27 Best Apples For Baking

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Nothing beats the smell of apples baking in the oven, pies, crisps, and cakes filled with warm, cinnamon-spiced flavor. But you need the best apples for baking to pull it off. Some varieties turn to mush in the oven. While others hold their shape and give you that perfect blend of sweet and tart in every bite.

If you want your next pie, crisp, or cake to turn out right, picking the right variety matters just as much as the recipe itself.

I bake with apples all fall and winter long around here, everything from a simple apple crisp to a from-scratch pie for the holidays. We also grow quite a few apple varieties ourselves, so I’ve gotten to know firsthand which ones hold up in the oven and which ones don’t. I’ll point those out as we go.

If you’re also picking apples to store for later, my best winter storage apples guide walks through which varieties keep the longest. Several of those double as great baking apples too.

Apples That Don’t Bake Well

Not every apple variety is a good choice for the oven. Some have a very soft, thin flesh that breaks down into mush instead of holding its shape once it bakes.

Red Delicious – Red Delicious is one to skip when baking. It has a mild, sweet flavor and thin skin, but the flesh turns soft and mealy in the oven instead of holding together.

It’s a better choice for fresh eating and salads, so save this one for snacking and pick a different variety for your pie.

Gala – Gala is another one to think twice about for pies and cobblers. It’s got a lot of natural juice and a soft flesh that turns mushy and grainy after a long bake, so it’s not the best choice when you need the apple to hold its shape.

That said, I’ve found Gala works just fine in quicker bakes like muffins and breads, where you’re really just after that apple flavor, and a little extra softness doesn’t matter as much.

Best Apples For Baking

If you want your pies, crisps, and cakes to turn out well, you need to start with the right apple.

Generally, firm apples with a good sweet-tart balance make the best baking apples. Very soft or overly sweet varieties tend to break down too much in the oven. They can also leave your dessert tasting a little flat.

Along with the classic varieties, I’ve also included a handful of newer, patented apples like Jazz, SweeTango, Pazazz, SugarBee, and Pacific Rose. These are “managed varieties,” meaning growers need a license to grow them, so you won’t find them at just any orchard.

They’re becoming easier to find at grocery stores though, and they’re worth grabbing if you spot them, since most were bred specifically for that crisp, hold-its-shape texture that’s perfect for baking.

I’ve also added a few varieties, Ambrosia, Honey Gold, Sweet Sixteen, Spartan, Spencer, and Liberty, that you’re more likely to come across at a local orchard or pick-your-own farm than at the grocery store.

If you have an orchard nearby, it’s worth asking what they grow. You might find one of these without having to look very hard.

Here’s a quick look at all 27 varieties and what they’re best used for. Then keep scrolling for more on each one.

Apple Variety	Flavor	Best For
Ambrosia	Sweet	Fresh eating, baking, sauces
Braeburn	Sweet-Tart	Pastries, muffins, pies
Cameo	Sweet	Pies, baked goods
Cortland	Sweet-Tart	Pies, tarts, applesauce
Crispin (Mutsu)	Sweet	Pies, cakes, sauce
Fuji	Sweet	Pies, crisps, cakes
Golden Delicious	Sweet	Pies, cakes, sauce
Granny Smith	Tart	Pies, crisps, crumbles
Haralson	Tart	Pies, cider
Honeycrisp	Sweet-Tart	Crisps, cobblers
Honey Gold	Sweet	Pies, sauces
Ida Red	Sweet-Tart	Applesauce, crisp, pies
Jazz	Sweet-Tart	Pies, crisps
Jonagold	Sweet-Tart	Pies, pastries
Liberty	Sweet-Tart	Pies, applesauce
McIntosh	Sweet-Tart	Applesauce, soft fillings (pies if picked early)
Northern Spy	Sweet	Pies
Pacific Rose	Sweet	Pies, crisps
Pazazz	Sweet	Crisps, cobblers
Pink Lady	Sweet-Tart	Tarts, baking
Rome	Mild	Pies, casseroles
Spartan	Sweet	Pies, sauces
Spencer	Sweet	Pies, sauces
Stayman Winesap	Tart	Pies, crisps
SugarBee	Sweet	Pies, crisps
SweeTango	Sweet-Tart	Pies, crisps (early season)
Sweet Sixteen	Sweet-Tart	Pies, crisps

Best Apples For Pie, Crisp, Or Cake

Different desserts call for slightly different qualities in an apple, so here’s a quick breakdown by what you’re making, then keep scrolling for the full profile on each variety.

