We all know classic American treats like chocolate chip cookies, brownies and myriad pies – but each state has a stand-out dessert with a fascinating history behind it. We reveal the most famous desserts across the country, and how each came to be associated with a particular place.

A prize-winning creation from Alabama, the lane cake is a sponge cake with a filling of pecans, raisins and coconut soaked in bourbon and then frosted either just on the top or the sides too. Said to have been invented by Emma Rylander Lane, who won the first prize at a country fair, the original recipe says to bake the layers in pie tins rather than cake pans and most would leave it unfrosted for around a week before serving to let the sponge infuse with the flavours. The cake also has a notable mention in Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird.

Yes, we know baked Alaska wasn't actually created in Alaska, however, it was first served as a tribute to the state. A white mound of meringue, encasing four layers of ice cream and sponge, the dessert bears resemblance to the snow-capped Mount Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). While various accounts of who invented the dessert exist – the most popular ones credit chef Charles Ranhofer at Delmonico's in New York as the creator – it's almost certain the dish was first made in 1867 to honour and celebrate the purchase of Alaska from the then Russian Empire.

Although the name is South American (you'll find versions of the dish in Chile, Peru and others), the dish much loved in Arizona is Navajo in origin. The light and crispy dough that's fried and served with sweet toppings has evolved from the traditional Navajo fry bread. A simple combination of flour, baking powder, butter, water and milk, the dough is rolled thin and cut into triangles or squares before frying. The golden dough shapes are then topped with sugar, cinnamon and sometimes honey.

The unofficial state treat might be named after a marsupial, but it is in fact a dessert and definitely does not contain any possums. The name is actually based on the expression "plays possum", meaning it tries to deceive with its appearance. In this case a thick top layer of whipped cream hides layers of filling that usually include chocolate custard and cream cheese, sour cream or vanilla pudding. The sandy crust is made with pecans and the pie is finished with a sprinkling of crushed pecans or chocolate.

Although there are many sweet treats that can be attributed to this West Coast state, Meyer lemons are as Cali as it gets. A cross between a lemon and an orange, Meyer lemons grow in abundance in California and thanks to their sweeter, less acidic flavour and beautiful deep yellow colour they're much loved in both sweet and savoury dishes. Popularised by chef Alice Waters at Chez Panisse during the 1970s as California cuisine rose to fame and later Martha Stewart, the Meyer lemon cake swiftly became a Californian staple and you'll still find it on many a menu up and down the Golden State.

While peaches are naturally associated with Georgia, Colorado's Palisade peaches shouldn't be overlooked. Grown in the Western Slope region, Palisade peaches are sweet and incredibly juicy, making them ideally suited for a lip-smacking peach pie bursting with flavour and natural sugars. The Palisade Peach Festival is often a highlight of late summer where the stone fruit is celebrated by cooking demos, tasting menu dinners and a parade. 

Not strictly a dessert, but snickerdoodle cookies deserve a special mention. An old-fashioned delicacy consisting of sugar, cinnamon, butter, eggs and flour, Connecticut's favourite treat has a buttery sweet flavour and a cracked, slightly crispy outside. German in origin, it's thought the original recipe was brought to New England by early German immigrants and is still a top sweet treat in the state centuries later.

Designated Delaware's official state dessert in 2009, peach pie and its accolade is a direct result of the success of peach farming and its roots in the state. Delaware has a long history of growing this delicious fruit and while the number of orchards has dwindled over the years, most locals have a treasured family peach pie recipe or two.

As the official pie of Florida, the key lime pie celebrates the state’s famous citrus product. Named after the Florida Keys, where the pie is thought to have been invented, the zesty and tangy dish is a drawing card for locals and tourists alike. Although you'll find it on dessert menus throughout the state, you want to make sure it's made with fresh, hand-squeezed key lime juice and topped with whipped cream just before serving.

Nobody does this dreamy combination of sweet, juicy peaches covered with a comforting blanket of batter quite like the Peach State. Popular throughout the Deep South, peach cobbler is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in Georgia. You'll be able to pick up a traditional peach cobbler pretty much anywhere in the state, but make sure you get to try both the caramelised edges and the gooey centre. 

While all of us have had some pretty awful iced desserts at some point, Hawaiian shave ice is one you won't want to skip. Significantly different from a snow cone, where the ice is crushed, shave ice is made by chipping off ultra-thin and tiny sheets off of an ice block. A syrup is then drizzled over the top to seep into the ice – they're often flavoured with local fruit such as guava, pineapple, passion fruit, mango or lychee. Interestingly, shave ice's origins lie in East Asia and it was Japanese workers who brought it to Hawaii.

Another trick for the eyes, this is in fact not a real potato, but rather vanilla ice cream rolled in cocoa, made to look like a spud – the state's most popular and cherished food. It's then topped with whipped cream (to resemble sour cream) and chocolate shavings. The recipe was invented by Boise's Westside Drive-In where the unique treat is still served some 60 years later to lots of happy customers.

