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A delicious dessert is the ultimate, cherry-on-top ending to any meal. Just as most of us have personal preferences for our go-to cakes and pastries, each state has iconic favorites as well.
We put together a list of the best desserts across the U.S., including everything from Georgia's peach cobbler and Mississippi's mud pie to fresh cinnamon rolls in Montana.
We scoured high and low for the ultimate treats in every state, using reviews, recommendations, and of course, our own sweet tooth.
ALABAMA: Alabama is proud of its moon pies, and Felix's Fish Camp in Mobile takes the graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate-dipped dessert a step further, pairing it with ice cream in a Moon Pie Sundae.
ALASKA: Alaska is famous for its plentiful, fresh berries. You can sample them with the Triple Berry Pie, filled with local raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, from A Pie Stop in Anchorage.
ARIZONA: While Phoenix's Urban Cookies may be best known for its iconic cookies, the bakery also has incredible cupcakes, which were featured on the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars."
ARKANSAS: Arkansas is known for its strawberries, so naturally strawberry shortcake is the dessert to get here. The Bulldog Restaurant in Bald Knob serves the best in the state, made with fresh strawberries and nuts sprinkled on top. It's only served during the summer though.
CALIFORNIA: Health-conscious Californians are all about frozen yogurt, and one of the best FroYo spots in LA is The Big Chill Frozen Yogurt, which serves a changing roster of unique flavors, like P-Nut Butter and Birthday Cake Icing.
COLORADO: Glaze The Baum Cake Shoppe specializes in baumkuchen, a type of layered cake that's popular in Germany and Japan. The Denver bakery's version is soft on the inside and coated with a sweet glaze on the outside.
CONNECTICUT: Buttonwood Farms in Griswold serves homemade ice cream in classic and unique flavors, like blueberry, maple walnut, and pumpkin. The ice cream is made from scratch with farm-fresh ingredients, like fresh strawberries, blueberries, and of course, milk. The working farm also makes its own waffle cones.
DELAWARE: There's only one iconic place to get frozen custard before strolling the boardwalk on Rehoboth Beach: Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard, which sells the original frozen custard.
FLORIDA: Key Lime Pie is the official state pie of Florida, and Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shoppe makes a delicious version with graham cracker crust, a smooth tart filling, and dotted whipped cream along the edges.
GEORGIA: Known for its juicy peaches, Georgia is also famous for its peach cobbler. Buckner's Family Restaurant in Jackson is famous for its sweet peach cobbler, made with fresh peaches, sugar, cinnamon and other tasty mystery ingredients.
HAWAII: In this warm, tropical state, shaved ice is the ultimate sweet treat. Ululani's in Luhaina boasts the best in the world, with flavors made from exotic, natural fruit juices.
ILLINOIS: Combat Chicago's cold gusts of wind with a cup of steaming hot cocoa from Mindy's Hot Chocolate, which serves a wide array of flavors, like malted vanilla, dark chocolate, and half espresso half dark.
INDIANA: Sugar Cream Pies are an Indiana staple, and Wick's has been making them from a family recipe since the 19th century using milk, sugar, flour, vanilla, shortening, and nutmeg.
Wick's Pies
Wick's Pies
IOWA: The Hamburg Inn No. 2 in Iowa City blends pie and milkshakes together to create a delicious concoction called a pie shake.
KANSAS: The artisanal chocolates from Elbow's Chocolates are easy on the eyes and taste buds. Sold at various venues across Kansas, these treats make for a truly beautiful snack.
LOUISIANA: Beignets — deep-fried dough topped with powdered sugar — are an iconic New Orleans dish, and Cafe Du Monde is the most famous place to get them.
MAINE: Maine claims to be the birthplace of the Whoopie pie, a sandwich of cookies or cake filled with creamy frosting. Cranberry Island Kitchen in Freeport makes gourmet Whoopie pies of all kind, with soft, oyster-shaped cakes sandwiching the creamy frosting inside.
MASSACHUSETTS: Boston Cream Pie, a spongy yellow cake filled with cream or custard, was invented back in the 1860s at Boston's Parker House. Today, the restaurant continues to serve the creamy treat.
MICHIGAN: Traverse City is the largest cherry producer in the U.S., and Grand Traverse Pie Company makes a mean cherry pie with a crumbling crust and gooey inside.
MINNESOTA: Chocolate chip cookies may not be a Minnesota signature, but they are an American classic, and Salty Tart in Minneapolis makes some of the most gooey chocolate chunk cookies on the market.
MISSISSIPPI: Mud Pie is a rich, chocolaty pie that's popular all over the state. The Crown in Indianola serves a mouthwatering Mississippi Delta Fudge Cake.
MISSOURI: Gooey Louie's in St. Louis is famous for its gooey butter cake, an incredibly buttery, brownie-like dessert which comes in a range of flavors, from Chocolate Chippewa to Let's Go Blueberries.
NEBRASKA: Known as the Cornhusker state, it seems natural for Nebraska to incorporate corn into every kind of dish. One of the most popular ones is sweet corn ice cream, and a delicious variation called Honey Cornbread can be found at Omaha's Ted and Wally's Premium Homemade Ice Cream.
