Favorite Midwest Hometown Recipes

German settlers brought the recipe for this tender coffee cake to the northern plains. The industrious pioneers changed up the taste by folding local fruits into the batter: apple, gooseberry, plum and even no-fruit cottage cheese. Here's our biscuitlike version with summery peaches. Serve it warm for breakfast or with ice cream for dessert. 

Locals spar over whether Skyline or Gold Star makes the better version (and whether the secret ingredients should be cinnamon, cocoa or allspice). Whichever, chili in the Queen City translates as a mild, meaty sauce served over spaghetti noodles and topped with shredded cheese.

German-Russians settling the Dakotas put Red River Valley potatoes to good use in this creamy-rich potato-filled base with noodle dough cooked. It's white-on-white comfort food.

Called the Blueberry of the Northern Plains, juneberries (also known as serviceberries) give bakers in North and South Dakota a reason to warm kitchens in summer. Pies featuring the berry bake a deep purply red and bring a nutty almond flavor to every fork full. 

Thanks to the ham hocks, the only seasoning needed in these homey beans is a bit of salt.

When Mennonites came to Kansas, they brought their German language, Turkey Red wheat and the recipe for this addictive sweet, soft dinner roll with a doughy topknot. The secret to its rich taste and moistness: potato water, sugar, butter and egg. Don't confuse it with the tooth-breaking cracker of the same name.

True Chicago-style pizza is in some ways a closer cousin to a casserole than traditional regular-crust pizza. One slice is a whole meal!

A sugared crispy pastry covers sweet juicy berries in this traditional dessert from the Monte Ne Inn near Rogers, Arkansas.

The famous St. Louis dessert gets a makeover from Emily Hobbs of Springfield, Missouri. She adds pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to the moist cake. The recipe was one of the finalists at Midwest Living's first Best of the Midwest cook-off.

Like many good legends, this one has a murky origin. Stories say a cook in St. Louis' Italian Hill neighborhood dropped cooked raviolis into hot fat. The world has been enjoying dropping the crispy appetizer into tomato sauce ever since.

This almond-kissed, fruit-packed pie comes from David Harper, of Richland Center, Wisconsin. He likes to serve it with a wedge of Wisconsin cheese, but it's just as good with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream! The recipe was a finalist in our annual recipe contest.

For a hearty breakfast, serve steaming wild rice topped with toasted pecans, maple syrup, milk or half-and-half, and a pat of melty butter. The recipe comes from The New Midwestern Table (clarksonpotter.com) by Minnesota chef Amy Thielen.

Seeds from the Sunflower State (along with rolled oats and shredded coconut) star in this crunchy favorite.

This hearty soup, an update of an Amish favorite, comes from an Iowa City, Iowa, reader and football fan. Flavored with bacon and onion, it's a great soup for family dinners or tailgate parties.

"My recipes are like my children. I'd hate to single one out as a favorite," says Zoe Caywood, who worked for many years as a miller at War Eagle Mill just east of Rogers, Arkansas. These biscuits are from one of Zoe's cookbooks. The recipe blends wheat and all-purpose flours for a fuller flavor than traditional biscuits.

This pilaf-like side dish is inspired by the cuisine of the Ojibwe Native Americans who harvest naturally growing wild rice on the White Earth reservation in Minnesota. You can substitute other dried fruits and nuts if you like.

We often equate Amish food with comfort. Here's our version of a favorite dessert you might find at Amish-based restaurants in the Midwest.

Eat like a Norwegian! Lutheran church kitchens bustle at the holidays as parishioners mix potato, flour, butter and cream to create this Scandinavian tortilla. Eat it with a smear of butter and a sprinkle of sugar.

Season ground beef with onion soup mix in this easy meat loaf. The recipe comes from South Dakota's Triangle Ranch B&B, where the ketchup-glazed meat loaf feeds crews hungry from long days in the corral.

This recipe was inspired by a favorite menu item at Pinky's Bar and Grill in Courtland, Kansas. Pounding tenderizes round steak, an economical cut of meat. After cooking the meat, reserve the pan drippings to make milk gravy to serve over the meat and, if you like, mashed potatoes.

