• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Seasonal guide
  • All produce
  • About
  • Subscribe

Ask the Food Geek logo

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Seasonal guide
  • All produce
  • About
  • Subscribe
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Seasonal guide
  • All produce
  • About
  • Subscribe
×
Home » How To » Apple recipes & the best varieties to use

Published: Oct 15, 2020 · Modified: Aug 18, 2023 by Veronica T

Apple recipes & the best varieties to use

Choosing the right apple variety for your recipe can seem overwhelming. But every choice can be made by looking at just a few simple characteristics:

  1. Does the flesh easily break down when cooked or hold it's shape?
  2. How sweet or tart is the apple?
  3. Does is brown quickly or slowly when cut?
Jump to:
  • Apple pie & other baked goods
  • Best apples for chips
  • Best apples for salads & cheese boards
  • Apple sauce & apple butter
  • Best caramel apples
  • Want more guides?

Apple pie & other baked goods

When baking with apples, the general rule is you want a firm apple that holds its shape when baked. Tart apples work well in sweetened desserts, whereas sweet-tart apples work best in baked goods that don't have added sweetener.

As for pies, the best apple pies usually have several different types of apples in them. Just like you might make a triple berry pie, or triple chocolate cookie, try making a triple-apple pie. Mixing varieties lets you combine their different characteristics and add complexity to the flavor. Start with choosing one tart and one sweet variety.

Suggested types of apples

For more detailed tasting notes and to read about the pie baking test results, check out "The best (and worst) apples for pie."

Braeburn: best apple for thanksgiving pie because it is a late-season apple
Braeburn
Perfect sweet-tart balance with hints of cider. Excellent texture and flavor when baked. Late season variety.
Sweetest apple variety: Fuji
Fuji
Reliably the sweetest apple, quick to brown, long shelf life
Types of apples: Golden Delicious
Golden Delicious
Lightly sweet, buttery, classic apple flavor
Type of apples: golden supreme
Golden Supreme
Descendant of Golden Delicious with a stronger apple flavor. Not complex but apple flavor holds when baked and good texture. Excellent for early season apple pies.
Granny Smith apple
Granny Smith
Extremely tart apple. Adds tart flavors to baked goods, but not much sweetness or other apple flavor. One-dimensional.
Honeycrisp
Very sweet with hint of tartness
Type of apple: Jonagold
Jonagold
Sweet-tart balance with excellent apple flavor, softens but holds shape when baked.
Jonathan apple
Jonathan
Tart and slightly sweet, great flavor, long shelf life
Northern Spy apple variety
Northern Spy
A top notch apple for pie due to its excellent flavor and texture when baked. Also great for ciders.
Types of apples: Pink Lady and Cripps Pink
Pink Lady (Cripps Pink)
More tart than sweet with firm flesh that holds up extremely well when baked. Slow to brown.

Recipes

Dutch apple pie recipe by Cooking Classy
Dutch apple pie
Cider bourbon apple pie with oatmeal cookie crumble recipe by How Sweet Eats
Cider bourbon apple pie with oatmeal cookie crumble
Feel-good apple muffins by Pinch of Yum
Feel-good apple muffins
Apple galette with rum-spiced dulce de leche by The Bojon Gourmet
Apple galette with rum-spiced dulce de leche
apple carrot cupcake by Simply Recipes
Apple carrot cupcakes
Chai spiced apple and walnut bread recipe by Floating Kitchen
Chai spiced apple and walnut bread
Bourbon apple fritters recipe by Broma Bakery
Bourbon apple fritters
Cinnamon apple galette recipe by Broma Bakery
Cinnamon apple galette
Cinnamon apple swirl bread by Broma Bakery
Cinnamon apple swirl bread
Rosemary, caramelized onion, honeycrisp, and brie flatbread, by My Diary of Us
Rosemary, caramelized onion, honeycrisp, and brie flatbread
Spiced Honeycrisp apple fritters with vanilla coffee glaze, recipe by Half Baked Harvest
Spiced Honeycrisp apple fritters with vanilla coffee glaze

Opinions from other professionals

Serious Eats did an in-depth test of apples for pie and declared Braeburn and Golden Delicious as the winners. After you read part one, here is part 2 in the series, you know... for those of us who take our apple pie seriously. Very seriously!

