The 6 Best Apples for Baking (2024)

FAQs

What are the best apples to use for baking? ›

Which apples bake best? For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

My best apple pie would include a combination of these three: Cortland, for flavor; Russet, for texture; and Granny Smith, for its combination of the two.

Honeycrisp. One of the sweetest apples around, this Midwestern favorite is good for anything—including baking. It boasts a distinctive juicy crispness and is firm enough that it won't cook down much. It complements just about any other apple variety to make a stellar pie.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

Under the simple butter-sugar-flour-and-oat topping is the apple filling scented with cinnamon. Our test kitchen says baking apples, like Rome or Cortland, are the best varieties to use for apple crisp, but Empire, Gala, or Braeburn apples are also good in this recipe.

The firm and crisp Granny Smith and Honeycrisp varieties are popular apples to use in apple pies and apple crisps.

So you can put away your Granny Smiths and Red Delicious if you think you can just whip up McDonald's signature dessert at home. Instead, Mickey D's makes their pies with six different types of apples — Jonagold, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala, Rome, and Ida Red, all of which are homegrown in the U.S.

The Honeycrisp apple is one of the sweeter varieties, so it definitely is not lacking in the flavor department. They stay relatively firm, although less so than the Granny Smiths, and this makes them a great combination of flavor and texture for your pies.

Granny Smith apples: Bright green with a citrusy flavor, Granny Smith apples are perhaps the most popular baking apple in the US. These apples are tart and crunchy with high acidity. They don't have the strongest apple flavor, so they're great for mixing with sweeter varieties for a balanced apple pie filling.

What are the best apples for applesauce and apple pie? ›

Bon Appetit says the best apples for baking are Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Mutsu, Winesap, Pink Lady (Cripps Pink) but they also use Granny Smith often. They've listed several apples that have already been mentioned that are crisp and either sweet or tart.

Tart, firm, baking apples such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples are best for this recipe. Avoid sweet, softer apples like Red Delicious. You'll need 1 ½ to 2 medium-sized apples.

Green apples, like Granny Smith apples, have a much denser texture. That makes them better able to withstand high heat. So green apples are preferred when apples are used for baking.

For a basic applesauce, use McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples. Golden Delicious is a soft apple variety with a mellow flavor, so it cooks down easily and provides a great foundation for your applesauce. McIntosh apples are slightly tart and crisp, but soften easily, making them a stellar choice for pies and sauces.

Cooking apples are generally larger, and can be tarter than dessert varieties. Some varieties have a firm flesh that does not break down much when cooked. Culinary varieties with a high acid content produce froth when cooked, which is desirable for some recipes.

Envy™ apples release a fresh, subtly sweet aroma when sliced and are primarily sweet, balanced with a slight tanginess mixed with faint fruity, vegetal, and floral nuances.