Created in the kitchen of the Palmer House hotel in Chicago in 1893, the brownie is a dessert staple in the US but also many other countries around the world. Invented at the direction of Bertha Palmer, to be served at the Columbian Exposition World's Fair, the brownie quickly gained popularity and the original is still served at the Palmer House Hilton today. The 100-year-old recipe has also been shared online if you'd like to give it a go at home.

Also known as Hoosier pie, this Indiana speciality has a buttery crust filled with rich vanilla custard. Believed to have originated in Amish or Shaker communities, it's the perfect dessert when you've got nothing but eggs, flour and sugar at hand. If you happen to be in the state, make time to stop at the nation's largest sugar cream pie producer, Wick's Pies in Winchester. Their almost century-old recipe is a firm favourite.

A treat baked in homes and served at barbecues throughout the state, scotcheroos might be an understated dessert in comparison to some others, but what it lacks in refinement, it has in flavour tenfold. Present everywhere from birthday parties and graduations to holiday get-togethers and church potluck parties, scotcheroos are as Iowan as it gets. A recipe that was originally printed on a box of Rice Krispies in the 1960s, it's crisped rice cereal mixed with sugar, corn syrup, peanut butter and vanilla and topped with a melted chocolate and butterscotch mixture.

They might be German or Dutch in origin, they're either called peppernuts or pfeffernusse, but these crunchy cookies are Kansas through and through. Brought to the state in the 1870s, the small, spiced cookies are now a Christmas staple available in most bakeries in the state throughout holiday season as well as baked at home. The cookies are especially fragrant as the dough contains spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper and star anise.

You might be surprised to hear that derby pie – a Kentucky speciality – isn't actually connected with the Kentucky Derby at all. A chocolate and walnut tart with a pastry dough crust, the pie was created in 1950 at the Melrose Inn in Prospect by the Kern family and its name was pulled out of a hat. The family still guard the secret recipe – so much so that they've even brought lawsuits forward to protect the recipe and the name of the pie.

Although variations of beignets are prepared in many countries around the world, in New Orleans it's more than just a sweet treat. Brought to Louisiana by the French, beignets – especially the ones at Café du Monde – now have a near cult-like status. Essentially fried dough served still hot with mountains of powdered sugar, other beignet variations often include banana or plantain too. 

The country's leading producer of wild blueberries, Maine has also designated blueberry pie as the state's official dessert. And it's hardly a surprise when pretty much every Maine family has a prized blueberry pie recipe. What's so special about their pie? The berries are smaller, brighter and more intensely flavoured than commercially popular highbush blueberries, so the pies are not only bursting with flavour but are also an intense dark colour.

The official state dessert of Maryland, even though it's not that commonly made in the rest of the state, Smith Island cake is a simply irresistible creation. Originating from Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay, the cake features six to 12 layers of bright yellow cake with rich chocolate icing layers in between. The icing then slowly seeps into each of the cake's layers, making the finished product one of the most moist and delicious cakes you'll ever eat.

Originating from the Parker's Restaurant at the Omni Parker House hotel in Boston, the Boston cream pie has been on the menu since 1856 when it was invented by the kitchen staff here. Two layers of fluffy sponge cake, filled with light pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache and the restaurant's signature white spiderweb frosting, the Boston cream pie is now the official state dessert. 

It's no secret that Michigan's Mackinac Island is touted the world's fudge capital and it's said that around 10,000 pounds (4,535kg) of fudge gets handcrafted daily during peak tourism season. Although fudge wasn't invented here as such, the fudge-making tradition has been alive on the island since as early as the end of the Civil War. There's an annual fudge festival too and 13 fudge shops that have perfected the recipe and flavourings.

If you know anyone from Minnesota, you know how big of a deal potlucks are and none would be imaginable without a tray (or three) of seven-layer bars. While the name is a touch misleading as the bar doesn't actually have seven layers, it does refer to the seven ingredients – butter, Graham cracker crumbs, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk and nuts. Here are nine other things you probably didn't know you could do with a can of condensed milk. 

Although there are many variations of chocolate cake around the world, the Mississippi mud pie has to be among the best. This ridiculously rich chocolate cake is as thick and as dark as the mud covering the banks of the Mississippi River, hence its distinctive name, and is made with a rich chocolate sauce on top of a crumbly chocolate crust. 

Traditionally made in St Louis, there are several claims to the creation of the cake, but all seem to point in the direction of a baker who made a mistake by reversing the proportions of butter and flour of regular cake batter. The result is a flat and dense cake with a super sweet cream cheese layer on top. Sticky, chewy and velvety, gooey butter cake is usually served with coffee and is still much loved in Missouri.

