After taking a year off last year, the Big Tex Choice Awards are back! The top 10 finalists have been announced. These foods will become some of the most popular foods at this year’s State Fair of Texas which kicks off on September 24th through October 17th.

Sunday, August 29, three winners will be crowned in the categories of: “Best Taste – Savory,” “Best Taste – Sweet,” and “Most Creative.” from the finalists below and our own Michelle Rodriguez will be a judge at the Big Tex Choice Awards later this month.

5 savory items:

• Crispy crazy corn: whole kernel corn battered, fried and seasoned, then topped with pork and pineapple slaw with a drizzle of freshly made jalapeño crema and a generous sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
• Deep Fried I-35: fried kolache dough topped with smoked beef brisket and drizzled with peach juice combined with Dr Pepper to make a sweet and tangy BBQ glaze over the brisket kolache.
• Deep-fried seafood gumbo balls: fried bites loaded with shrimp, crab and sausage, then rolled in saltine cracker and breadcrumb batter and topped chicken fried okra spears. The dish will be served with a small bottle of hot sauce and a package of saltine crackers.
• Lucky duck dumplin’: a pastry filled with cream cheese, blended with duck bacon and roasted sweet corn. satisfyingly creamy on the inside, with a pleasing balance of salty and sweet that is sure to tickle the taste buds. Three Lucky Duck Dumplin’s are served alongside a sweet and gently spicy Thai chili glaze for dipping, finished with a sprinkling of fresh basil and nestled in a small hand-held tray.
• Pork shots: Texas smoked sausage wrapped in bacon and filled with mac and cheese. They sprinkle the outside with a secret sweet, spicy BBQ rub.

5 sweet items:

• The Armadillo: Cookie butter ice cream sandwich shaped like an armadillo. It is a made-from-scratch cookie butter semifreddo – an Italian take on ice cream that means semi-frozen. The treat is drizzled with cookie butter and sandwiched between two deep fried Armadillo-shaped cookies that are made with a branding iron. Finally, it is dusted with buttery sugar.
• Brisket brittle: This confectionary delight has the rich, buttery, crunchy, sweet deliciousness of an old-fashion peanut brittle. However,  they’ve replaced the peanuts with the smokey goodness of Texas brisket.
• Deep-fried Halloween: a delicious large chewy pretzel that is dropped in the fryer, quickly bathe it in candy corn syrup, followed by some rainbow sprinkles and powdered sugar. Topped with orange and white buttercream icing, then stacked with Halloween candies, like M&M’s®, Reese’s® Pieces, Mini-Twix®, OREO® cookie crumbles, and candy corn just to name a few. Topped with a delicious marshmallow whip cream and a Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cup as the crown.
• Fernie’s fried toffee coffee crunch cake: A lightly glazed, old fashioned cake donuts, broken into chunks, highlighting their firm, slightly crunchy exterior, and soft cakelike interior. Next, they add a generous scoop of buttery baking morsels flavored with rich English toffee and crunchy almonds and the mixture is blended with a velvety custard. The donut’s cracked, craggy surface absorbs the creamy custard, creating a bread pudding-like consistency which is set in a ring mold. The cakes are dipped in an egg product and covered in panko and vanilla cookie crumbs.
• Texas pumpkin poke cake: Your fall favorite with Texas flair! A Texas-shaped, decadent pumpkin cake with a finger-licking, gooey vanilla glaze, silky caramel, topped with fluffy whipped cream, and lightly sprinkled with secret spice.