coffee cakes. You can eat one right away and freeze the other and take it out another day.
It will be ready to serve in a short time. Just enough time to set your table, make coffee and get ready for your guests.
I use a package of sweetened flaked coconut but any coconut would be fine.
The fresh-grated orange zest (in the almond streusel shown below) adds a great flavor.
One tip with adding the powdered sugar to the milk, is to have the milk warm maybe 80-90 degrees. This cuts the powdered sugar taste and makes a delicious glaze.
You could also juice the orange and use the juice with the powdered sugar instead of the milk.
This coffee cake was my first sweepstakes winner and since has won many blue ribbons and sweepstakes.
I just love this coffee cake with coffee.

And we just love love love you, Marjorie! Thanks for being such an inspiration to us all, in so many ways.

-Cyndi

Peanut Butter Bacon Banana Bread

This Elvis-inspired “Peanut Butter Bacon Banana Bread” is a divine creation that features sweet and salty elements and great texture contrasts. It bakes perfectly too, coming out tender, yet firm enough to put on a stick. Among the judge’s comments: “very clever idea, delicious, and so state fair like.” We 100% agree.

This recipe won first place in the Blue Ribbon Banana Bread Contest at the 2021 Minnesota State Fair. Karen Cope created it for the competition, trying several variations and testing them on neighbors before settling on this entry.

Karen is a perennial winner who took home her first county fair blue ribbon when she was just 9 years old. She wins a $100 King Arthur Baking Company gift card.

Step By Step Recipe Overview

The toothsome treat is fun to make with kids and is easier than you think.

First off, you fry up the bacon crisp. Or leave it out if you’re not a fan. We’ve tasted it both ways, and both are phenomenal. Next you chop the bacon into small bits and set it aside as one of the toppings.

Next, prep your pans (grease, line with parchment), measure out your ingredients and set the oven to pre-heat to 350°F.

I love my stand-up mixture as it does the “heavy lifting” so well, an in blending ingredients smooth.

In this pic, I’ve already blended the bacon grease, butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar. I’m about to mashed my bananas.

I wish my bananas were more ripe than ^these^ ones shown above, but sometimes that’s all the grocery store has.

In my opinion, this is the ^ideal ripeness^ for banana bread. You could even go a bit more ripe. The aroma is very banana-y at this stage.

On this test run, I ended up doing a banana puree with an immersion blender with mine to eliminate bigger lumps. Once you combine the bananas with the eggs, vanilla, salt, and baking soda, you only need to mix in the flour, and half your chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. (You are saving the other half for drizzling.)

Mix only until just combined. Divide mixture between the two prepared pans. Batter will be quite thick, so level it out in the pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until light golden brown and edges start to pull away from the sides. Tip: if you only have 8-inch cake pans, use them, and bake about 10 minutes longer. A toothpick inserted into center should come out clean, without chocolate. Cool on wire rack.

The last step is fun. You cut the bread into 16 servings, insert the wide, wooden sticks (3/4 inch wide is ideal), then do your toppings.

Melted peanut butter chips (with shortening)
Melted chocolate chips (with shortening)
Chopped peanuts (Planters, honey-roasted)
Chopped banana chips (Trader Joe’s)
Bacon pieces

Tah Dah!

Now you have the best-ever banana bread to enjoy: Peanut Butter Bacon Banana Bread, Elvis on a Stick!

Happy noshing!

-Cyndi

Tropical Coconut Cake Recipe

This Tropical Coconut Cake recipe makes a tender, rich cake you are going to absolutely love. Coconut cream goes into both the cake batter and the frosting. This enhances the texture as well as the flavor.

Katie Knott won the King Arthur Great Cake Contest at the 2012 Minnesota State Fair with this recipe. She won first place and big-time bragging rights. Her cake was picked from dozens of competing cakes.

We think you will swoon over this cake’s scrumptiousness. Pro-tip here: a good coconut extract adds to the aroma and flavor, which contest judges closely evaluate. Crushed pineapple in the batter gives the cake a tropical theme and adds extra moisture too.

As always, we test the recipes before sharing them with you all. Our test runs turned out terrific! We love the look and taste of toasted coconut. It gives the cake a mouth-watering look, especially for coconut lovers, which we absolutely are.

This is such a tasty cake. One mouthful and you’ll know why it’s a blue ribbon winning recipe.

Make this Tropical Coconut Cake recipe soon, and then stay tuned! We’ll be sharing the winning coconut cake from the 2021 Blue Ribbon Baking Contest at the Minnesota State Fair soon.

-Cyndi

Citrus Swirl Cookies

These colorful and fragrant Citrus Swirl Cookies taste as great as they look. They’re buttery and tender, yet firm, and so flavorful too. Their scent is illuminating. They are an epic icebox cookie. They are the bomb. That’s our take and we’re sticking to it. And seriously, just wait until you catch their lovely aroma!