Huckleberries are native to Montana's high-altitude mountains and no matter where you are in Montana you can get a great slice of huckleberry pie. When in season, you'll find everything made with tart huckleberries, from lip balm and soap to milkshakes and pancakes. But there's nothing better than a great pie. Park Cafe in Glacier National Park is known to serve some of the best so you can try your first slice and see some of Montana's stunning wilderness too.

Nebraska might be better known for savoury foods like runzas (filled dough pockets) and pork tenderloin sandwiches, but kolaches, hailing from Central European immigrants, are just as popular. Czech in origin, kolaches are small semi-sweet pastry buns resembling mini pies. The middle is then filled with fresh fruit or fruit jams often featuring either berry flavours or prunes and apricots. Today there are even three annual festivals dedicated to this sweet bun.

Behind the flashing lights and chocolate fountains of Las Vegas, Nevada actually has a strong Basque heritage and first Basque immigrants arrived in the state as early as the mid-1800s. Today, there's an annual Basque festival that celebrates the history, culture and food of the Basque people and this cake is an irreplaceable part of it. A tart-like treat of flaky pastry crust enveloping a jam or pastry cream filling, the cake is baked and finished off with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Wherever you are in New England, autumn marks the apple season and nowhere it is more prevalent than in New Hampshire where apple cider is named the state's official beverage. Apple picking season is also known for another sweet treat – apple cider doughnuts. From farm stands to bakeries and even restaurants, you'll find these baked goodies gracing menus pretty much everywhere. The already distinctively flavoured doughnuts are great plain or cinnamon sugared, but the ultimate autumn treat is dipping them in fresh-pressed cider.

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli" Clemenza tells Rocco in The Godfather. It's a phrase entrenched into cinematic history and as it happens it was also filmed in New Jersey. Salt water taffy is of course the supreme sweet treat of New Jersey, but it's no dessert so we've gone for cannolis that reflect the state's rich Italian-American heritage. Originating from Sicily, cannoli have firmly established themselves as the must-buy treat from any Italian bakery in New Jersey.

While an array of savoury Tex-Mex dishes might spring to mind when thinking of food in New Mexico there are some outstanding sweet treats too. Named the official state cookie, biscochitos are as New Mexican as green chillies. A simple combination of cinnamon, sugar and star anise, these cookies have a superb melt-in-your-mouth texture and are essential to any kind of celebration, from weddings and anniversaries to graduations and Christmas.

A classic New York cheesecake features a rich, creamy, vanilla-flavoured topping sitting on a thin sliver of a simple biscuit base. And it's a lot harder to get the ratio of ingredients right than you might think. The secret lies in the heavy use of cream cheese that contributes to the cake's signature dense texture and rich, distinctive flavour, which is also influenced by sour cream and fresh lemon juice. It's then usually topped with either a strawberry or cherry sauce.

The spiritual home of the humble sweet potato (North Carolina grows the most sweet potatoes in all of the US), North Carolina gets to claim this much-loved pie. Way back when, the fishermen in the Outer Banks would often start their day with a slice of filling and nutritious sweet potato pie and the love for this state staple hasn't gone anywhere. Ask anyone from North Carolina and they'll claim to have the best sweet potato pie recipe.

Several of North Dakota’s signature dishes come from German settlers, but probably the region's best-kept secret is juneberry pie. Juneberries, also called saskatoon berries, grow in Canada and the Upper Midwest and are smaller, denser and bluer than blueberries with a slightly nutty flavour. 

Ohio satisfies its sweet lovers with buckeyes, peanut butter fudge pieces dipped in chocolate to resemble the nut of the Ohio buckeye tree. Deliciously addictive, they're a cross between peanut butter fudge and peanut butter cups. The actual candy is a sweet peanut butter dough dipped in chocolate and the recipe originates from sometime around the 1960s.

It's no usual fried pie, but specifically Arbuckle Mountain fried pie. No one is really sure how these hot delicacies came into being, but they definitely date back as far as the 1800s when it was a popular food with cowboys during harsh winters. Today, there are Arbuckle shops all over Oklahoma, selling all sorts of fried pies. Try savoury, if you fancy or give cream-filled a go, but definitely don't miss the original with a fruity filling. There's cherry, peach, apricot, pineapple, blackberry, apple and pecan to choose from.

Oregon is renowned for its berries and one of the state's signature dishes is the marionberry pie. Known as the cabernet of blackberries, they're a cross between two types of blackberries predominantly grown in Oregon and have a complex tart flavour. The berries are also larger, sweeter and juicier than regular blackberries, meaning the pie simply tastes divine. There has been some discussion about crowning marionberry the state berry of Oregon, but so far it's not been made official.

