With thousands of apple varieties, how do you choose when a recipe calls for "cooking apples" or "baking apples"? Here are 12 suggestions to give your recipe just the right flavor.
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Find Your Favorite Apple
The best baking apples offer a balance of sweet and tart flavors as well as flesh that doesn't break down in the oven. Here we showcase 12 great baking apples that meet those criteria—as suggested by Ohio Apples and Michigan Apples. Once you know which apples to look for, experiment, mix and match to find your tastiest combination.
"My mother's favorite is to blend Cortland and Melrose in a pie," says Bill Dodd, program director for Ohio Apples. "The more varieties you use, the richer the blend of flavor."
Check out our baking apple suggestions, then give your favorite combination a try with one of our irresistible apple recipes.
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Jonathans and Jonagolds
You'll recognize Jonathans as deep red, classic apples, grown in many Midwest states. They're tart and tangy and have been pie favorites for over 90 years.
Jonagolds are daughters of Jonathan and Golden Delicious, with the best of both worlds—firm flesh and a sweet-tart taste. Both Jonathans and Jonagolds excel as pie apples.
10 Favorite Apple Pie and Tart Recipes
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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. But be ready to grab Honeycrisps; they're only available for a few months in the fall.
One of the most popular baking apples, the classic Granny Smith puts the American in apple pie. It's a tart and tangy apple with a firm flesh. If you like a splash of sweetness, pair it with some slices of Honeycrisp in your recipe.
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Melrose
The Melrose is the state apple of Ohio. It's a cross between Red Delicious and Jonathan, a combination that gives it a good tart, apple taste. Harvested in October, they taste best after 2-3 weeks off the tree so they can develop their full aroma and flavor.
6 of the Best Midwest Apple Orchards to Explore This Fall
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Winesap
This tart-and-spicy apple's very thick skin makes it good for storing, and the white flesh doesn't cook down during baking. Try this apple not only in pies but also in salads, cider, applesauce and wine-and-cheese treats.
A firm apple, the Braeburn offers spicy-sweet flavor. It stores well, and is great for baking because it keeps its shape throughout cooking.
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Rome Beauty
With its perfect round shape and deep red color, Rome Beauty qualifies as one of the prettiest apples. Mildly sweet and tart, it's pretty middle-of-the-road, flavor-wise. Try mixing with another apple because it has a good consistency but not a strong flavor. The hard green/white flesh keeps its shape in the oven; it also sautés well. Romes ripen late in the growing season and can be found throughout the Midwest.
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Golden Delicious
Favored for its naturally sweet flavor, the Golden Delicious requires less added sugar in recipes than other varieties. The thin skin doesn't need to be peeled, but the flesh won't stay as firm as some other baking apples. If you prefer a softer, sweeter pie, this apple is for you. Goldens also make great applesauce and apple butter, and will dress up any salad.
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Cortland
A relative of the McIntosh, this versatile red apple is a favorite for out-of-hand eating, but it is also delicious in dessert recipes. When cut, the snow-white flesh keeps its color longer than other apples. A touch of tartness gives it a kick, and the crisp flesh will help your pie stay higher and have better shape. Cortlands also do nicely in salads and kabobs.
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Northern Spy
These Northern Michigan natives aren't known for their beauty—they have an irregular, lumpy shape and dull green/red color—but they bake like a dream. They've got great consistency and flavor. They're harder and crunchier than most apples, and have a mostly sweet, mildly tart flavor. They're difficult to come by, though, because they're biannual—meaning they only yield a big crop every other year. Your best bet is to get these directly from a grower.
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Gala
With a crisp bite and a mellow sweetness, the Gala complements any recipe—you can even get away with using less sugar because of its natural sweetness. The crispness helps it retain its shape throughout baking so it doesn't get mealy.
Cortland apples: If you're a fan of the classic McIntosh, this is the baking apple for you. These juicy green and red–blushed apples have a tart flavor and crisp texture; they're similar to a McIntosh apple, but hold their shape better.
Cortland apples: If you're a fan of the classic McIntosh, this is the baking apple for you. These juicy green and red–blushed apples have a tart flavor and crisp texture; they're similar to a McIntosh apple, but hold their shape better.
Mutsu. Also known as Crispin, this firm-fleshed, less tart option is similar in flavor to a Golden Delicious. But it excels when it comes to structure, keeping more of a solid firmness. Mutsus are great for pies or other recipes that call for gentle cooking.
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.
McIntosh apples are still a cultivated variety in the modern-day, but growers have decreased production due to the apple's soft, easily damaged flesh in favor of modern, hardier cultivars.
Golden Delicious: If you prefer a sweeter, softer pie, Golden Delicious apples are the way to go. This variety is so sweet that many bakers actually use less sugar in their recipe when baking with Golden Delicious apples. Gala: If you want extra sweetness without the soft texture, choose Gala apples for your pie.
Golden Delicious apples were often picked while still green and were stored for months before being sold in commercial markets, creating a dull, mild flavor. The variety was eventually replaced with other more flavorful modern introductions, but presently, it remains a prominent variety found worldwide.
Jonagold. If you're a fan of the grocery store regulars Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp, try out Jonagold. Traverso says it makes a better pie apple than Golden Delicious and is a great, less expensive alternative to Honeycrisp. A sweet apple, Jonagold has honey and melon aromas with tender, juicy flesh.
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.
Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.
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. And the apples are sliced instead of diced, so you'll notice big chunks of apple in every bite.
While there is an extremely wide variety of apples, all with varying flavors, the sweetest-tasting apple is fuji, followed by gala, honeycrisp, and Red Delicious apples. These apples are great for snacking and eating as is. Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Pink Lady fall on the tart end of the spectrum.
The McIntosh ( /ˈmækɪnˌtɒʃ/ MAK-in-tosh), McIntosh Red, or colloquially the Mac, is an apple cultivar, the national apple of Canada. The fruit has red and green skin, a tart flavour, and tender white flesh, which ripens in late September.
McIntosh is a medium-to-large apple with a streaky red blush that has a hint of purple. It's round and a little ribbed. Many small light lenticels decorate the skin. Honeycrisp is huge, a cheerful red just the orange side of a fire truck.
The McIntosh style is typified by attractive dark red or (more often) crimson colours, and a crunchy bite, often with bright white flesh. The flavor is simple and direct, generally sweet but with refreshing acidity, and usually a hint of wine - often referred to as "vinous".
McIntosh: These apples are very soft, they don't maintain their shape, they are juicy and tart-sweet which makes them perfect for apple sauce. Fuji: Fuji apples are firm, crisp, sweet, very juicy, and hold their shape well.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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