
Best Apples for Apple Pie
By: Bob's Red Mill | September 8 2017There is nothing more American than apple pie. Except maybe that unusual trend of putting a slice of American cheese on top of a slice of apple pie—but we don't need to go there. We prefer to stick to the basics, and the perfect dessert for any summer or fall gathering is the classic apple pie. You may have made a hundred different varieties of homemade apple pie in your day—we have experimented with at least that many ourselves—in search of the perfect apple pie recipe. One of the most important ingredients, not surprisingly, are the apples that you use for the apple pie filling, but with so many varieties of apples out there, how on earth are you supposed to choose the right ones? Never fear, Bob’s Red Mill is here! We have a handy guide below to choosing the best types of apples to make an out-of-this-world apple pie.
How many types of apples have you tried? How many does your local store sell? We would guess that your answers to these questions are somewhere around five or six—max. You may not even know the names of the different varieties beyond the obvious yellow, red, and green. As it turns out, there are somewhere around 7,500 different types of apples that are grown in the world. Yes, you read that correctly—over seven thousand apple varieties compared to the five or six that you may have tried. Now if that doesn't leave you feeling a little confused, then we don't know what will. Luckily, in the United States, that number is significantly smaller. Unluckily, it is still not that small. About 1,000 apple types are commercially grown and sold in the United States. While not quite 7,500, this number is definitely still intimidating when you are trying to find the perfect apple pie. We do not want all of you to have to bake 1,000 pies to be confident you have found the best apples—so we have a slightly easier way of figuring it out. Keep reading to help you figure out the perfect apple variety for your next apple pie.
If you search high and low for the best apples, you want to ensure that you have the best crust possible to complement these apples. We recommend our Easy Gluten Free Pie Crust recipe for the best results! It is also important to find a pie pan that is the right size for your crust.
With 7,500 varieties, there are unimaginable combinations of apples you could use to bake your perfect apple pie. Try checking out your local farmer’s market and testing out some new varieties if you can find them. The best pies often come from mixing two to three varieties and taking the best attributes from each one—we recommend grabbing one variety with great texture, and one with your favorite flavors to get the best combination. Let us know what varieties you try and which ones are your favorites in the comments section below—we can't wait to taste test our own experiments with apple pie.
Sources:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/best-apples-for-apple-pie-1388318
https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/the-3-best-apples-to-use-for-baking
https://www.southernliving.com/food/best-apples-for-apple-pie
There are so many varieties of apple that narrowing it down could be difficult so I recommend starting with these: Cortland, MacIntosh, Golden Delicious, and Honeycrisp. Also, if you can find them, give Ginger Gold a chance (they're an early season apple so the stores may be sold out).
The Winesap also fared well. This year, I hope to trial the Esopus Spitzenberg, the Northern Spy and, maybe, the Pink Lady.
Some old world classic baking varieties are: Bramley's Seedling, Belle de Boskoop, Gravenstein.
American heirlooms for baking: Cortland, Northern Spy, McIntosh.
Of course the old recipe standby, Granny Smith is a great baking apple but the secret is to find good ripe ones.
Thanks for your article providing many interesting things.
I'm Jackson, I'm a chef who loves food, I'm always interested in new foods. Apples for Apple Pie is great! I just finished them tonight, taste is great and i had a great dinner with my little family. Thanks for your sharing.
Sincerely grateful!
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
8 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of ice water
1 egg, beaten.
Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse
Hope you like it
Love it!
Wesson oil recipe: (2 crust pie)
2 cups Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Wesson Oil, (any oil will due)
1/4 cup Milk (even 1% will due)
Mix to form nice dough ball.
Roll out 1/2 of the ball between 2 sheets of Wax Paper. Repeat for the top crust. Wipe the counter top with a damp rag so the bottom sheet stays in place!