Great food and warm fellowship infuse church suppers around the Midwest. Cincinnati's Sacred Heart Church is known especially for its meatballs, part of the church's traditional Italian suppers. Add these meatballs to your favorite pasta sauce, and serve over hot cooked noodles.

This tender brisket is popular at the Hays House restaurant in Council Grove, Kansas, one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants west of the Mississippi River.

German chocolate cake is a staple on most restaurant menus in the northern Midwest, where German and Scandinavian immigrants settled. This recipe from Wisconsin is extra moist and chocolatey, with a rich coconut topping.

Crisp Red River Valley potato chips dive into melted chocolate for a funky twist that nailed the sweet-salty taste long before it became a craze. Our recipe was inspired by chips from Widman's in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Stop at a roadside farmstand for a basket or buy them in pie form. Tart, just-picked cherries are special within sight of the trees that nurtured them in Michigan's fruit-belt along Lake Michigan or in Door County, Wisconsin.

This cinnamon- and coriander-spiced muffin highlights Wisconsin-grown produce, including apples and cranberries.

Brisket is a tough cut of meat that's transformed into heavenly tenderness with slow, low cooking. Serve on crusty ciabatta rolls. If you like morel mushrooms (and can find them!), try them here.

Sweet and tart, these moist, powdered sugar-topped classics will disappear fast at a potluck.

The trick to the filling in this Iowa State Fair prizewinning recipe? Stirring and stirring while it cooks. The recipe comes from Louise Piper of Garner.

Rich cream sauce stands in for canned soup in Minnesota chef Amy Thielen's spin on classic chicken and wild rice hotdish. The recipe comes from Amy's book The New Midwestern Table (clarksonpotter.com).

Here's a dinner kids and moms love! Kids for the flavor, moms because the franks and meaty filling cook together. If it's picnic or potluck fare, everything can sit for up to one hour on the low-heat setting.Beefy Chili Dogs

You'll need two hands and a hearty appetite to tackle this king-size sandwich of battered and fried pork tenderloin. It's our version of the oversize deli tenderloin sandwiches popular in pork-producing states such as Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.

A brown sugar and butter sauce completes this down-home dessert served at Turkey Run Inn at the state park in Marshall, Indiana.

Midwest Living created this hearty chowder to salute the Badger State's German beer, bratwurst and cheese heritage. The tang of the beer and smokiness of the brats hold up to the bold cheddar and caraway.

A classic almond filling rolled up in flaky Danish-style pastry brings honor to Racine as Kringle Capital of the World. New fillings like cheesecake, chocolate and Key lime add zing to the choices at shops such as O&H Danish Bakery. 

We re-created Bub's Holes, spiced doughnut holes a little bigger than a golf ball-which people crave from Bub's Cafe in Carmel, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis.

Impeccable Iowa shops such as Pella's Jaarsma Bakery serve delicious almond paste tucked into S-shape pastries. Some say the S stands for Sinterklaas, but sweet works for us.

Steep your grilled brats in this onion-and-herb beer mixture for an easy way to keep them warm while entertaining. Beer-Braised Brats get a liberal dose of cranberry-pickle relish for extra color and tang. This is a Badger State meal in a bun.

The walleye-state fish of Minnesota and South Dakota-is sought by both anglers and chefs. This recipe comes from a Brainerd, Minnesota, resort.

This North Woods-inspired recipe from Cheryl Francke of Arden Hills, Minnesota, was a finalist in our Best of the Midwest® recipe contest. 

Cooler than a Rat Pack film, these old-school eateries know sensible steaks and relish trays never go out of style. Don't miss sipping a brandy old-fashioned.

The thrill of a hunt in the spring woods is our favorite part-until you saute those 'shrooms in butter and dig in.

Despite a fine-dining rep, Maldaner's in Springfield, Illinois, shamelessly buries a meat sandwich under cheese sauce ooze and fries. It's their guilty pleasure--and ours.