The Best Types of Apples for Making Apple Pie, Plus Recipes to Try (2024)

Baking apple pie and celebrating fall go hand in hand, but with so many choices available at grocers and farmers markets, you might wonder which apples are best for apple pie? The scent of warm, cinnamon-scented apples baked into buttery pie crust alongside a mug of sweet spiced cider equals sweater weather perfection, and you need your home-baked pie to live up to expectations.

As with most much-loved dessert recipes, nailing a homemade apple pie comes down to two things: technique and top-quality ingredients, and the type of apples you use makes a difference. We polled a couple of experts to help us determine the best apple variety to use for apple pie. Before heading out to the orchard, read on to learn the not-so-definitive answer, plus some recipes to try.

The Best Apples for Apple Pie

If you're ready for us to divulge the top-secret apple variety that's the consensual choice for use in apple pie, alas, there's no such thing. Even the experts have different opinions.

The good news is you can choose the apple type that suits you and your pie recipe best, whether that's an extra tart or a super soft variety, or one that's a perfect balance of texture and flavor. Here are our top picks (in no particular order).

Granny Smith

Granny Smith apples are best for apple pie, according to award-winning chef-lebrity Thomas Keller, founder and head chef of French Laundry, one of the world's best and most acclaimed restaurants. He prefers this bright green variety for its hard, crisp, and tart properties.

Granny Smith's high acidity contributes to this variety’s flavor and helps keep it firm as it bakes. One of the least sweet among apple types, Granny Smith may be the best choice if you prefer a pie that's not super sweet, or for a recipe with a sugary filling or a sugar-topped crust.

Braeburn

Striking a good balance between sweet and tart, the flavor of Braeburn apples intensifies as they bake, making them an excellent choice for pie. Under its yellow-and-red striped skin, a Braeburn's flesh conveys notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, and it has a crisp, firm texture that doesn’t lose its form as it bakes.

Introduced in New Zealand in the 1950s (named after Braeburn Orchards where it was first grown), this quintessential apple's popularity has spread to all the world's major apple-producing areas. Widely available in the U.S., we really can't find a downside to using Braeburn in pie or for any other use, for that matter.

Golden Delicious

This variety gets its name from its bright, yellow-green skin and mild, buttery flavor. Golden Delicious apples are softer on the inside and thin-skinned, which makes some prefer them for baking into pies and making sauces, and they freeze fairly well.

Growing up, I was always under the impression that Golden Delicious was "The One" for pie. "They don't taste great raw," my mother would say, "but that soft, mealy texture is ideal for baking. Who wants to crunch into a crispy apple when eating pie?"

Not to knock my mom (or the idea of common knowledge), but this doesn't completely cover it. Golden Delicious apples are a solid apple pie option, but perhaps aren't worthy of being The One.

Jonagold

Jonagold is an American variety that combines the flavor and acidity of a heritage Jonathan apple with the more popular Golden Delicious. Not surprisingly, this larger-than-average-sized apple sports a red-blush color from its Jonathan origins with bright yellow undertones from its other parent. The result is an apple with a honey-sweet flavor and a firm texture that makes it perfect for an apple pie filling.

Because they're not as widely grown worldwide as many varieties, Jonagold apples are generally available in the U.S. only frommid-September through early spring. It's among the more expensive varieties but, to many, is well worth it to achieve the perfect apple pie filling.

Pink Lady

Recognizable by their bright pink hue, Pink Lady appleshave just the right citrusy acidity to help them stay sweet and firm when cooked. They taste more tart than sweet when eaten fresh, but become sweeter as they bake, delivering chunks of soft but full-textured apples in your pie.

Originating in Australia in 1973, Pink Lady apples are now grown worldwide, and you'll find U.S.-grown ones at grocers between October through July. As a bonus, slices of Pink Lady apples don't turn brown as readily as other varieties do, and they're great for snacking, too.

Northern Spy

If pressed to choose just one apple variety for pie, the ultimate apple expert, Amy Traverso, author of The Apple Lover's Cookbook, says she'd go with an old New England apple called Northern Spy. "It bakes to just the right texture and sweet-tart balance," she insists.

An all-American apple variety for an all-American dessert, Northern Spy is known for its juicy, crisp, white flesh and spicy aromatics. It's sweet-to-acid balance makes it the perfect apple for pie filling.

The downside for most of us is finding this heirloom variety. Available at specialty stores and farmers’ markets in apple-growing regions, especially on the East Coast,Northern Spy apples are not as widely available as other varieties, but they’re worth searching for.

Mix Them Up

The best apple pies are made with a combination of varieties, according to Traverso. "Some apples are sweeter, some are juicier, some are lemony, and others syrupy. Some stay very firm and some soften in cooking," she says. "Multi-variety pies give you that whole spectrum of flavors and textures."

"A general rule of thumb for choosing apples for pie is that you want firm apples with varying degrees of sweetness and tartness," Traverso explains. The perfect apples for pie comes down to using a perfectly balanced mix of sweet- and sour-flavored apples that all have a firm (neither soft nor mealy) texture, she contends.

"For firm-sweet apples, I like Baldwin, Jonagold, Gravenstein, Pink Lady, Opal, and Jazz," Traveso continues. "For firm-tart apples, I like Arkansas Black, Esopus Spitzenburg, Goldrush, Granny Smith, Newtown Pippen, Northern Spy, Roxbury Russet, and Suncrisp, among others."

Recipes to Try

With no definitive answer, grab one or more apple varieties that suit you (and are available in your area), warm some molasses-spiced spiked apple cider on the stove, and pull out your favorite apple pie recipe, try ours, or branch out with one of our apple-pie-like recipes.

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

This recipe is as American as, well, apple pie. If you don't have one, you're welcome to adopt it as your go-to apple pie recipe. Without playing favorites, it recommends using Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Jonagold, McIntosh, or Pink Lady apples.

Brown Butter and Vanilla Pear Pie

No mistake here: Despite this recipe's title, apples are tossed with brown butter and pears in this pie's filling. It calls for Granny Smith apples with a sprinkle of sugar atop the crust to balance their tartness.

Ginger Apple Tarte Tatin

This French-inspired recipe calls on Gala and Granny Smith apples for its filling, which are then infused with ginger and caramel. While it looks challenging to make, a store-bought puff pastry placed atop the filling provides an easy yet dramatic presentation when its flipped after baking.

Honey-Apple Galette With Pistachio Sugar

"Galette" is a fancy French term for a not-so-fussy, rustic-looking, free-form filled pastry. Think of this recipe as an all-American apple pie's more relaxed, easier-to-make, French cousin. It's tart Granny Smith apples are treated with a dash of honey, and it's crust gets a sprinkle of pistachio-sugar just before baking.

Apple Pie Skillet Cake

Here's a cake that's easy as pie, and as delicious as apple pie. The recipe calls out Honeycrisp and Gala apples as most suitable, but gives Jonagold, Braeburn, and Pink Lady honorable mentions.