The Absolute Best 2 Apple Varieties For Snacking On This Fall

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Is there any autumnal pleasure as delightful as crunching into a freshly picked apple? Fall marks the height of apple season in most parts of the United States, and we're ready to pull up a ladder and start filling baskets with shining, juicy fruit. While determining the best apples for baking is a matter of science (thanks to tricky issues like water content and fleshiness), the finest apple for snacking is a wildcard question that can vary from eater to eater, depending on personal tastes. 

Do you opt for a tart green apple like a Granny Smith or a sweet red specimen like a Fuji? How about an offbeat pick like Golden Delicious or one of the newer kids on the block like SweeTango, Koru, or Smitten? Eating an apple a day carries some health benefits like better hydration, but we'd do it just for the love of the fruit. Experts agree, however, that the perfect snacking apples have a few things in common.

At the rare and wonderful intersection of thin skin, great crunch factor, and delicious taste, a couple of ultra-popular apple varieties emerge: Pink Lady and Pixie Crunch. The former is the perfect balance of sugary and astringent, plus it resists browning. On the other hand, Pixie Crunch apples are petite offshoots of the ever-popular Honeycrisp varietal that are sized just right for an afternoon nosh or wrapping up in a child's lunch bag.

There are so many delicious ways to enjoy fresh apples in the fall that we couldn't possibly enumerate them within the limits of one page. As long as you know how to wash them properly, eating apples whole can be an unparalleled pleasure. The sound and texture scratch an itch in your soul, the juices run down your chin ... full sensory gratification. Pixie Crunch is incredibly crispy, as the name suggests, and lends itself well to raw munching like this. The more fastidious among us can cut the apples into slices using a handy-dandy apple corer and slicer, although tiny apples like Pixie Crunch may not fit well into the apparatus, so watch your fingers! Enjoy your apples with peanut butter, raisins, or even cheddar cheese ... that last one sounds nuts, but many actually say the salty-sweet combo is the perfect flavor combination!

Pink Lady apples are also superior for nibbling all by themselves, but their exquisite, quintessentially "apple" flavor makes them a great pairing for mix-and-match snacks at all times of day. With a dish of vanilla Greek yogurt, they make an unparalleled parfait. Slice up a couple ripe pears and add dried cranberries in a bowl with your cut-up Pink Ladies and some lemon juice, and you have a fruit salad that celebrates everything good about fall's bounty. Or stick flat slices of Pink Lady on a baking sheet in a low-temp oven with cinnamon and honey to dehydrate. With enough time, you will have apple chips that put the store-bought kind to shame.