The Fair Food Creation That Proves Everything's Sweeter In Texas
Everything is bigger in Texas, including the state fair. The 24-day fair draws visitors from all over the Lone Star state, as well as visitors from across the county. In 2021, the state fair reported hosting 2.2 million visitors. The fair offers the typical thrills like live concerts, questionable carnival rides, and over-the-top food creations.
This year, the Texas State Fair is back to entice the palates of foodies. The Big Tex Choice Awards have been a Texas fair staple since 2005. Every year, the concessionaires cook up some unique, deep-fried delicacies with the hopes of being a finalist in their category. There are five finalists in the savory category and five finalists in the sweet category. There is one winner for best taste sweet, best taste savory, and most creative dish.
Attendees of this year's state fair will have plenty of mouth-watering and gut-busting food choices to enjoy, including the winning dishes from the Big Tex Choice Awards.
Indulge your sweet tooth with a Peanut Butter Paradise
This year's state fair theme is Treats of Texas. According to fair officials, "The theme highlights the State Fair concessionaire's ingenuity when it comes to culinary creations (via NBCDFW). The competition began with 51 entries submitted by 36 concessionaires. The lot has been whittled down to the top 10 finalists, where every competitor will vie for the coveted Big Tex statue trophy.
One of the Big Tex finalists for sweets is a peanut butter lover's dream come true. The peanut butter paradise is a deep-fried honey bun that is filled with caramel and slathered with creamy peanut butter. If that weren't enough, the bun is topped with "Reese's Pieces, Butterfinger crumbles ... peanut butter cups, drizzled caramel and a cloud of powdered sugar," (per Eater Dallas). While this may be the most unbelievably over-the-top sweet creation, it's among good company.
The other sweet finalists include a vanilla horchata milkshake, deep-fried rocky road fudge, a tart and sweet blueberry lemonade, and a brookie — a brookie is a brownie cookie hybrid that is then deep-fried and topped with cheesecake crumbles (per Eater Dallas). Tune into the Facebook live stream on August 28, 2022, to see the winners of the Big Tex Choice Awards.