There are hundreds of millions of apple bushels grown each year in the United States, including over 100 commercial varieties, from Braeburn and Granny Smith to Jonagold and Honeycrisp.
But what to do with such bounty?
Here at Food52, we have thousands of apple recipes. That’s a long to-do list for one apple season—so we whittled things down to 67 of our favorites. Get your corer and peeler ready.
From Our Shop
Breakfast
1. Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast
This recipe is perfect for weekend brunches. Just assemble the night before, then bake in the morning, and serve with so much maple syrup.
2. Fresh Muesli With Apples, Currants & Toasted Almonds
After soaking in milk for 30-something minutes, oats become plump, creamy, and happy. Viviane Bauquet Farre likes adding almonds and currants, but I can’t wait to try peanuts and raisins.
3. Original Viennese Apple Strudel
This Austrian wonder-dessert comes by way of Ursula’s grandmother, so you know it’s going to be good.
4. Apple & Cheese Spelt Buns
A savory take on the classic Swedish breakfast bun. This one features apples, cheddar, spelt, and caraway seeds.
Snacks
5. Apple Chips
Introduce sliced apples to a 275°F oven and you end up with crunchy-crisp chips that any gathering will go nuts over. (Also good served alongside nuts.)
6. Guacamole With Tequila & Apples
Tequila, apples, and pecan equals guacamole? Yes. This recipe from chef Roberto Santibañez is perfect for fall.
Meat
7. Apple & Pork Breakfast Sausage
If you can make a meatball, then you can make your own breakfast sausage. We love the combination of apples, sage, and Dijon mustard.
8. Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder With Caramelized Onion & Apple Confit
This one-pot meal is as cozy as it gets. It makes enough for four, but don’t let that stop you from making it for two—or just for yourself, and enjoying the leftovers for the week to come.
9. Sausage & Apple Pie
A new way to apple pie—this time, with sausage in the filling and a cheesy cheddar crust. Serve with an extra-tangy salad.
10. Apple Cider–Glazed Pork Loin
This herby, lemony Brussels sprout and pickled apple salad is a dream with roasted pork loin. But feel free to put it toward pan-seared pork chops or roast chicken, too.
11. Apple Cider–Braised Chicken
Apple cider, apple cider vinegar, and chicken stock make up the braising liquid for these very lucky chicken thighs. Pair with something starchy that can sop up the juices.
12. Pork Tenderloin With Bacon–Apple Cider Pan Gravy
Apples get sautéed in bacon fat, simmered in cider gravy, and spooned over pork tenderloin. What else do you need to know?
13. Pork Loin With Cider-Braised Leeks & Apples
We would very much like for this savory-sweet apple, leek, and onion relish to always be in our fridge.
14. Sheet-Pan Chicken Thighs With Apples, Gin & Coriander Seeds
“The beauty of this recipe is not just the gorgeous melding of flavors, but how quickly and easily I can throw it together all year round,” writes Melissa Clark.
Soups
15. Avocado & Green Apple Gazpacho
Not all gazpachos need tomatoes. This one from Yasmin Khan leans on avocados and Granny Smith apples instead.
16. Celery Root & Apple Soup With Tarragon
In this recipe, our test kitchen director Josh Cohen “asks you to trust in the power of some very humble ingredients,” like celery root, apples, and onions. Bread alongside is a must.
17. Butternut Squash & Cider Soup: 1993
Butternut is already plenty sweet, so do as our co-founder Amanda Hesser does and opt for a tart variety, like Granny Smith, instead.
18. Broccoli-Apple Soup
Broccoli soup is usually heavy as heck; this one, however, is anything but, thanks to apples, lots of vegetable stock, and yogurt on top.
Starchy
19. Creamy Polenta With Sautéed Apples, Mushrooms & Calvados
The lynchpin ingredient in this apple-mushroom sauce is Calvados—a French apple brandy. A little goes a long way, but you’ll be glad to have the rest of the bottle.
20. Farro Risotto With Caramelized Apples & Fennel
Most risottos start with rice, but not this one. Nutty, earthy, chewy farro works just as well, and goes great with the apples and fennel.
Vegetables &Salads
21. Crispy Delicata Rings With Currant, Fennel & Apple Relish
This apple relish was made with roasted squash in mind. We can’t wait to plop it on roasted Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and more.
22. Kale Salad With Apples & Hazelnuts
Mineraly kale teams up with sweet apples and buttery hazelnuts. Add a crispy chicken thigh on top and you’ve got dinner.
23. Parsnip Latkes With Apple Chutney & Horseradish Yogurt
A newfangled take on potato latkes with applesauce and sour cream. The fennel seeds, golden raisins, and apple cider vinegar help the apple chutney live its best life.
24. Shaved Fennel & Apple Salad With Sultanas, Mint & Almonds
Here, fennel and apple are left raw, so they can show off their snappy, juicy, lively personalities. Don’t be shy with the fresh mint on top.
25. Asparagus & Leek Pancakes With Apple-Miso Mayo
Apple-miso mayo? Yes. If you can’t find asparagus, thinly sliced carrots or parsnips would be happy to step in.
26. Brussels Sprouts & Apple Salad WIth Cheddar & Rye Bread Crumbs
“With its brussels sprouts, apple, cheddar, rye bread, and mustard, this hearty salad is the kind of thing you’ll want alongside a sausage and beer on a Saturday,” writes Ali Slagle.
27. Kale & Bulgur Salad With Brown Butter Vinaigrette
Apples get used two ways here: First, mixed into the brown butter vinaigrette. Second, tossed with the kale, bulgur, sweet potatoes, and grated cheese for the salad.
28. Martha Stewart’s Sweet Potato, Celery & Apple Salad
“Yes, this salad has raw sweet potato in it,” writes Kristen Miglore, “but before you wrinkle your nose, remember: We felt this way about kale salads not long ago.”
29. Roasted Apple & Fennel Salad With Toasted Hazelnuts & Goat Cheese
Roasted vegetables can be salad, too. Especially when there’s a lemony dressing and lots of goat cheese involved.
30. Broccoli Salad With Pesto, Apples & Walnuts
Unlike tender lettuce, broccoli can be dressed hours—even days—in advance. In this salad, it gets tossed with apples, walnuts, and pesto.
31. Classic Waldorf Salad
Apples make up the bulk of this salad, supported by equal parts of diced celery, chopped walnuts, and mayonnaise (yes, that’s ½ cup of each).
Condiments &Sauces
32. Quick Pickled Apples
“I'm a fan of pickled fruit,” Hardlikearmour writes. “It's a great tart accompaniment to rich foods. I used maple syrup instead of sugar to add a little extra flavor punch.”
33. Roasted Applesauce
Zero spices mean the apples get to shine—with a little help from sugar, salt, and cider vinegar.
Drinks
34. Apple Rye Punch
Fall in a glass. Apple cider and rye do most of the work here, while hard cider adds some peppy fizz.
35. Hot Spiced Drunken Apple Cider
This wine-laden recipe won our Best Holiday Punch contest, but we’d bring it out at any fall party, too.
36. Apple Peel Bourbon
The next time you make apple pie and are about to toss a mountain of apple peels in the trash—don’t. Instead, pour bourbon on top and wait.
37. Apple Peel Tea
Don’t like bourbon? No problem. Water and a spoonful of brown sugar work great, too.
38. Apple Cinnamon Rum Sangria
Homemade cinnamon rum plus sparkling apple cider equals a co*cktail that’s ready to have a good time.
39. Whiskey & Apple Cider Syrup
Boil apple cider into oblivion, get your new favorite co*cktail syrup. Try with whiskey, bourbon, or vodka.
40. Cranberry Apple Shrub
Shrubs get a lot of love in the summer, but they’re great all year. This one, with fresh apples, cranberries, and cider vinegar is as fall-y as it gets.
Baked
41.Brown-Sugared Apples & Cream
If you’ve ever snuck a taste of in-the-works pie filling, you know how wonderful sugared apples are. Well, they’re even better with a big pour of cream on top. (Eat as is or broil until bubbly.)
42. Apples Baked in Cider
“Apples baked in cider somehow taste more of themselves,” writes Sally. And we couldn’t agree more.
Pies &Tarts
43. Savory Apple Tart Flambee
A classic Alsatian tart flambée includes crème fraîche, bacon, and raw onion. This one adds sugared apple slices for good measure.
44. Apple Pie Tart
This apple tart is an overachiever and we like it that way. Cinnamon crust, brandy glaze, and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top? Yes.
