Blue Ribbon Group Blue Ribbon Foodies at the Minnesota State Fair
Nutty Tarts & Treats: Salted Nut Roll Bars, Homemade Honey Nut Granola, and More!
Blue Ribbon Foodies at the Minnesota State Fair: The Blue Ribbon Group took over the Creative Activities Building’s Cambria Kitchen at the Minnesota State Fair on August 25, 2024. As a result, we shared many tastings and great baking tips all day long. If you caught our demonstrations and complementary tastings and want the recipes, you are in the right place. Here is what we featured and the links to each recipe.
Nutty Honey & Seed Tarts
This is an all-time favorite we have many in many forms. It originally won “best pie” in one of our contests at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Hummingbird Cake
This is a specialty cake created by our fellow Blue Ribbon Foodie, Jackie Thesing @SweetGirlTreatsMN.
Salted Nut Roll Bars
This is an original creation for our baking friends everywhere, especially ones who like homemade versions of great candy bars.
Almond & Banana Snacking Cake
You can’t go wrong with any type of banana bread. This one is thick and thoroughly delightful. It comes from Ryan Ceresnak with @TheNerdyBakerMN.
Lemon Coconut Balls
The perfect citrus sweet treat you can make with or without macadamia nuts. Heather Pfeiffer won a blue ribbon for this cookie at last year’s Minnesota State Fair (2024).
Homemade Honey Nut Granola
Fun fact: this recipe earned a teenager his first food-related blue ribbon win! (Yay Lars!) You sweeten it with honey. As a result, it’s not overly sweet, which lets the nuts and oats shine. We served this on top of yoghurt for fairgoers and it was a total hit! You will want to make a double or triple batch of this!
Zucchini Bread Mini Muffins
Another winning creation, from another recipe shared by blue ribbon baker Heather Pfeiffer.
It was a fun scene and we hope you enjoyed all the deliciousness!
Please follow us social media: Blue Ribbon Foodies on Instagram and Facebook. And we hope to see you at next year’s Minnesota State Fair, which runs August 21 through Labor Day, September 1, 2025! Blue Ribbon Foodies at the Minnesota State Fair is bound to return in some way or another. Until then, keep on baking!
This post was updated Sept 4, 2024 with recipe images.
Homemade Honey Nut Granola
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Stir oats, almonds, pecans, and sunflower seeds together in a large bowl. Mix oil, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla together in a smaller bowl; pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Spread mixture onto two ungreased baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before storing. Makes 7 cups.
