8 Things You Need to Know Before Buying Honeycrisp Apples This Fall

Before the Honeycrisp apple season begins learn about some essential things you need to know about the most loved apple in America.

A collage featuring different Honeycrisp apples

Apple season is upon us now. At least when I am originally writing this. Over the last decade plus Honeycrisp apples have become the most talked about apple. So naturally I have talked about them a lot on this blog over the years. I thought this would be the perfect time to put all the information together, so you can have the ultimate guide to Honeycrisp season.

An up close view of a bin of Honeycrisp apples.

What You Need to Know

Here are all the things I have written on Honeycrisp apples over the years. You can check out each individual question that I have answered or continue on below to learn more about each topic.

Peak Season

Honeycrisp apples ripen pretty early on in the apple season in early September. There are an apple variety that is at it's best fresh off the tree. Some apples actually need some time in storage to be at their peak of flavor, but Honeycrisp is certainly not one of those apples. Just pick one and take a bite!

While in stores year round at this point. I would keep my buying of them to the fall for optimal flavor and crunch and look for different apples during the winter and spring. I have many of my readers tell me they were disappointed with their Honeycrisp purchases in the winter and spring.

🍎 Learn all about the Honeycrisp apple season

Organic Honeycrisp apples on display at a Central Market store in Texas.

Why are Honeycrisp So Expensive?

Honeycrisp are known for two things how crisp they are and how expensive they are. In general, minus sales, you are going to see Honeycrisp going for more money per pound than the average apple in the store such as Fuji, Gala, or Granny Smith. There are many factors for this that include some storage difficulties, harvesting challenges that increase labor cost, and the fact that people are willing to pay the price.

🍎 Get all the details on why Honeycrisp are such an expensive apple variety.

Where Can You Pick Honeycrisp

U-picking your own Honeycrisp can be hard to come by. Not all orchards allow that variety to be picked. But still there are many that will allow you to. I created a list of those orchards where you can pick them.

🍎 Get my list of what orchards you can pick Honeycrisp at.

A shopping cart with one Fuji apple next to one Honeycrisp apple.

Honeycrisp Comparisons

While I worked at Whole Foods Market, I once did a blind taste test for the customers between Honeycrisp and SweeTango and asked them which one they liked better. SweeTango actually won that battle.

I have written a couple blog posts where I compare and contrast Honeycrisp to other varieties:

A wood board with a Honeycrisp apple next to a Cosmic Crisp and Wild Twist apples.

New Honeycrisp Crosses

Naturally when an apple is as popular as Honeycrisp is there are going to be new varieties created for it. Breeders are always look to try and improve on what we had to provide something that will make customers and growers happy alike.

I can't believe how many they are now and it seems like with every season that list is growing longer and longer. So far my favorite Honeycrisp crossed apples are:

🍎 Check out the entire list of Honeycrisp crossed apples you can find.

Honeycrisp Cobbler in two different white tea cups with an apple nearby and stick sticks of cinnamon.

Can You Bake with Honeycrisp

You know they aren't my favorite apple to bake with, but you certainly can. I prefer to bake with an apple that is more tart, but Honeycrisp has enough tartness that I don't mind baking with them. They will hold their shape well when baked, so if that is something you require for a pie, you can't go wrong with Honeycrisp.

🍎 Get my recipe for Honeycrisp Apple Cobbler.

What Does the Future Hold?

Honeycrisp is far from a perfect apple. It's not an easy one to grow. Labor is more because the stems have to be trimmed by hand so the apples don't poke each other while in a storage bin causing damage. The apple has can develop brownish spots on it, that look like this:

Bags of Honeycrisp apples at a store that have brown spots on them.

Those apples look bad don't they? Technically you can still eat them, but what customer is going to buy them in the store. So these apples will be tossed by the store or if they are still in storage, they won't make it the store. I am hoping that they are able to still use them for juice or other products and not waste them completely.

With all of these things in mind, I seriously wonder about Honeycrisp's future. I recorded an episode of my podcast about this that you can listen to below. Just hit the play button!

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