These Are The Absolute Best Apples For Just Snacking (And You Can't Change Our Minds)

The apple is singular among botanicals for its outsized presence in myth, legend, metaphor, and idiom throughout much of recorded history. It is also powerfully evocative of time and place, conjuring images of trips to the orchard amid crinkly fallen leaves, pies cooling at the glacial pace of promised childhood treats, and toasty spiked cider around the crackling fire. There are also thousands of varieties for baking, saucing, candying, and cutting with a pocket knife like a handsome but troubled 1950s greaser. But between all of the world's ubiquitous and even under-the-radar apple varieties, only one reigns supreme as the premier pick for simply snacking, and that is the lovely little Honeycrisp.

The ideal Honeycrisp apple has the sonorous crunch that one expects from the fruit at its peak, and the low simmering sweetness that its name implies. Its medium size is easy to handle without feeling puny, which also makes it comfortable enough to chomp without unhinging your jaw. Dating back to about 1960 when industry leaders married Macoun and Honeygold apple varieties, the relative newcomer is also versatile enough to sink your teeth into absent additional adornment, or to use in all manner of easy preparations.

While something like a Granny Smith apple, which seems to invite a reflexive pucker with its bright, green surface, might be more of an acquired taste, the Honeycrisp is a more reliable palate pleaser. It flirts with both a bit of tartness and the sugary quality that can make some fruits border on treacly, ably bending to whichever taste sensation you prefer. That same key characteristic is what makes the Honeycrisp apple so great in so many different applications.

The best way to enjoy a Honeycrisp apple is to source one from your preferred fruit provider, give it a good rinse under the tap, dry, and bite like you're in an old "Iron Chef" intro. But its flavor profile is also conducive to more advanced snacking, making it perfect for the old peanut butter spread treatment, as a thinly sliced grilled cheese filling, or to bring a little freshness to your everyday charcuterie boards. While other apples may occasionally turn our head for exclusive use in tarts or caramel-coated confections, only the Honeycrisp apple tempts us to take a bite every time.