Choosing the Perfect Apple for Your Thanksgiving Feast
In this newsletter, I am going to be talking about the best apples to have to bake with for Thanksgiving Day.
With Thanksgiving coming up next week, I had to come to share what apples I think you will want to buy for Thanksgiving.
Apples can add a delightful touch to your Thanksgiving dinner in various ways! Let me give you some suggestions of what apple varieties to use for different dishes.
Apple Pie
Whenever I am making an apple pie I always pick an apple that has some tartness to it. If you want to wow your guests, search out the Lucy Glo or Lucy Rose apples that are both red on the inside. They hold their shape, are beautiful when baked, and have the kind of tartness you want for a pie. I have seen that they are at Safeway stores and Trader Joe’s. Need some more suggestions? Check out my blog post - 28 Common & Uncommon Apples to Bake with This Fall
Apple Crisp
You can use any apple you would use for a pie then you would for an apple crisp or cobbler. This is where using the red or pink flesh apples would be the best since you can see them really well.
Stuffing
Some people like to add diced apples to their stuffing or dressing. This is how to add some sweetness to go along with the savory flavor of a stuffing. I haven’t done a lot of dishes like this with apples, but Gala apples are a cheap, good option for an apple for a stuffing.
Salad
If you are going to include apples in a salad you want to use ones that when they are exposed to air don’t just turn brown right away. Cosmic Crisp would be a great choice for this as they resist browning, so you can cut them up and add then to a salad and they won’t turn brown while your dish is on the table being served.
Charcuterie Board
When I was in California for the holidays back in 2021, I cut up a bunch of apples for people to try as an appetizer. I used from left to right - Lucy Glo, Hunnyz, Opal, Juici, and Lucy Rose. I wanted to make sure I had some tart apples, some sweet apples. I placed whole apples next to the sliced apples so that people could see what the whole apple looked like and which apples they were.
If you don’t want to do just apples, pick three and include them on a board with cheese, meats, and crackers.
Fried Apples
If you want to serve some cooked apples but without having to make pie or a cobbler, check out my recipe for The Best Cracker Barrel Inspired Fried Apples. It’s a great side dish you can serve without as much work as a pie or cobbler. I also have an option for putting a ginger snap topping onto the apples that won’t have you missing the pie at all.
Want to know what states have an official state apple. Check out my list here!
Want to know which apples you can find at different grocery stores? You need to look over my Grocery Store Apple Guides. Every month I have a free guide to one store on the list. This month it’s Walmart. To gain access to all the guides consider supporting my small business and becoming a paid subscriber.
Listen to the latest episode of my apple podcast -
If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. I hoped you enjoyed today’s newsletter.