28 Common & Uncommon Apples to Bake with This Fall

Are you looking to bake with apples this fall? Get my list of common apples you can find everywhere that are great for baking along with some that are less common but certainly are worth seeking out!

A collage featuring Granny Smith, Lucy Rose, Northern Spy, and Rhode Island Greening apples.

Whether I am working at a farmer's market or just shopping there, so many times I have heard a customer trying to find out what apple is best for baking. And it's a great question to ask. Sure you can use any apple to bake and it will work but not every apple is a great choice for a pie or cobbler.

I have tried a large number of different varieties in my baked apple goods. So today I am here to share with you which ones I think are the best.

What you are going to find below are 4 different lists - Common at the Grocery Store, Less Common at the Grocery Store, Common to Find at Farmer's Markets & Orchards, and Harder to Find at Farmer's Markets & Orchards. That way you can find the best apples no matter what type of place you are shopping at.

🍎 What Makes a Great Baking Apple?

It will hold it shape when baked, not turn into applesauce.
It has enough tartness on it's own to balance out the sweetness of the dessert.
The apple's flavor when cooked is good or even improves when it's baked.

A Cosmic Crisp apple display at a Smith's grocery store in Utah.

Common at the Grocery Store

The apple varieties on this list are ones that you are going to find at pretty much every single grocery store that are worth buying to make an apple pie with. You can going to find these apples regardless what the calendar says.

Granny Smith
Pink Lady
Honeycrisp
Cosmic Crisp

Granny Smith is the default apple to go to for baking. It's one of the few truly tart apples you can buy in most grocery stores. Other apples on this list can work as well. I have baked in Honeycrisp and it works. Same goes with Cosmic Crisp.

What you don't want to pick out in the grocery store are Gala or Fuji. They are too sweet. A pie that has sugar in it is not going to be very well balanced with these apples. And don't get me started on Red Delicious!

Lucy Glo apples with one cut open to show the pink flesh inside.

Less Common at the Grocery Store

These are apple varieties that you can find at many grocery stores but certainly not all of them and they won't be available to you year round.

Braeburn is a great baking apple but it's not as common in the grocery store as it was in years past. It's been falling out of favor. I did a whole write-up on why that you can on my What Apple to Eat Today substack page.

Lucy Glo and Lucy Rose are two new varieties that have come out in recent years, so they aren't in every grocery store. Trader Joe's has been good at carrying Lucy Glo the last couple fall seasons. I really love them for baking as they are pink or red on the inside, which creates for a beautiful dessert like this:

A slice of pie with red Lucy Rose apples in the middle. Pie is topped with a crumble topping.

SweeTango is a Honeycrisp X Zestar cross that you can find in many grocery stores during the fall. It has the crispiness of a Honeycrisp with the perfect fall spicy flavor. It's one of my favorite out of hand eating apples when they are at their peak of flavor.

I first tested them out as a baking apple over 10 years ago and I still think they are a good choice as they have enough tartness and hold their shape well.

Ida Red apples in an orchard with a white sign with green writing in front.

Common at Farmer's Markets & Orchards

The apples on this list are common to find at farmer's markets and orchards. This can still vary based on what part of the country you are in. For this list I am drawing on my experiences from being in orchards all over the country and seeing what I have found many times before.

Jonathan
Cortland
Ida Red
Empire
Paula Red
Winesap
Northern Spy
Jonagold

Jonathan is an apple that has been a classic that I have turned to many times for baking. I use to pick them each year at an orchard near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Speaking of Ann Arbor, there is a famous bakery there called Zingerman's Bakehouse. I helped them out a couple years for the holidays and the apples they used for their pies were local Ida Red apples.

A close up of a bin of Northern Spy apples at a grocery store in Texas.

You can't have a blog post about apple pie without talking about Northern Spy. After all the saying goes "Spies for Pies". They are a great apple for the pie maker as they are tart, hold their shape, and have a great flavor when baked. My friend that moved to Florida, really misses making apple pies with Northern Spy apples as he can't get them down there.

A couple remaining bags of Calville Blanc d'Hiver apples at an apple orchard in Ohio.

Harder to Find at Farmer's Markets & Orchards

These are going to be apples that you can find but they are more rare. But this list contains the apples that I think make for the best pies, so not doubt these are worth seeking out.

Gravenstein
Twenty Ounce
Rhode Island Greening
Northwest Greening
Pink Pearl
Hidden Rose
Cox's Orange Pippin
Bramley's Seedling
Calville Blanc d'Hiver
Ashmead's Kernel
Belle de Boskoop
Spigold

My favorites on this list include Rhode Island Greening, Twenty Ounce, and Pink Pearl. Man, I wish I could make an apple cobbler with each of these at once and see which one really is the best. Rhode Island Greening is an apple that is tart and when baked it develops this rich flavor that is even better than just eating them out of hand. It's been years since I found one but you can be sure I will not hesitate to buy them again for a pie.

Pink Pearl is another apple that is a pretty pink on the inside. Look at the cobbler I made with them: