The best pie apples: Here's how to choose.

Which are the best pie apples? With apple-picking season hard upon us, it's time to dust off your favorite apple pie recipe, sharpen your crust-rolling skills, and get ready to enjoy fall's favorite dessert: apple pie.

You may be tempted to make your pie from one of the six apple varieties that dominate the domestic market year-round: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, and McIntosh.

But when fall rolls around, farmers' markets and orchard farm stands offer an abundance of apple choices.

You've probably identified your favorite eating apple. But what about the best pie apples? They're not necessarily the same. Red and Golden Delicious, for instance, are reliably crisp, sweet-eating apples. But when you bake them into a pie, they can become mushy and lose some of their sweetness. So what are the best apples for pie?

What are the best apples for pie? Let's test them. 

We'll put six different pie apples to the test.

The pie apples: I decide to put two of my favorites, Golden Russet and Northern Spy, up against a couple of classic pie apples: McIntosh and Cortland. I also add Granny Smith because, if there's one ubiquitous, year-round apple, Granny Smith is it. Ginger Gold — a Golden Delicious cross with Albemarle Pippin — is another variety that's often available in fall, and a worthy representative of the Delicious family.

And yes, there are plenty of other apple varieties to choose from: Fuji, Gala, Honey Crisp, and so many more. But with limited time and resources — and a pan with space for just six pies — I'm not able to test every apple out there. But if you want to choose the best pie apples among your personal favorites, you can have fun doing this same test at home.

I use a muffin tin to bake apples sweetened with a bit of sugar. To mimic apple pie (sans crust), I pile sliced apples high in the pan. Then I bake them in a preheated 425°F oven for 20 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 375°F, and continue to bake the apples until they're bubbly, about 40 minutes.

I had no idea there'd be such significant differences in both texture and flavor. For example, Russets and Macs are sweetened with the same amount of sugar, bake at the same temperature, for the same amount of time —  and offer way different results.

Let's sum up the results of our best pie apples test.

The best pie apples

Cortland

• Texture: very soft; bordering on unpleasantly mushy.
• Taste: Distinct apple flavor; nice balance of sweetness and tang.

Russet

• Texture: Very firm, with pleasant bite and little loss of structural integrity.
• Taste: Mild, unassuming, not overly sweet.

Northern Spy

• Texture: Medium firm; slices were distinct, yet soft.
• Taste: Sweet, mildly "apple-y." Not much nuance.

McIntosh

• Texture: Extremely soft; slices turned to chunky applesauce as soon as I touched them.
• Taste: Very similar to Cortland; classic apple taste.

Ginger Gold

• Texture: Distinct slices, but very soft; softer than Northern Spy.
• Taste: Undistinguished; not too sweet and little apple flavor.

Granny Smith

• Texture: Crisp/tender, a bit firmer than Northern Spy; slices held their shape.
• Taste: Medium sweetness with a touch of tang.

So, Granny Smith looks like the best combination of both taste and texture. Does it make the very best apple pie?

Not necessarily. I've baked many pies with this all-purpose apple, especially during the winter when other apples are scarce or pricey. A pie made 100% with Granny Smith apples is a mighty fine pie. But in fall, when every apple variety in the world is seemingly at your fingertips, why not take advantage of one or two (or more) of your own local favorites?

The best apples for pie: My final recommendations

At the end of the day, choosing the best pie apples is a personal decision. My best apple pie would include a combination of these three: Cortland, for flavor; Russet, for texture; and Granny Smith, for its combination of the two.

What apples would fill your best pie? Bake your favorite varieties side by side and see what happens; the results may surprise you.

Please share your favorite apples for pie — and your favorite apple pie tips! — in comments, below.