Food Comfort Foods Hearty Midwest Maple Syrup Recipes By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 4, 2020 Trending Videos Maple Syrup Cake. Photo: Mark Thomas Bring the sweet taste of maple syrup to your table with recipes for cake, muffins, nut bread, salad dressings, vegetables and more. 01 of 17 Maple Syrup Cake Maple Syrup Cake. Mark Thomas Ruth Smiley of Parke County, Indiana, gave us her recipe for Maple Syrup Cake, which she makes in a fluted tube pan. We mixed up an easy maple syrup icing to drizzle over the top. Ruth's family produces maple syrup on land that's been in the family for five generations. View Recipe 02 of 17 Maple-Apple Pudding Bake The Wisconsin Maple Producers created this recipe to showcase maple syrup and juicy apples in a moist, rich dessert. View Recipe 03 of 17 Maple-Apple-Glazed Breakfast Meatballs Perfect for brunches, mini pork meatballs are a sweet and salty alternative to sides of bacon or sausage. View Recipe 04 of 17 Maple Sweet-Potato Sticky Buns Traditional sticky buns not quite sweet enough for you? Add sweet potato, maple syrup and syrupy pecans. View Recipe 05 of 17 Maple Date Nut Bread Chopped and pitted dates stand out beside the hint of maple syrup in this dark brown, nutty quick bread. This recipe is from Ruth Smiley of Smiley Brothers maple syrup producers in Indiana. View Recipe 06 of 17 Maple Oatmeal Muffins You can taste the maple sweetness in these oatmeal muffins from the Hoosier (Indiana) Maple Syrup Cookbook. Cinnamon and pecans pack the breakfast or snack bread with even more flavor. View Recipe 07 of 17 Maple-Walnut Apple Cobbler This easy skillet cobbler is bursting with harvest flavor: crisp apples, cinnamon, toasted walnuts and sweet maple syrup. View Recipe 08 of 17 Chipotle-Maple Chicken Thighs We won't mince words: This is juicy, spicy, sticky, glorious barbecued chicken. One of the secrets? Chicken thighs. They cook fast, like breasts, but they have richer flavor and don't dry out. And nutritionally speaking, the two are more similar than you'd think. View Recipe 09 of 17 Maple Butter Twists These breakfast rolls are a family tradition with Jean Haviland of Carroll, Iowa. "Mom always makes extra and freezes them for later. They're great for breakfast or any time of day!" she says. View Recipe 10 of 17 Maple-Chile Butternut Soup This is a great dairy-free (and cholesterol-free, too) soup in its own right, but a drizzle of Asian-spiced maple syrup adds a wonderfully unexpected kick and dramatic red flourish. The recipe comes from the Birchwood Cafe Cookbook (University of Minnesota Press, $29.95). View Recipe 11 of 17 Maple-Bourbon Ketchup Just three ingredients yield a surprisingly flavorful "quickie" barbecue sauce. Try it as a dipping sauce for purchased roasted chicken or breaded, baked chicken breast. You can also toss shredded chicken meat with the sauce for a simple pulled-chicken sandwich. (Bonus points if you add cheddar cheese and toast the sandwich in a panini press!) View Recipe 12 of 17 Maple-Walnut Banana Bars The math on these homey bars couldn't be simpler: one pan, one ripe banana and less than one hour from start to finish. View Recipe 13 of 17 Chai Maple Cider Breathe deeply. This spiced cider tea doubles as aromatherapy from the slow cooker. After cooking, the cider can be kept on the "warm" setting for one hour. View Recipe 14 of 17 Spiced Maple Tart with Poached Pears Cutting pears into a fan shape takes this spiced tart's look from homey to holy moly. View Recipe 15 of 17 Maple-Mustard Dressing This easy, not-too-sweet variation on classic honey-mustard is the Angry Trout Cafe's most popular dressing. Double the recipe if you like: It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to one month. View Recipe 16 of 17 Cinnamon Carrots with Maple Thyme Butter These sweet oven-roasted carrots are a perfect complement to a holiday menu, but they're easy enough to be a weeknight side. This comfort food recipe comes from Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri. View Recipe 17 of 17 Grammy's Wild Rice Porridge For easy morning prep, cook the wild rice the day before. The next day, start at Step 3. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit