There are many types of apples available at grocery stores today — and more coming all the time. The emergence of new varieties is exciting because we get to try new flavors and elevate the apple eating experience, but it can also be a bit daunting to figure out how to use these new varieties in the kitchen.
So, let us tell you the best apples for apple pie! Many new apple varieties, including Honeycrisp, have a flesh that fractures when you bite it. This is so appealing for snacking on an apple, but not the best feature for a good apple pie apple. Beyond the flesh, you also want to avoid apples that are overly juicy.
Fuji and McIntosh are both juicy apples. Instead, use these delicious apples when snacking or in a fresh application like a cheeseboard or salad.
Every apple pie needs a secret ingredient. This is the odd ingredient we add and it definitely takes it up a notch! Flavor: Sweet, tart, and almost buttery. Well balanced and rich, especially when cooked.
Texture: Very fresh and quite crisp, but can border on mealy when held for too long off the tree. When baked, it softens but retains a bit of texture. Pie Rating 1—10 : 8. The best flavor I got out of any single apple—this is what apple pie should taste like. I just wish it were slightly firmer. Best Uses: Pies, sauce, apple butter. Flavor: Similar to that of a McIntosh, but much sweeter and more tart. Like its cousin, it's got very white flesh and a mild flavor.
Pie Rating 1—10 : 4. It does quite well in pies texturally—softening without breaking down—but lacks in flavor. Flavor: Very sweet and very tart, with a good level of juiciness, it's a cross between a McIntosh and a Red Delicious and shows flavors from both. When baked, it has nice texture, but becomes cloyingly sweet. The acid is still present, but it's not enough to fight against the sugar level.
Flavor: Mild and sweet, with a fair amount of tartness, it's one of the most popular apples around for its small size and good resistance to bruising. Texture: Very thin-skinned, with a grainy texture. Pie Rating 1—10 : 6. When baked, it holds its shape, but the graininess can get overwhelming. I prefer my pie apples to be supple and smooth-textured. Flavor: Very bright and tart, with a distinct citrus aroma and white wine—like nose.
Texture: Very firm, crunchy, and slightly grainy. Pie Rating 1—10 : 5. It holds up almost indefinitely when cooking. It has good brightness, but not much apple-y flavor. Now, some very astute readers might have noticed the one glaring exception here: Braeburns are low in acid, yet remain relatively firm as they bake.
Why is this? It all has to do with air. Braeburns are relatively dense apples, with not much air in between their cells. You can see this if you drop one into a bucket of water along with, say, a McIntosh: Braeburns will float up much more slowly.
Apples with lots of air will collapse on themselves, like a deflating balloon, as they cook. Very dense apples—like Braeburns—will retain their shape better, even as they completely soften. As you can see from my tasting notes, for the most part texture certainly does improve with more tartness, but good texture alone does not a good pie make. Some folks suggest mixing two varieties of apple—one to provide texture, the other for flavor—but this never made sense to me.
Say we combine some Granny Smiths with some Romes. What you end up with is a pie that's got nice firm chunks of apple interspersed with brown apple mush. Nope, a single apple would have to do it for me, and the best ones in the running are the Golden Delicious and the Braeburn. They're the ones I use for all of my baking purposes. The question is, since both Golden Delicious and Braeburns have great, well-balanced flavor, but neither is quite firm enough when baked, is there something I can do to improve upon their texture?
Indeed there is, and this article is riddled with hints on how to do it. To get the full explanation, check out the final installment in our pie-a-thon , where I'll describe how to turn your apples into the best pie filling they can be. Macs do not get mushy, you must be making your pie wrong!
Golden delicious — gotta be kidding — they DO get mushy. A complete no-confidence vote here! Steve — you are the first person to mention Baldwins. My Aunt Ev and cousin Ev always mention Baldwins for pies. Aunt Ev had a tree. I use many types of apples. I think Jonagold, Rome, and Empire work well too and I often combine apples. I just hate the very firm commercial pies. Newtown pippins were always on store shelves some 40 years ago.
We live on 10 acres and I planted a Newtown pippin four years ago. Last year planted 7 apple trees, Honeycrisp, Cox Orange pippin, Sweet 16, Tompkins king, ashmead kernel, holstein, cortland. It is my belief that the two best apples for pies are Newtown pippin and Cortland.
After that Rhode Island greening and Holstein. I agree, I have been making pies for over 25 plus years, and Cortland by far are the best. Also these are easy to obtain as they are grown in the New England area. Macs are absolutely THEE best apple for apple pie! Yes, they are a bit softer, but in my humble but very experienced opinion the firmer apples in pies tastes like the filling in FROZEN pies.