But that's not the only opinion. The fine folks at King Arthur Flour did a test of their own with other varieties that you might find locally at a market. PJ Hamel from King Arthur Flour shares her advice, "At the end of the day, choosing the best pie apples is a personal decision. 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. "

Best apples for chips

Almost any apple can be used to make chips. If the apple has a good flavor when eaten raw, it will taste excellent as a chip since the flavor gets even more concentrated. No added sugar or spices necessary.

Bland apples will get a slight flavor boost from the dehydrating process, but not always enough to make up for their lack of flavor. You might want to add spices to bland apples before baking them.

Granny Smith apples make a nice tart-flavored chip. Fuji will be on the sweeter side as will Gala apples. If you're making chips, check out the tips from Food & Wine.

Apple chips and apples on a table
How to make apple chips
Air fryer apple chips by Recipes from a Pantry
Air fryer apple chips
Apple pie granola with apple chips, recipe by Choosing Chia
Apple pie granola with apple chips
Fuji apple chicken salad with champagne vinaigrette by How Sweet Eats
Fuji apple chicken salad with champagne vinaigrette
Spiced apple chips recipe by Rhubarbarians
Spiced apple chips

Best apples for salads & cheese boards

The best apples for salads are slow to brown. Some apples turn brown in 5-10 minutes, other hold up for a really long time. While it's safe to eat oxidized apples (the process of turning brown), they aren't very appealing.

You can also soak apples in a water solution to slow browning. For more details see the section titled "How to prevent apples from browning."

Varieties that are slow to turn brown

Ambrosia apple variety
Ambrosia
Very juicy with a distinct flavor of honey and banana. Sweet with almost no tartness and slow to brown.
Cortland apple
Cortland
Sweet-tart balance with slight cider flavor and strikingly bright white flesh that's slow to brown
Envy apple variety
Envy
Sweet, crisp, and juicy (a cross between Braeburn and Royal Gala)
Gala apple, best for kids
Gala
Sweet, firm, crisp flesh with mild flavor. Slow to brown.
A ginger gold apple
Ginger Gold
Slightly spiced sweet-tart flavor (one of the tastiest early-season varieties), slow to brown
Juici apple variety
Juici
Sweet and slightly tart, thin skin, slow to brown (cross between Honeycrisp and Braeburn)
Pink Lady apples (good for cheese boards)
Pink Lady
More tart than sweet with firm flesh that holds up extremely well when baked. Slow to brown.
Rave apple
Rave
Sweet-tart flavor, slow to brown, and falls apart when baked

Recipes

Fall cheese board with bourbon crackling caramel recipe by How Sweet Eats
Fall cheese board with bourbon crackling caramel
Chicken harvest salad with bacon, apples, figs, and almonds by Damn Delicious
Chicken harvest salad with bacon, apples, figs, and almonds
Bacon-wrapped fig and honeycrisp apple salad with salted caramel pecans by Half Baked Harvest
Bacon-wrapped fig and honeycrisp apple salad with salted caramel pecans
Apple harvest salad with cinnamon chickpeas by Ask The Food Geek
Apple harvest salad with cinnamon chickpeas
Chopped winter salad with apples from Healthy Seasonal Recipes
Chopped winter salad with apples
Crispy chicken sandwich with cabbage-apple slaw, recipe by Nutmeg Nanny
Crispy chicken sandwich with cabbage-apple slaw
Tangy brussels sprouts & apple slaw by Nutmeg Nanny
Tangy brussels sprouts & apple slaw
BBQ chicken sandwiches with apple slaw. Recipe by Use Your Noodles
BBQ chicken with apple slaw

Apple sauce & apple butter

Nearly any apple will work for sauce and it can be an excellent way to use up old apples that aren't as crisp as when you bought them. If you are picking apples specifically for sauce, choose two or three varieties to add complexity to the flavor, including at least one sweet and one tart variety.

Varieties that work well for apple sauce

Cortland apple
Cortland
Sweet-tart balance with slight cider flavor and bright white flesh that's slow to brown
Fuji apple
Fuji
Sweetest apple, quick to brown, long shelf life
Types of apples: Golden Delicious
Golden Delicious
Lightly sweet, buttery, classic apple flavor
Granny smith tart apple
Granny Smith
Extremely tart apple. Adds tart flavors to baked goods, but not much sweetness or other apple flavor. One-dimensional.
Jonathan apple
Jonathan
Tart and slightly sweet, great flavor, long shelf life
A McIntosh apple, great for applesauce
McIntosh
Mild sweet-tart cider flavor. Soft flesh breaks down easily when cooked, making it great for applesauce & apple butter.