Best Apples For Pie

• Granny Smith – firm and tart, the classic pick for a reason.
• Braeburn – holds its shape beautifully and grows even sweeter as it bakes.
• Haralson – crisp and tart, great if you like a filling with a little bite.
• Northern Spy – an old-fashioned favorite with that classic apple pie flavor.
• Jonagold – firm enough for pie fillings, with a honeyed sweetness.
• Liberty – juicy and crisp with a flavor similar to McIntosh, it softens a bit in the oven but holds its shape well enough for pie.
• Stayman Winesap – firm and tart, built to hold up through a long bake.

Best Apples For Apple Crisp

• Honeycrisp – crisp texture and balanced sweetness make it a favorite for crisps and cobblers.
• Cortland – soft-textured but full of flavor, great under a crumble topping.
• Jazz – firm texture holds up well under a crisp topping.
• Ida Red – works just as well in a crisp as it does in a pie.
• SugarBee and SweeTango – both hold their shape nicely and add a caramel-sweet flavor.

Best Apples For Cake

• Fuji – naturally sweet, so you can cut back on added sugar in the batter.
• Crispin (Mutsu) – sweet flavor that holds up well through baking.
• Cameo – sweet and aromatic, a nice choice for spiced cakes.
• Pacific Rose – very sweet with little tartness, good if you want a milder flavor.
• Honey Gold – tender flesh bakes down soft, perfect for a moist cake.
• Golden Delicious – mild and sweet, with tender flesh that bakes down soft for a moist, flavorful cake.

A Closer Look At Each Apple

Ambrosia

Ambrosia apples have a low-acid, honeyed sweetness and a satisfying crunch, and they’re one of those rare apples that works just as well sliced into a lunchbox as it does baked into a pie or crisp. What really sets them apart is how long they keep.

Properly stored, they can last up to 8 months, so it’s worth picking up extra if you want apples on hand well past baking season.

Braeburn

Braeburn apples aren’t as well known as some other varieties, but they’re wonderful for baking. They have a sweet-tart flavor and a firm, crisp texture that holds up beautifully in the oven, actually growing even sweeter as they bake. I love using Braeburns in pastries and muffins. They add great flavor to every bite.

Cameo

Cameo has a fun origin story. It was discovered as a chance seedling in a Washington orchard back in 1987, likely a natural cross between Red Delicious and Golden Delicious.

They have a bright red striped skin, firm crisp flesh, and a sweet, aromatic flavor that holds up well in pies and other baked goods. They’re one of the better sweet apples for baking if you want a dessert that isn’t too tart.

Cortland

Cortland apples are a soft-textured apple, but that doesn’t stop them from being one of my favorite baking apples. Their sweet-tart flavor and white flesh that resists browning make them perfect for pies and tarts where you actually want the apple slices to show.

We have a Cortland tree here on the homestead, and I use the apples for baking and applesauce all fall long. They don’t keep well in storage, so we go through them pretty fast.

Crispin (Mutsu)

Crispin, also called Mutsu, is my husband’s favorite apple we grow, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a large, sweet apple that’s just as good sliced up for snacking as it is baked into a dessert.

Crispin has crisp yet tender flesh and a yellowish-green skin that looks a lot like Golden Delicious. It’s a true dual-purpose apple, delicious fresh but also excellent for baking. It holds its shape nicely in pies, cakes, and sauce.

Fuji

We grow Fuji here too, and it’s one of the sweetest apples in our orchard. A lot of people think of Fuji as just a fresh-eating apple, but it holds its shape well in the oven too.

Fuji apples have crisp, juicy flesh, and that natural sweetness makes them a good choice when you want a baking apple without adding much extra sugar. They work well in pies, crisps, or cakes.

