She’s done it again.
Defending champion Tammy Jobbins dominated the Chamber of Commerce Cookie and Candy Contest, sweeping three of the top four prizes during judging Friday evening at the Haines Visitor Center.
Jobbins snagged first and second place in the adult candy competition and first place in adult cookies.
“I couldn’t believe it. I never expected to win all three of my entries,” Jobbins said Monday.
Though she hadn’t previously entered the candy competition, Jobbins took first place with pistachio cranberry fudge and second with Christmas macaroons.
Her first-place victory with the “Surprise Package” cookies was hard-won, however, as judges Krista Kielsmeier, Michelle Webb and Patty Campbell initially voted into a three-way tie.
The judges deliberated over the decision, weighing the pros and cons of Jobbins’ cookies, Tom Heywood’s sugar cookies and Barb Blood’s cranberry pecan drops.
“That is one of the best-tasting cookies I have ever had,” Webb said of Blood’s cranberry pecan drops. But the judges decided the drops were short on appearance, which is weighted equally with taste on their scorecards. Blood got second.
Blood conceded her pecan drops weren’t exactly beauties.
“It’s just a plain, old ordinary drop cookie. It’s not fancy. It’s not formed. It didn’t have icing on it. It didn’t look Christmas-y,” she said.
While taste is most important to her, Blood said she understood why Jobbins’ cookie bested her in the end. “I think it should taste good. You can have a beautiful-looking cookie, but if it doesn’t taste good…But Tammy’s cookie was pretty and it tasted good.”
Jobbins dipped her Christmas macaroons in white chocolate and sprinkled them with green sugar before arranging them into a Christmas tree. She then sprinkled powdered sugar on the surrounding tray to mimic snowfall.
The “Surprise Package” cookies came nestled in a holiday basket. The oval-shaped butter cookies contained an Andes mint in the middle, with melted Andes mint chocolate drizzled on top.
“I enter every year. I started entering it with my girls. It’s just a tradition and I just like to do it. It’s not really to win. But it’s nice to win,” Jobbins said.
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Natalie Jobbins took first place in the youth candy competition with her cathedral window fudge – containing red and green marshmallows and white chocolate chips – after judges broke a tie between the fudge and Marirose Evenden’s “caramelized chocolate circles,” which took second place.
In a joint effort, Evenden and Kadin Doddridge won first place in the youth cookie competition with their “Salmon Spice” cookies, which were shaped like – but not flavored with – salmon. Mandalyn Gala’s peppermint puffs finished second.
Overall, the competition drew 13 adult cookie, seven adult candy, four youth cookie, and two youth candy entries. The judging was blind and submissions were ranked on a scale of 1-3 on flavor, appearance and originality.
Jobbins received both first place prizes: identical packages with an apron, baking mitts, chocolates, and an ornament. First and second place youth winners and second place adult winners received gift certificates to local stores.