What’s a state fair without delicious food that makes you gain a few pounds? It’s Oklahoma State Fair time in the Sooner State, and judges have decided the winners of the 2024 Great TASTE of a Fair competition.
This year, eight snacks competed in the “Sweetest of the Sweet” round, six battled to be the best in the “Slice of Savory” and eight more went head-to-head in the “New to the Scene” round. I wish I’d worn looser pants.
Though the group of judges compiled the official winner’s list on Wednesday, fairgoers can cast their vote in the People’s Choice Award beginning on Sept. 12 on the Oklahoma State Fair Facebook page. The People’s Choice Award winner will be announced at the end of the fair.
I also got to sample the 22 offerings and disagreed with a few of the judges’ rankings, so I’ve compiled a list of my favorites. Now, I am not a food critic or even a great cook, but I am a lifelong Okie with a sweet tooth and love for fried foods, so I know what tastes good.
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10 of the best Oklahoma State fair foods
Overall, I was pretty generous in my scoring. If I thought something tasted delicious, I didn’t see any reason to bump its score. However, some presentations were prettier than others, and the execution of a few food items were exceptional.
Each judge ranked each food based on appearance and presentation, execution of product and taste. To me, taste is the most important category here. Here’s which items I gave a 10 out of 10 on taste: Deep Fried Cookie Dough Pie, PB & J Burger, Cinnamon Rolled Cold Brew Pie, Dark Espresso Fudge, Strawberries Cream Waffle Stick and Bacon Jam Burger.
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1. Bacon Jam Burger
My favorite food item of the day was, without a doubt, Good Burger’s Bacon Jam Burger. On a potato bun, the burger comes with a seasoned beef patty, Boursin cheese and house made bacon jam. It was delicious, rich and intensely flavorful.
While the Bacon Jam Burger reigns supreme on my list, everything I tried tasted great. So, you can’t go wrong with whichever food item on this list catches your eye. My rankings are purely subjective and influenced by my love for chocolate and foods that remind me of Oklahoma.
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2. Deep Fried Cookie Dough Pie
The Deep Fried Cookie Dough Pie from The Original Minneapple Pie tasted like a dessert you’d get at a high-end restaurant. It was warm with a nice crisp from the fried pie crust, and it paired perfectly with vanilla ice cream.
3. Cinnamon Rolled Cold Brew Pie
The Cinnamon Rolled Cold Brew Pie from Cutie Pies was my favorite presentation of the day. It comes with a cold brew shooter to drizzle on top of a cinnamon-sprinkled graham cracker dust filled with cold brew pie filling that’s loaded with cinnamon roll pieces.
5. PB & J Burger
I’m still drooling over the PB & J Burger from Champions BBQ. No, it’s not a burger with peanut butter and jelly (I was very worried at first). Instead, it’s pulled pork, brisket and jalapeno sausage on a potato bun. The combination was pretty much perfect. The only reason it’s not up higher in my list is because it was a little messy, and the bun didn’t hold it together very well. But again, taste is what’s most important, and this was absolutely delectable.
6. Strawberries & Cream Waffle Stick
Growing up in Western Oklahoma, my school cafeteria sometimes served funnel cake for breakfast with strawberries. That’s what Waffle Chix’s Strawberries & Cream Waffle Stick reminded me of, but make it over the top mouthwatering. It was light, airy and topped with a fruity strawberry puree.
7. Dark Espresso Fudge
Chocolate Moonshine Co.’s Dark Espresso Fudge was unlike any fudge I’ve ever had in my life. It was moist, flavorful and the perfect amount of rich. I was worried it’d be bitter hence the name, but it was milky, creamy and incredibly tasty.
8. Cheeseburger Corndog
If you’ve ever wanted to eat a cheeseburger off of a stick, now’s your chance. From Pioneer Wagon, the Cheeseburger Corndog. It’s ground beef mixed with cheddar cheese on a corndog stick fried in corn dog batter.
It comes with a unique sauce called the Pioneer Wagon’s Horseback Sauce made of barbeque sauce blended with some horseradish.
9. Carne Asada Street Corn
The Carne Asada Street Corn was a delicious take on authentic Mexican elote from Bad Boys BBQ. It’s street corn topped with carne asada, sour cream and cilantro served with a lime.
My only wish here is mayonnaise instead of sour cream to really give it that authenticity with a little more tang.
10. Piña Colada Palmer
The Piña Colada Palmer from A Latte Love is as refreshing as it sounds. It tastes like a classic Arnold Palmer on the beach with that distinct coconut flavor. If an Oklahoman on a beach in California was a drink, this would be it.
Oklahoma State Fair: Our favorite foods, ranked
Here are all of the entries in order of how I liked them with several items with tied scores:
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Bacon Jam Burger: Good Burger
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Cinnamon Rolled Cold Brew Pie: Cutie Pies; Dark Espresso Fudge: Chocolate Moonshine Co.; Deep Fried Cookie Dough Pie: The Original MinneApple Pie
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Strawberries & Cream Waffle Stick: Waffle Chix; The Shroom Burger: The Resistance Grill; Cheeseburger Corn Dog: Pioneer Wagon
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Carne Asada Street Corn: Bad Boys BBQ
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Pina Colada Palmer: A Latte Love; PB & J Burger: Champions BBQ; Cinnamon Toast Crunch Horchata: Agua Fresca
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Mexican Funnel Cake: Gringo’s; The Young Grasshopper: Wondervan Pops
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The Bronut: FryDay Concessions
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Candied Watermelon On-A-Stick: Rush Spring’s Watermelons
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Lotus Biscoff Funnel Cake: Wade Shows Funnel Cake; Spicy Pickle Pizza: Swains Pizza On A Stick; Bacon Wrapped Oreos: The Bacon Habit; Pickle Lemonade: Cotton Candyland
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Cookie Dough Parfait: Cookie Dough Monsters; River Water: The Bennett Deli
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Mission Monks Steak Sundae: Mission Monks
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State Fair food items to try at 2024 fair