An iconic dessert recipe known all around the world, we have a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist to thank for creating this ubiquitous treat. David Evans Strickler had already invented several sundae recipes using Tassel Pharmacy's soda fountain, but the famous banana-based triple ice cream sundae came into being in 1904. News of the impressive 10-cent sundae spread fairly quickly and within a few years the recipe was popular throughout the nation.

Another sweet fried dough, this is Rhode Island's treat of choice. No carnival, fair or street party is complete without a doughboy stand serving these fried treats still piping hot. Surprisingly, the treat was born out of a pizza kitchen. Not really attributed to one inventor, doughboys are actually flattened pizza dough disks but instead of adding tomato sauce and the usual toppings, these disks are deep-fried and served with a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

Yes, many bakers across the country make various versions but there is only one ultimate coconut cake (a trademarked name, in fact). A recipe conjured up by pastry chef Claire Chapman at the Peninsula Grill in Charleston in 1997, this coconut cake is special. Praised by the likes of Martha Stewart and Florence Fabricant, the cake is so famous many come here just to taste it and many a bride has chosen it for her special day.

With a significant German and Scandinavian heritage in the state, it's no surprise South Dakota's official state dessert is European in origin. Kuchen just means cake in German, but in South Dakota it refers to a sweet dough crust filled with custard, which is then baked plain or topped with a variety of fruit – most common toppings include apricots, peaches and apples, but there are as many varieties as there are homes in South Dakota.

Sorry, banana pudding, but Tennessee stack cake is unbeatable. Born out of the preservation culture and hardship of the people living in the Tennessee Appalachian Mountains, stack cake often just looks like a big pile of pancakes, but it's a lot more than that. A labour-intensive cake, it's built from layers of rather hard and dense disks of baked dough and dried apple slices with sugar and spices. The cake is then wrapped and left in the fridge at least overnight.

It maybe a touch controversial, as many states would like to claim pecan pie as theirs, but we can't argue with the fact that the pecan tree is Texas' state tree – pecan trees are grown commercially on about 70,000 acres in the state – and in 2013 it was also named the official pie of the Lone Star State. With almost every home baker having a mastered pecan pie recipe, it's not only Texas' but one of the whole nation's favourite desserts.

No joke, Utah is the Jell-O capital of the US (and probably the world too). Residents of the Beehive State love it so much, the people of Utah consume more Jell-O per capita than any other state in the US so it's only natural it's the state's official snack. In fact, it so popular that the second week of February is celebrated as Jell-O week and during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City there was an officially licensed JELL-O pin, celebrating the city and its love of Jell-O.

The official state pie might be apple pie, but there is one flavour that Vermont is known for across the world and it's maple syrup. While just the syrup doesn't make a very good dessert, a maple creemee definitely does. Essentially, maple syrup-flavour soft serve ice cream, no one is really sure where and when it originated, but it's been around for ages and is a much-loved treat not only in Vermont, but elsewhere in New England too.

A simple concoction of sweet pie dough filled with a tasty cornmeal custard, chess pie is an American classic. First published in The Virginia Housewife in 1824 under the name transparent pudding, its name actually doesn't have anything to do with chess. The story goes that a Southern baker's accent was so strong, "just pie" sounded like "chess pie". However, the more likely explanation is that the cake resembles a European-style cheesecake brought over by the early immigrants and cheese was just mispronounced as chess.

Reminiscent of a British apple crumble, Washington's dessert of choice incorporates juicy apples that are grown in abundance in the Evergreen State. Washington state is a top apple producer in the US and the state's symbol is celebrated in this delicious autumnal dish. The British post-war recipe has been embraced by Washington state residents since, who bake the sliced or cubed apples in a deep dish and top it with a mixture of butter, flour and brown sugar, meaning it's soft and oozing on the bottom, but crisp and buttery on the top.

Largely unknown to the rest of the US for a long time, West Virginia's molasses cookies are another delicious food born out of necessity. Many rural families in the state relied on molasses to sweeten their food up until the end of the Second World War when it was replaced by refined sugar. The more than 100-year-old recipe is still foolproof and the cookies, similar to gingersnaps in flavour, are tender and chewy.

Another pastry introduced to the US by European immigrants, kringle was originally a pretzel-shaped Dutch invention. Brought to Wisconsin in the late 1800s, kringle became an instant hit. The recipe was tweaked slightly and the version still popular today is oval-shaped with icing on top. The original filling is almond but versions with berries or nuts are also widespread. You'll find some of the best ones in Racine, dubbed the kringle capital of the world.

Whether you prefer soft and chewy or crispy and crunchy, there is never a cookie that satisfies both – except there is. Wyoming's cowboy cookie origins are unclear, but the recipe achieves both crispy and soft textures at the same time. The secret lies in coconut flakes and chocolate chips helping to keep the inside moist while sugar and shortening contributes to a crispy exterior. They're pretty filling too thanks to the addition of oats and pecans.

Now read the secrets to making perfect cookies