Not every apple is cut out for the oven. The best apples for baking—whether you’re making BA’s Best Apple Pie, a Buttery German Apple Cake, or Suspiciously Cheesy Apple Crumb Bars—have firm flesh that softens when cooked without turning to mush. A good balance of sweetness and acidity helps too. Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Mutsu, and Winesap are among our favorites.
But say you’re at the farmers market and none of those varieties is in sight. Don’t panic. Cookbook author and former BA food editor Claire Saffitz has a simple trick for finding a worthy substitute: Press your thumb against the apple. If it’s firm enough that you don’t leave an indent, you’re probably in good shape.
Softer apples—those that yield to the pressure of your thumb—are higher in water content and more likely to lose their shape or get soft and mushy when cooked. Save them for applesauce or apple butter, where a little breakdown is exactly the point. For more on why those apples listed above top our list of apple picks, read on.
8 apple varieties we love for baking
Granny Smith
Granny Smith apples have long been a go-to for baking thanks to their pronounced tartness, firm texture, and year-round availability. Their bright, citrus-like acidity balances the sugar in pies and other desserts, like Gourmet’s classic Apple Strudel, and has made them a favorite among professional bakers for decades.
But they’re not everyone’s first choice anymore. During recipe development for BA Bake Club, senior Test Kitchen editors Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic found that Granny Smiths repeatedly turned mushy in baked desserts, including their Apple-Cranberry Tarte Tatin and Caramel Apple Monkey Bread. Switching to Honeycrisp produced apples that held their shape and offered more complex flavor. Granny Smith remains a classic, but if you want distinct pieces of tender fruit, another apple may be the better bet.
Pink Lady
Pink Lady apples strike an ideal balance of sweet, tart, and tannic notes. They hold their shape in the oven and are relatively slow to oxidize, so the slices won’t brown as quickly while you’re assembling your dessert. Their bright flavor and relatively wide availability make them our first choice for BA’s Best Apple Pie.
Pink Lady is also a favorite of Christa Campbell of Rainbow Orchards in Camino, California, where they bake plenty of pies. “They keep that divine sweet-tart flavor,” she says, “and have the perfect oh-so-soft crunch and juiciness when baked.”
Braeburn
This superbly crisp apple has a concentrated taste and bakes up juicy but not mushy. Braeburns have pronounced sweetness balanced by tartness, and their flavor becomes richer, almost spicy, in the oven.
They release relatively little liquid during baking, which makes them particularly good for a crumb-topped apple pie: Less excess moisture means less risk of a runny filling or soggy crust. They’re equally at home beneath the streusel topping of Saffitz’s Yeasted Apple Coffee Cake, where their concentrated flavor can stand up to plenty of cinnamon.
Use a mix of apples with the skins on for this colorful Fall Fruit Galette.
Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Kalen KaminskiHoneycrisp
Honeycrisps are the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen’s desert island apple. With their shatteringly crisp texture, juicy sweetness, and ability to hold their shape, they are as appealing baked as they are eaten out of hand.
The catch? Honeycrisps can be expensive. Shilpa suggests saving them for recipes that showcase the fruit, like Apple Dumplings, an Apple-Walnut Upside-Down Cake, or old-fashioned baked apples. For recipes where the apples are sliced or chopped and cooked down with sugar and spices, she recommends sticking to “something cheaper and just as effective.”
Golden Delicious
Golden Delicious apples might not be the most exciting choice for snacking, but their mild flavor becomes sweet, tart, and honeyed in the oven. They soften more than some of the other varieties on this list, making them a good option when you want a tender filling rather than distinct, firm slices.
Freshness is key: Older Golden Delicious apples can become mealy. They’re also less acidic than other varieties on this list, so pair them with a tarter variety or add an extra tablespoon of lemon juice to your pie filling. Their relatively thin skins make them a good candidate for leaving unpeeled in a rustic Dutch Apple Pie.
Jonagold
Tart with a honeyed sweetness, Jonagolds hold up exceptionally well in the oven. Related to Golden Delicious, they have a similarly mellow flavor but a firmer texture, making them excellent for pies and other baked desserts where you want recognizable pieces of apple.
The downside is their short window of peak quality. Jonagolds don’t store particularly well, so look for them early in the fall, especially at farmers markets and orchards. If you find good ones, put them to work in a Naked Apple Tart when they’re at their best.
Firm apples stay suspended in batter better than softer, wetter apples. Try your favorites in this Dutch Apple Snacking Cake.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Leslie Raney Garetto, Prop Styling by Emma RingnessMutsu
Also known as Crispin, Mutsu apples are juicy, crunchy, and on the sweeter side. A cross between Golden Delicious and Indo apples, they have a similar flavor to Golden Delicious but a firmer texture that holds up particularly well during cooking.
They’re a great choice for pies, tarts, and other desserts, like Shilpa’s Glazed Apple Pie Fritters, where you want tender apples that don’t disappear.
Winesap
Winesap apples bring intense, full-bodied flavor with deep cider-like notes, and are equally suited to cooking, eating fresh, and making cider. They resist breaking down during cooking, adding complexity to baked desserts while keeping their shape.
Their assertive flavor makes them especially good in recipes with other fruits—like an Apple-Rhubarb Crumble—or strongly flavored ingredients, like a puff-pastry apple tart with almond, maple syrup, and brandy.
Baking apple FAQ
Can you use the same apples for pie, cake, and crisp?
Generally, yes. Firm, flavorful apples work well in a range of baked desserts, but the ideal variety depends on the texture you want. For pies and tarts with distinct slices, prioritize apples that hold their shape. In cakes, crisps, and cobblers, a slightly softer apple can work well too.
Which apples should you avoid for baking?
Soft or mealy apples are less suited to desserts where you want the fruit to retain its shape. McIntosh, for example, tends to break down readily when cooked, making it better suited to applesauce or apple butter. But if you’re making a dessert where a softer filling is welcome, that tendency isn’t necessarily a drawback.
Do you need to peel apples before baking?
Not always. Leaving the skins on can add color and texture, especially in rustic desserts. For a more uniform filling, peeling is usually preferable. It ultimately depends on the recipe and whether you enjoy the texture of cooked apple skins.
Prepping a whole bunch of apples? Learn how to core and slice them without an apple corer →
Editor’s note: This article has been updated and expanded with reporting from previous Bon Appétit stories by Julie Harans and Sarah Jampel.