45. Brûléed Apple Butter Pie
When this recipe came to Food52 in 2015, our editors described it as, “Apple pie meets cheesecake meets crème brûlée.” Whoa.
46. Apple Dumplings
Apple pie, but without the chopping and crimping and fussing. Here, you take a whole apple and swaddle it in dough, like a baby. Bonus points for pouring caramel on top before serving.
47. Apple Galette With Tahini Frangipane & Honey Hibiscus Glaze
A wide-open galette that’s almost too pretty to eat. Frangipane is traditionally made with almonds, but this version opts for almost-savory tahini instead.
48. Brown Butter Apple Tart
“This is inspired by an apple tart that my father had in Paris many years ago,” Phyllis Grant writes. “If possible, cook it on a pizza stone.”
49. Apple Turnovers With an All-Cheddar Crust
Instead of butter, this pie crust uses cheddar cheese. We love how it plays off the sweet apple filling.
50. Epic Single-Crust Apple Pie
If you’re worried about criss-crossing a top crust, just skip it altogether. Erin McDowell will show you how in this single-crust pie.
51. Cider Caramel Apple Pie
Caramel apple pie sounds like it couldn’t get any better, but it could: Instead of making caramel with sugar, make it with apple cider. (All you have to do is boil it.)
Cakes
52. Custardy Apple Squares
These creamy, tender apple squares are halfway to a clafoutis. Dust with a ton of confectioners’ sugar.
53. Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake With Apples
To make an even better coffee cake, just add thinly sliced apples and a walnut cinnamon-streusel.
54. Old-Fashioned Apple Spice Cake
Grated apples, raisins, and nuts make the base of this cake sing. Then you smear a brown sugar meringue on top, which gets marshmallowy and crackly in the oven.
55. Teddie’s Apple Cake
A foolproof apple cake that you can futz with as you please. Swap in some whole-wheat flour, ditch the raisins for dried cranberries, and call in your favorite spices.
56. Apple Fritters
A Sunday morning project that puts pancakes, waffles, and French toast to shame. Extra good with creamy coffee.
57. Brown Butter Candied Apple Clafoutis
Clafoutis batter is flan-like in its texture and pancake-like in its ingredient list. Except, this one isn’t. Instead of all-purpose flour, there’s almond flour and instead of whole milk, coconut milk—two upgrades the apples totally love.
58. Tipsy Apple Parsnip Cake With Sultanas & Cider Glaze
Calling all carrot cake fans: Parsnip cake is your new best friend. Apples, sultanas, and a cider glaze keep things sweet.
59. Apple-Almond Cake
A tender almond cake that uses apples in more ways than one: “The apples add lovely little punches of juicy tartness here and there, since they’re both cubed and folded into the batter and also sliced and laid out attractively on top,” writes Luisa Weiss.
60. Apple Peel Funnel Cake
This concoction dreamed up by Phoebe Lawless looks like a state fair funnel cake—but, in this case, the swirly, twirly pattern comes from apple peels. And to think, you almost threw them out.
61. Brown Sugar Apple Cake With Pecans & Dried Figs
Whole-wheat flour and brown sugar give this apple cake a deep, malty flavor, while the pecans and dried figs make it feel ultra-fall.
62. German Apple Streusel Cake With Brown Sugar Mascarpone Cream
“The base of this cake stays soft and tender from the apples,” writes Laura Edgerton, “while the outside develops an almost caramelized, craggy crust that is cookie-like in texture.”
63. Easy Breezy Fall Shortcakes
Strawberry shortcakes are classic, yes, but apple shortcakes are just as great. The salted caramel doesn’t hurt.
64. Louisa’s Cake
One of Food52’s most popular cakes, ever, comes from community member Jennifer Wagner. Apples and ricotta make it as moist as can be.
Candy
65. Apple Pâte de Fruit
The OG gummy candy—wonderful as a light dessert, cheese plate accompaniment, or even a holiday gift.
66. Apples in Cardamom-Lime Syrup
Spoon these syrup-soaked apples over a simple cake (like this olive oil one) or a big scoop of ice cream (like this oatmeal one).
67. Chocolate Caramel Apples
Why dip an apple in caramel when you could dip it in caramel and then dip it in chocolate? Bonus points for toasted nuts all around.