Facebook/Ted and Wally's Premium Homemade Ice Cream
NEVADA: Everything is bigger in Vegas, including the desserts. Gluttons can order the King Kong sundae from The Sugar Factory, which comes with 24 scoops of ice cream, chocolate martinis, and a double chocolate chip cookie and mint ice cream sandwich.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Frappes are a New England tradition, and no place makes them better than Hayward's in Nashua. The well-known ice cream shop has been around since 1940, and it handcrafts half-gallons of ice cream on-site. Some of its seasonal flavors include Southern Apple Pie or Pumpkin.
NEW JERSEY: Residents of the Garden State love their salt water taffy so much that there's currently a bill on the table to make it the official state candy. Shriver's Salt Water Taffy & Fudge in Ocean City serves delicious taffy in traditional and gourmet flavors, including Tangerine and White Chocolate Strawberry.
NEW MEXICO: For over 30 years, the Golden Crown Panaderia in Albuquerque has been making traditional New Mexican Biscochito, crisp butter cookies, by hand.
NEW YORK: Junior's has been serving traditional New York-style cheesecake since 1950. The iconic Brooklyn bakery claims that you haven't really lived until you've had a cheesecake from them.
NORTH CAROLINA: As the country's top supplier of sweet potatoes, North Carolina makes use of its abundant vegetable in its confections. The restaurant Sweet Potatoes in Winston-Salem is known for its amazing desserts, like Sweet Potato Cheesecake with pecans sprinkled on top.
NORTH DAKOTA: A treat particularly popular in North Dakota is chocolate-covered potato chips. Munch on some famous "Chippers" from Widman's Candy Shop. The thick-ridged Red River Valley Potato Chips come covered in chocolate, peanut butter, or white almond.
OREGON: Portland's Voodoo Doughnut definitely reflects the city's self-proclaimed "weirdness," with its eclectic decor and flavors. Patrons rave about the Bacon Maple Bar doughnut slathered in maple frosting and topped with two slices of crispy bacon.
Facebook/Voodoo Doughnut
VooDoo Doughnut
PENNSYLVANIA: Set in Philly's Reading Terminal Market, Beiler's Bakery serves heavenly homemade Amish doughnuts and apple fritters. It was named one of the top 20 dessert places in America in 2013 by Fodor's.
Facebook/Beilers Donuts
Beiler's Bakery
RHODE ISLAND: Del's Frozen Lemonade may have originated in Italy, but its been serving its delicious frozen treats in Cranston since the turn of the century. One serving of the tart slush is only 110 calories.
SOUTH CAROLINA: The Benne Wafer is a thin, sweet and savory cookie made with flavorful toasted sesame. Charleston's Olde Colony has been serving Benne Wafers for over 100 years.
SOUTH DAKOTA: Kuchen is the official dessert of South Dakota, and Eureka Kuchen Factory serves such delicious cakes, like peach and sugar, that the shop is featured on the state's official tourism website.
TENNESSEE: Voted "America's Best Chocolate" by Southern Living Magazine, Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Co.'s Chocuterie is a chocolate version of Charcuterie, a chocolate log that's topped with sugar and sliced like a salami.
TEXAS: You'd never guess it, but all the treats from Capital City Bakery are vegan. The bakery won the prize for best birthday cake in Austin by the Austin Chronicle, and that's no surprise given the creative cakes, like S'more birthday cake with toasted marshmallows on top.
VERMONT: You've been living in a sad world if you haven't heard of Ben & Jerry's. The ice cream chain opened its first shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington and is now internationally known with mouth-watering flavors such as Cherry Garcia, Half Baked, and Chunky Monkey.
VIRGINIA: Peanuts are a Virginia staple, and when they're mixed with chocolate, it makes for a delicious combo. One place that's mastered the craft of peanut butter and chocolate is Bakeshop in Arlington, which serves a PB&C cupcake and PB&C cream pie.
WASHINGTON: Washington is known for its apples, but we would be remiss to ignore Dahlia Bakery's triple coconut cream pie, which was featured on the Cooking Channel. The sweet pie has a flaky crust and is topped with a heap of coconut flakes.
WASHINGTON, DC: Georgetown Cupcakes has its own TV show on TLC, and has expanded with new shops in Boston, LA, and New York. Its best-selling cupcake is red velvet with vanilla cream cheese frosting.
WEST VIRGINIA: The state's official favorite sweet treat is the classic sugar cookie, and Cathedral Cafe in Fayetteville serves delicious oversized, freshly made snickerdoodle cookies. The restaurant claims its cookies are made from a family friend's secret recipe.
WISCONSIN: Original Cream Puffs, a messy treat loaded with sweet cream between a scrumptious puff shell, has been a must-eat at Wisconsin's annual State Fair since 1924.
WYOMING: Meeteetse Chocolatier, in the tiny town of Meeteetse, creates some of the most unique truffles we've ever heard of. A sample of the northwestern shop's gourmet flavors include Sage, Prickly Pear Cactus, Sarsaparilla, Huckleberry, and Wyoming Whiskeyand Coor's.
