So that you wish to make apple pie. However which apples are the pie-friendliest? Right here, Rowan Jacobsen—a James Beard Award–winner and the creator of Apples of Unusual Character—breaks down the very best varieties. Higher pies, proper this manner.

Fortunate us. We’re within the Second Golden Age of the Apple, with extra nice new varieties showing in markets than we’ve seen in many years. However misplaced amid the snap-crackle-pop of the produce aisle is a tragic little secret: Not all apples are lower out for baking. 

For that, we’ve to hearken again to the First Golden Age of the Apple, the 1700s and 1800s, when greater than 7,000 varieties graced American farms, lots of them chosen particularly for his or her pie prowess. Though these varieties are exhausting to search out in supermarkets, they’re more and more frequent at farmers markets, farmstands, and pick-your-own orchards. Mix them with some tips our ancestors knew nicely (use a number of varieties for max curiosity; combine candy and tart, agency and goopy; and work some leaf lard into the crust), and put together for pie perfection.

Listed here are 11 of the very best apples for apple pie. 

 
Escpopus Spitzenberg / Bramley’s Seedling

1. Esopus Spitzenberg
“Who would put right into a pie any apple however Spitzenberg, that had that?” wrote the famed minister Henry Ward Beecher in 1862. A century and a half later, the query stands. Extensively thought-about probably the most flavorful apple America has ever produced, the pleasure of New York’s Hudson Valley pushes each sweetness and tartness to an excessive, and infuses your pie with notes of lychee and roses.

2. Bramley’s Seedling
Too usually Individuals make their pies with nothing however overly exhausting apples, which slide away from one another as quickly as your fork strikes. The Brits have lengthy understood that you just want some glue to carry the factor collectively, and for greater than 200 years their go-to glue has been Bramley’s Seedling. The massive, inexperienced, very tart apples seem like unripe grapefruits within the tree, however when cooked they soften right into a thick pulp that works wonders when mixed with a firmer apple. (Honorable Point out: McIntosh or Cortland.)

 
Gravenstein / Belle de Boskoop

3. Gravenstein
Like it or depart it. Some folks suppose this treasure of Sonoma County (the place you may nonetheless discover the Gravenstein Apple Truthful each August) is simply too tender for pie, however others consider its unmistakable berry-apple perfume is the very harbinger of fall. Choose them early for pie.

Extra: Listed here are the instruments you may have to bake the right apple pie.

4. Belle de Boskoop
This tart and snappy Dutch belle is plump and rustic, with a touch of acidity that mellows within the oven. It can win you over in pies, crisps, and strudel, the place the firmness is divine and the zippy edge retains issues energetic. (Honorable Point out: Any starchy russet, equivalent to Golden Russet, Roxbury Russet, Ashmead’s Kernel, or Zabergau Reinette.)

 
Northern Spy / Pink Girl

5. Northern Spy
Your grandmother could nicely have insisted on Northern Spy for her pies. And she or he was proper. This early-1800s star is without doubt one of the few apples that may stand alone in pies. Shiny and energetic, agency but tender-skinned, it’s experiencing a well-deserved resurgence as a brand new technology of bakers discovers that no different apple can match its bag of tips.

6. Pink Girl
Not all trendy apples fall flat in pies. Pink Girl is super-crisp when eaten contemporary and almost as crisp in pies, the place its rosy hue and sweet-tart stability work wonders. No peeling, please. 

7. Granny Smith
Inexperienced-skinned Granny Smith apples are juicy and agency, with a puckery-tart style. As a result of they’re accessible year-round, they seem to be a dependable back-pocket baking apple for the modern residence prepare dinner. (Value noting: They make a incredible apple cake, too.) 

8. Golden Scrumptious
Golden Scrumptious apples have a sunny, nearly-neon colour and a balanced taste, great for baking. Word: They do have a tendency to melt greater than sturdier varieties, like a Pink Girl or Granny Smith, however this makes them nice for mixing and matching with different apples. 

9. Honeycrisp
This 20th-century apple selection is tremendous candy and tremendous crisp (therefore the identify). Meals52’s Baking Advisor at Giant Erin McDowell loves utilizing Honeycrisp apples in her Cider Caramel Apple Pie as a result of they “maintain up very nicely in baking, leading to a filling that is tender however nonetheless has slightly chunk.”

10. Jonagold
One other 20th-century apple selection. This one is a mixture of Jonathan and Golden Scrumptious apples, with a sweet-tart taste and buttery-yellow flesh. It stands up nicely when baked—and never simply in pie, both. Meals52 co-founder Merrill Stubbs loves utilizing Jonagolds for selfmade Apple Chips.  

11. Braeburn
Braeburn apples seem like a sundown, with orange-yellow tie-dye pores and skin. Their intense citrusy-spicy taste makes them good for pairing with different apple varieties or utilizing in big-personality recipes—like Brown Butter & Chedder Apple Pie, or this stunner from Alice Medrich the place apples are steeped in a cardamom-lime syrup. 

Now, let’s get baking. Listed here are three stellar pie recipes to get began: 

Cider Caramel Apple Pie. Whereas most apple pies use white or brown sugar, this one goes one step additional: Begin with a quart of apple cider and prepare dinner it down right into a syrupy caramel sauce. 

Sausage & Apple Pie. Not all apple pies should be candy. This savory recipe, with pork sausage and a cheddar cheese crust, is ideal for dinner. 

Epic Single Crust Apple Pie. Half the crust, twice the enjoyable. If lattice-work worries you, then look no additional. This open-faced pie lets the apples get roasty, toasty, and concentrated in taste.  

For extra apple details, apple recipes, and nice writing, decide up a duplicate of Rowan’s guide, Apples of Unusual Character. This text was initially printed in 2014; we up to date it with much more varieties for much more pies. Pie photograph by James Ransom. All different pictures by Clare Barboza.

What apples do you swear by for pie? Inform us all about them within the feedback!