Texas State Fair releases finalists for Big Texas Choice Awards

Bring out your stretchy pants. The State Fair of Texas released the finalists for its annual Big Texas Choice Awards.

Why it matters: The fair gets millions of visitors every year and its annual awards competition teases some of the wackiest and tastiest foods that fair-goers will get to try.

What's next: Winners in the savory, sweet and most creative categories will be crowned Aug. 22.

• This year's fair is from Sept. 27-Oct. 20.

The finalists are…

Dominican Fritura Dog. This salty and sweet take on hot dogs has fritura cheese, salami, garlic plantain chips, sauce, and cilantro.

The Drowning Taquitos. Chicken taquitos are dunked in tangy sauce, jalapeño, guacamole salsa, lettuce, avocado, tomatillo, pico, and Cotija cheese.

Hippie Chips. Choose ranch or blue cheese with these potato chip nachos, with bacon bits, green onions and a sriracha drizzle.

Hot Chick-in-Pancake Poppers. Balls of Nashville hot chicken and pimento cheese, topped with Sriracha honey and hot powdered sugar.

Texas Fried Burnt End Bombs. Brisket is wrapped with shredded potatoes, bacon, and cheese, then fried and topped with a raspberry chipotle barbeque glaze.

Nevins Nutty Bar-Laska. The classic nutty bar is elevated with toasted marshmallow, Oreos, strawberry sauce, and freeze-dried strawberry pieces.

Rousso's Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick. A 12-inch piece of bacon is cooked with a cotton candy glaze, then spun inside a cotton candy machine and torched for extra caramelization.

Strawberry Pop-Tarts Beignettfle. This beignet-waffle combination is topped with a strawberry filling, a sweet vanilla icing drizzle and fresh whipped cream.

Texas Sugar Rush Pickles. Cotton candy-flavored pickle slices are layered in three types of sweet cereal, cotton candy, cotton candy sugar crystals, and powdered sugar before being drizzled with strawberry sundae syrup. The dish is served with vanilla ice cream.

Tropical Two-Step Punch. Citrus, passionfruit, and mango are marinated overnight for a tangy, sweet, sour, and spicy drink with alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions.

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