Recipes

how to make apple butter
How to make apple butter
Cinnamon & brown sugar applesauce
Cinnamon & brown sugar applesauce
Cranberry apple butter recipe by The View from Great Island
Cranberry apple butter

Making apple sauce is relatively simple, but a few tips never hurt anyone:

  • Pink applesauce: leave the skins on red apples which will turn the sauce slightly pink. Then run the sauce through a food mill to filter out the skins
  • Sweetness: add sugar after the applesauce is almost done. Cooking the apples down concentrates and caramelizes the sugars, so add sugar when the sauce is almost done to avoid over-sweetening it.
  • No added sugar: use Fuji and Gala apples along with your other varieties. They are sweet enough that you probably won't need to (or want to) add any sugar.

Best caramel apples

I strongly advise buying tart apples to add dimension when covered in a super-sweet caramel sauce. When buying apples, choose the smaller ones in the bins, which give you a better caramel-to-apple ratio. Also look for ones that will sit flat on their bottoms.

The wax coating on apples prevents the caramel from sticking. So either get apples from the farmers market (where it's rare to find waxy apples), or scrub the wax off from grocery store apples.

Before you make caramel apples, read through Williams Sonoma's thorough guide.

Varieties to use

Granny Smith apple
Granny Smith
Extremely tart apple. Adds tart flavors to baked goods, but not much sweetness or other apple flavor. One-dimensional.
Type of apple: Jonagold
Jonagold
Sweet-tart balance with excellent apple flavor, softens but holds shape when baked.
Best for caramel apples: Jonathan
Jonathan
Tart & slightly sweet. Small size, thick skin, good shelf life makes for best caramel apple.
Types of apples: Pink Lady and Cripps Pink
Pink Lady (Cripps Pink)
More tart than sweet with firm flesh that holds up extremely well when baked. Slow to brown.

Recipes

Brown butter bourbon caramel apples recipe by Broma Bakery
Brown butter bourbon caramel apples
Candy coated caramel apples for Halloween, recipe by Boulder Locavore
Candy coated caramel apples for Halloween
candy apples recipe by The Surburban Soapbox
Candy apples
Chocolate caramel apples recipe by She Wears Many Hats
Chocolate caramel apples
Stuffed caramel apples by The Girl on Bloor
Stuffed caramel apples
caramel apples with chocolate - recipe by Half Baked Harvest
Chocolate drizzled cider caramel apples

Want more guides?

how to make apple butter
How to make apple butter
Types of apples
Types of apples: flavor & cooking notes
September seasonal fruit recipes: wine and grapes
Cooking with fruit in season: September edition
November seasonal fruit recipes
Cooking with fruit in season: November edition
Roasted chicken and apples
Cooking with seasonal fruit: October edition
Apples, how to choose and store
Apples: everything you need to know

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Ask me anything

I do a lot of research about produce to figure out why some fruits & veggies taste good and others bland. I also dig into the science of why some recipes work and others don't. No question goes unanswered, and I'm here to share the results with you.

Produce & recipe guide for September, with apples and pears

Italian tomato, zucchini, and eggplant soup

A bowl of Italian tomato zucchini soup on a table with eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes.

This tomato soup recipe uses Italy's favorite summer vegetables: tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplants. It has a tomato-based flavor with Italian herbs. The zucchini and eggplant provide creaminess and significantly reduce the soup's acidity. Why roasting vegetables matters Picture a carrot boiled in water vs one that was roasted in the oven. Their flavors are significantly...

Read More

Loaded zucchini potato soup

A bowl of loaded potato zucchini soup, topped with bacon, green onions, and croutons.

This recipe takes a potato soup and replaces some potatoes with zucchini. No one ever seems to notice! It's lighter while maintaining the same beloved potato soup flavor and creamy consistency. It's yet another great way to use up zucchini from your garden. This recipe works with giant, overgrown zucchini as well as various varieties...

Read More

Zucchini quiche with cheddar & herbs

Zucchini quiche with garden zucchini

This zucchini quiche is a great way to use up the summer squash bounty from the garden. It uses 2 whole cups of shredded zucchini (or any variety of summer squash), which actually replaces several eggs. Double or triple it, adding flavor variations into each pan right before baking, like ham & bell peppers, sausage...

Read More

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up for produce guides!

Contact

  • Contact

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.