Recipe credit goes to Karen Cope, a long-time blue ribbon winning baker at the Minnesota State Fair, which is where she won “best cookie” with this recipe in 2016.

The kaleidoscope-like look of these Citrus Swirl Cookies is eye-catching. The technique of twisting colorful dough together may remind you of tie dye clothing. That method makes the recipe more involved than your average cookie, but it’s worth the effort. And once you have that part down though, you’re golden. Bake like a blue ribbon winner and make these!

Secret Ingredient?

Ask any blue ribbon baker their tips for baking winning entries in competitions and most often you’ll hear “great ingredients.” That applies to this winning cookie as well. Karen speculates that using Fiori Di Sicilia made her cookie stand out for its distinct and delicious aroma. Fiori Di Sicilia (flower of Sicily) is a combo of vanilla and citrus. Our friends at King Arthur Baking Company sell a delightful version, plus they give great tips about using and storing it here.

Baking Tips

Some helpful points about Karen’s recipe:

If using Fiori di Sicilia is not an option for you, Karen suggests replacing it with a teaspoon of vanilla and a half teaspoon each of lemon and orange extracts
This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies. If you don’t want to bake them right away or all at once, freeze the dough or portions of it (prior to slicing).
If you freeze any portion, simply thaw in the refrigerator the night before you what to bake them.
Be careful not to overbake these cookies. You want them tender and not dry.

By the way, we had a fun time brainstorming alternative names for this cookie, just for fun. A couple favorites were: Karen Cope’s Kaleidoscope Cookies and Tie-Dye-For Sweet Treats. Ultimately we stayed with the original/best title.

Enjoy-

Cyndi

p.s. If you’re into cookies that are awesome and artistic (aka “require a bit more work”), be sure to also try the copycat Girl Scout cookies we previously shared.

Strawberries & Cream Cookies

These Strawberries & Cream Cookies are a best cookie recipe winner from the Delta Fair in Tennessee. They feature instant oatmeal in the cookie itself and strawberry jam with cream cheese and whipping cream in the oh so delicious filling. They are amazing to taste when you first make them, then phenomenal when they sit and soften a bit.

Now THIS is a jazzed up oatmeal cookie. Epic! For this winning recipe, start with butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda and strawberries and cream instant oatmeal, like Quaker.

Once you have baked and cooled the cookies, make a filling out of cream cheese, sugar, strawberry preserves, and heavy cream. Sandwich them together with the filling inside.

Strawberries & Cream Cookies: Blue Ribbon Winner

This winning recipe comes from the Delta Fair in Memphis. Cindy Dunn won a blue ribbon with it in 2016. It has become an all-time favorite around here. (Right up there with these boozy sandwich cookies.)

It is decadent and so delicious! And one of the cool things about it is, that after it sits, the texture completely changes, drawing on the moisture of the filling. It bursts with flavor and literally melts in your mouth when you eat it. Tasty! Try your hand at these today!

Happy Baking!

Cyndi

Toasted S’more Cookies

These Toasted S’more Cookies are a delightful twist on the ever-popular and tasty campfire treat. In fact, some say it elevates the s’more into something that belongs in a fancy patisserie. At the same time, these blue ribbon winning cookies are easy to make.

The cookie dough has finely ground graham crackers, of course. The other dough ingredients are classic: butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, and salt. Once baked, you top the cookies with a rich marshmallow meringue and a small bar of chocolate. You dot the top of the cookie with the meringue first, to hold the chocolate bar/block in place.

Then pipe on the top portion. The key ingredients in the meringue are egg whites (at room temperature), marshmallows, sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and cream of tartar. To finish off the cookies, you use a kitchen torch for the toasted marshmallow look. You’ll feel like a culinary pro. By the way, we have a Jo Chef brand torch and love it.

Recipe credit goes to Terri Treft. She won 1^st place with this Toasted S’more Cookies recipe at the Iowa State Fair back in 2016. Her win is quite an accomplishment given one of the Iowa State Fair’s claims to fame. They have the largest competitive food division in the country. They host more individual baking contests than any other fair in the country. So, nice work Terri!

Pro Tips

You can opt to a make the cookies and frosting ahead of time, then assemble just before serving. The frosting will keep about 2-3 days in the fridge.
Another tip: we made our cookies small so it made a good size batch: 42 cookies. If you prefer a larger cookie (and therefore, less assembly time), go ahead and bake them bigger. Just adjust the baking time a tish longer and the amount of chocolate you put on each.

Blue Ribbon Foodies! This is a fun recipe you are going to want to make again and again.

And if you’re really into s’more themed treats, be sure to try these double chocolate cookies and these favorite no-bake treats.

Enjoy!

-Cyndi