Long-time snack vendor Granny's Kitchen will miss Minnesota State Fair in 2019

ST. PAUL (FOX 9) - A long-standing way to satisfy your sweet tooth will no longer be available at this year's state fair.

The location where Granny's Kitchen has sat will be vacant this year for the first time in nearly 30 years. It's been a good run for the vendor, but, at least for now, those craving fudge puppies are going to have to wait.

Three decades ago, Pat Braun came up with this recipe, which includes baked Belgian waffles on a stick, dipped in chocolate and topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, and named the booth after her mother: Granny's Kitchen, Home of the Fudge Puppies 

“Granny was having a really tough year,” explained Karla Anderla. “She lost a couple of kids and her husband all in the same year. So Pat decided to start something just to give her a will to live. She managed to hold on for quite a few years after that. She passed away just recently, only a few years ago.”

Karla Anderla started working with the founding family 17 fairs ago. But Thursday, the owner Pat announced on Facebook the custom-built blue and white booth outside the food building won’t be back.

“That 12 days of fair, it’s pretty taxing on the body, even for a young person,” said Anderla. “So she’s getting older and having some health issues.  She just knew she couldn’t do it. Last year was really hard on her.”

In November, the original owner told fair organizers she hoped to pass the booth onto Karla, who expressed interest and immediately filed an application to continue to operate. A fair spokesperson says, due to the previous owners continued involvement, the application will be revised for 2020 and beyond. Anderla says she understands. “Obviously, finances are a big problem and you have to apply and be accepted back into the fair. I’m always hopeful that it could possibly be. At this point, there is no for sure that anything could happen.”

For now, she’s focusing on the sweet memories of living at the fairgrounds for all those years, singing and having fun with customers. But she’ll miss those chocolate-covered smiles the most. “Who knows what will happen in the future but definitely people are disappointed it’s not going to be there this next year.”