Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls Wins 2025 Fairtastic Food Competition

#387 Happy Half Hour goes full fried as Troy and Jackie broadcast from the San Diego County Fair, tasting their way through 18 brain-and-taste bud-bending entries in the 2025 Fairtastic Food Competition. Spam wonton tacos. Cajun honey dogs. Furikake fries with runny eggs and edible flowers. But one stood above them all: a tres leches cinnamon roll from Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls, dreamed up by a third-generation baker, Willie Mattis whose family nailed the recipe in one take. The frosting didn’t just sit on top—it soaked through the roll, prompting creation of a new verb: sauceting. Troy and Jackie sit down with the fair's marketing director, Jennifer Hellman, to chat about her 25 years at the helm, and Mattis to talk tie-dye, road dogs, and how a $1 family recipe became the fair’s reigning icon. To follow the San Diego County Fair click HERE.

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