Golden Delicious

Golden Delicious is another one of our favorites here on the homestead. Most people think of it as a fresh-eating apple, and it really is a great one for that. But I’ve found it makes a great baking choice too.

It does get a bit softer than some varieties once it’s cooked. It still holds its shape well, though, and the flavor is excellent, mild and sweet without being one-note.

That tenderness works in your favor for cakes and sauces especially, where a softer bite is exactly what you want.

Granny Smith

Granny Smith is probably the apple most people picture when they think of baking. Its firm, tart flesh holds its shape beautifully in the oven and balances out the sugar in pies, crisps, and crumbles.

If you want a classic tart apple for baking apple pie, this is the one most bakers reach for first.

Haralson

Haralson apples were developed at the University of Minnesota and are known for their cold hardiness and distinctive tart flavor.

They have crisp, juicy flesh that holds up beautifully in the oven, and they’re especially good in pies. One of my favorite tart apples for baking when I want a filling with a little more bite.

Haralson is also a great keeper if you want extras on hand. I cover it in my best winter storage apples guide if you want more good storage varieties.

Honeycrisp

Honeycrisp apples are known for their exceptionally crisp, juicy texture and a mildly sweet, well-balanced flavor. They hold their structure well when baked, which makes them a favorite for apple crisps and cobblers.

Their natural juiciness adds nice moisture to whatever you’re baking too.

Honey Gold

Honey Gold apples are a lot like Golden Delicious, with that same mild, honeyed sweetness, but the flesh is even more tender. That tenderness means they need to be handled gently off the tree.

But it also means they bake down into a smooth, soft filling, which makes them a nice choice for pies and sauces where you don’t mind the apple losing a bit of its shape.

Ida Red

Ida Red is another one we grow, and it’s earned a permanent spot in our orchard. It’s a fantastic storage apple. We’ve kept them fresh for months, and the flavor is just as wonderful for baking as it is for keeping.

Ida Red apples have a juicy, sweet-tart flavor and hold their shape beautifully when baked. They’re also just a beautiful apple, with bright red skin that looks as good in a bowl on the counter as it tastes in a pie.

I love using this variety in applesauce, apple crisp, and pies. It’s one of those apples that works just as well fresh as it does baked, which makes it an easy one to keep on hand.

Jazz

Jazz apples are a cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn, first developed in New Zealand in the 1980s. They have a sweet, honeyed flavor from the Gala side with a zesty tartness from the Braeburn side, and an extremely crisp, juicy texture.

That firm texture holds up well in pies and crisps, making Jazz one of the better sweet-tart apples for baking if you want something a little more complex than a single-note sweet apple.

Jonagold

Jonagold apples, a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious, have a honeyed sweetness with just a slight tart edge. They’re firm enough to hold their shape in pie fillings, and their flavor pairs beautifully with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Liberty

Liberty is another favorite in our orchard, and the trees are wonderful producers. It’s a McIntosh cross, and you can taste that connection right away, juicy and crisp with a lot of that same classic flavor.

It does soften when baked, similar to its McIntosh parent. But it holds its shape pretty well, so it still works nicely in a pie, not just applesauce.

McIntosh

McIntosh apples are one of the most common varieties you’ll find at the grocery store, with thick red skin and crisp white flesh. They’re a great baking apple, but the flesh gets very soft and starts to dissolve as it bakes.

That makes them best in desserts where you don’t need firm pieces of fruit. Think applesauce, or a soft, saucy apple filling.

Picked early in the harvest season, they’re more tart and hold their shape a bit better, so they can work in pies too. For the best of both worlds, try mixing McIntosh with a firmer apple like Granny Smith or Braeburn. You’ll get that sweet-tart McIntosh flavor with enough structure to hold together.

Northern Spy

We grow Northern Spy in our orchard, and it’s a great all-around apple to have on hand. It’s a wonderful baking apple, and it stores well too. That means we’re never in a rush to use it all up right away.