Macs are incredibly soft and prone to bruising, so are very hard to find in many stores. We moved from New England to Hawaii and Macs are impossible to find. But what does she know???????????? Yes, yes and YES! Last year, for whatever reason, a local store had a supply of Macs and I was finally able to show off what these apples can do. My newly adopted loved-ones thought my pies were out of this world. I finally had to dig deep into my cooking skill trenches to create Apple Butter Thumbprint Cookies.
It saddens my heart that I may never again be able to make any of these foods for my new neighbors who enjoyed them so much. You are so right. Nothing compares to Macs. I totally agree that Firmer crisp apples taste like frozen or commercial pies. You, My Mother, and Martha Stewart know best. Sandy Snow. My Mom always used Macs in her apple pies and they never turned to mush!
Best apple pie ever! I do not like firm apples in my pie either! And commercial pie? You can keep them! I love a combination of apples in my pie, but am always sure to include Braeburn apples. I was always told that your first choice should be Macintosh,then Winesap,then Rome for a great pie.
Is Winesap not still around? If you bake an apple pie, no matter how sweet or mushy, it will be gratefully accepted. The very best pies, from my year experience, have a thin, browned crust and a filling that is a mixture of true pie apples, firm and ranging in tartness. Sugar or honey can provide the necessary sweetness. Red Delicious is not an apple. Cortlands and Macs all the way. My grandmothers and mother used these. We always used Granny Smith and Macs.
One is tart and firm, and the other is sweet and cooks down a bit. The combination is perfect. So happy to hear all the Mac users…. Very expensive but this Mainer has to have her touch of home. Always stock up enough for my Holiday pies……and I love to eat them. It is true…. To soft. Cortlands absolutely. Soft but retain a good shape. Wonderful taste. I really dislike crunchy apples in pie. I am looking for a good apple to freeze that will keep their shape to make apple pies in the winter.
Anyone else do this? All were great in pies, especially wealthy. Pies always turn out delish with a complex apple profile and juicy as the day is long! A few years back I entered an apple pie baking contest at the annual Applefest fair at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Ma.
After receiving my scores, Amy gave my pie very good scores among the variety categories, ie, taste, firmness, crust, etc. I also used MacIntosh sweetness and Cortlands body and ever-so-slight tartness. Was always a perfect combination.
No idea what I should use now that I live in Florida. I also like Early season Idareds. My mother-in-law always used Macs and an old variety early season Transparent Apples she would find in northern Maine. There are so many varieties out there testing is so much fun.
Years and years ago, I remember buying two varieties of apples that made the best pies ever. As I recall, those varieties were Malden and Melrose. Both had that perfect combination of tartness and firmness that made the best tasting pies. Wow, I really enjoyed reading all the comments about apples. I love using Ambrosia apples in my pie. I have always used Rome apples in my pie and in my cranberry sauce. My best pies are made with a combo of Macintosh and Granny Smith.
No mushy pie here. I always thought Gala, Rome and Fugi were good also. I recently made a pie using Honeycrisps. The apples were firm and juicy. The flavor of the pie was wonderful.. Would do so again! Only honeycrisp enters this house. One our top picks for baking in pies was cortland. Would love to taste them again. You never see them in stores, so good luck. Hi, being cousins of your guys from good old blighty, we were amazed not to see Bramley apples during our shopping visits to Publix.
In our opinion and dare we say it all of our peers these are the best apples for baking and of course the humble apple pie. Do love the idea of incorporating sweet apples into the recipe as well. Macs and Cortlands are the very best combination of apples for the best pies ever. I know apples are sliced and frozen in some orchards. I won 2nd prize for my apple pie in a contest with Macintosh Apples make my own crust never had mushes pie lots of comliment on my pie.
Amen, Shirley. As an aside, here in England we adore the Bramley cooking apple for a lot of our recipes and continues to be voted 1 cooker. Sharp yet slightly sweet it remains firm during cooking. No apple crumble is complete without it. I have only used Cortlands for my pies. Only apple I will use for pies! I agree with Colleen above. I had only used Courtlands for pies what with living in Montreal. Now I live in western Canada and cannot get Courtland. Have tried a couple of others but none have the flavor or aroma of a Courtland pie.
Featured Video. Save It Print. Prep Time 75 mins. Cook Time 55 mins. Total Time 2 hrs 10 mins. Servings 8 servings. Peel, core, and slice the apples:. Make the apple pie filling:. Prepare oven:. Roll out the dough and line bottom pie plate:. Place apple slices on top of the bottom crust:. Roll out top crust, place over apples, trim and crimp edges:.
Brush with egg wash, cut vents:. Let cool:. Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included. Rate This Recipe. I don't like this at all. It's not the worst. Sure, this will do.
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