Northern Spy is an old-fashioned variety with a sweet flavor and just a hint of honey. It’s considered one of the best apples for baking apple pie by a lot of longtime bakers, since it holds its shape well and has that classic apple pie flavor.

It’s harder to find in stores, so if you can get your hands on some from an orchard or grow your own, it’s worth it. I cover it as one of my picks in best winter storage apples too, if you want more good keepers like this one.

Pacific Rose

Pacific Rose apples were developed in New Zealand as a cross between Gala and Splendour. They have a mild, mostly sweet flavor with very little tartness and a fine-grained, firm, crisp texture, similar to Fuji.

Because they’re naturally so sweet, they’re a nice choice for baking if you want to cut back on added sugar in a pie or crisp.

Pazazz

Pazazz apples are a Honeycrisp cross discovered in Wisconsin and released commercially in 2013. They have that same exceptionally crisp texture Honeycrisp is known for, with a sweet flavor and just a subtle tartness.

Because they’re so firm, they hold their shape well in the oven, similar to how Honeycrisp performs in crisps and cobblers.

Pink Lady

Pink Lady apples, also called Cripps Pink, have a sweet-tart flavor that leans a little more tart, with bright white flesh that resists browning. That makes them a great choice for baking, especially in recipes where you want the apple slices to hold their color and shape, like a simple apple tart.

Rome

Rome apples, sometimes called Rome Beauty, are known as one of the best baking apples around. Their flavor is fairly mild, not particularly sweet or tart on their own.

But it comes alive once baked, and the flesh holds its shape beautifully. Because of this, Rome isn’t really used as a fresh-eating apple. It really shines in the oven instead.

Spartan

We grow Spartan in our own orchard, and it’s one of the best producers we have. It’s nice and pest-resistant too, which makes it an easy variety to grow if you’re just getting started with fruit trees.

Spartan apples run on the smaller to medium side, which makes them a great size for little hands. Don’t let that fool you though, they’re sweet, crisp, and juicy with plenty of flavor packed in.

They bake up nicely in pies, crisps, and sauces, and if you end up with more than you can use, they’re also a good variety for juicing.

My favorite way to use Spartan is in applesauce. The dark skin gives the finished sauce a really pretty pink color.

Spencer

Spencer apples are a cross between McIntosh and Golden Delicious, and you can taste both parents in every bite, a sweet flavor with crisp, juicy flesh.

They don’t store well, so this is one to use up soon after you bring it home. That’s a good excuse to turn it into a pie or sauce right away.

Stayman Winesap

Stayman Winesap apples are an old multi-purpose variety with firm, tart yellow flesh. They’re just as good fresh as they are baked, and their thick skin and firm texture make them a great choice for pies and crisps where you want the apple to hold up through a long bake time.

SugarBee

SugarBee apples are another Honeycrisp descendant, discovered by a Minnesota grower in the 1990s. They’re crisp, juicy, and decidedly sweet, with a caramel and honey flavor. They also store exceptionally well, so if you pick some up in the fall, you can keep baking with them well into winter.

SweeTango

SweeTango apples were developed at the University of Minnesota, a cross between Honeycrisp and Zestar. They have a satisfying crunch and a juicy, sweet-tart flavor with hints of fall spice.

SweeTango ripens earlier than most baking apples, in early September, so it’s a good one to reach for if you want to start baking before the rest of the harvest comes in.

Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen apples are a cross between Northern Spy and Malinda, and they get the best of both. Think a full, sweet flavor with just enough acidity to keep it interesting, plus a crisp, juicy bite. They hold up well in the oven too, so if you can find them at a local orchard, they’re worth trying in a pie or crisp.

FAQ’s

More Apple Baking Recipes

Ready to put your apples to good use? Here are more of my favorite apple baking recipes:

• Apple Crumb Cake
• Braided Apple Bread Recipe
• Apple Cranberry Bread
• Easy Apple Crisp Recipe (With Make Ahead Tips)
• Apple Cranberry Crisp
• Apple Pumpkin Crisp
• Apple Cranberry Pumpkin Crisp
• Easy Baked Apples Recipe
• Apple Pie Pops
• Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
• Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
• Apple Cinnamon French Toast Casserole