Which apple you use changes the dish more than the recipe does. Granny Smith holds its shape and stays tart, which is why eleven of the recipes below name it specifically. Golden and Gala break down softer and sweeter, which is what you want in a Dutch pie or a breakfast casserole. Buy the apple the recipe asks for and most of the work is done.

Twenty-five recipes grouped by type: quick desserts first, then apple pie, crisps and crumbles, cakes and breads, hand pies and pastries, breakfast, two savory dishes and one filling to make ahead. Every entry lists the real total time, the servings, the ingredient count, and the apple variety where it matters.

Apple Desserts in Under 40 Minutes

Three of the fastest. One of them makes eighteen.

Crispy Air Fryer Apple Fries

Six ingredients: two Granny Smith apples cut into wedges, dredged in flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, then air fried. Twenty-two minutes and no oil. View the full recipe — 22 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Apple Pie Protein Balls with White Chocolate Drizzle

Six ingredients: vanilla protein powder, coconut flour, almond butter, walnuts, two tablespoons of apple pie filling and white chocolate chips. No baking, twenty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 6 servings · 6 ingredients

Mini Apple Pie Wonton Cups

Eighteen wonton wrappers baked into cups and filled with five cups of Granny Smith apples cooked down in brown sugar and cinnamon, topped with whipped cream. Makes eighteen in thirty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 18 servings · 11 ingredients

Apple Pie

Four pies. Two are eighty minutes, one is fried rather than baked, and all four use a store-bought or prepared crust except where noted.

Homemade Fried Apple Pies

Two apples cooked down with brown sugar, cinnamon and apple cider, folded into a self-rising flour dough and pan fried in oil, then glazed. Fourteen ingredients, six pies. View the full recipe — 1 hour 10 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Fresh Apple Pie with Cinnamon Sugar

Eight ingredients, the shortest list of any pie here: two and a half pounds of apples with sugar, a tablespoon of cinnamon, a lemon, two tablespoons of flour to thicken, butter and a prepared crust. View the full recipe — 1 hour 20 minutes · 8 servings · 8 ingredients

Golden Dutch Apple Pie

Two and a half pounds of Golden apples under a streusel of half a cup each of brown and white sugar with three quarters of a cup of flour and five tablespoons of butter. Dutch means crumb top instead of a second crust. View the full recipe — 1 hour 20 minutes · 8 servings · 11 ingredients

Salted Caramel Apple Pie with Lattice Crust

Seven cups of Granny Smith apples between two crusts with a full cup of thick caramel sauce and half a teaspoon of flaky sea salt, finished with an egg wash and turbinado sugar. Three hours twenty, mostly cooling so it slices. View the full recipe — 3 hours 20 minutes · 8 servings · 14 ingredients

Crisps, Crumbles and Bars

Four, all with an oat or flour streusel. The sheet pan version serves sixteen.

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble with Oat Topping

Four and a half cups of rhubarb with three Granny Smith apples and an orange, under a crumble of a cup of oats, a cup of flour and three quarters of a cup of brown sugar. The rhubarb is what keeps it from being too sweet. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 8 servings · 11 ingredients

Sheet Pan Apple Crisp with Oat Pecan Topping

Six Granny Smith and three Gala apples on a sheet pan under two and a half cups each of flour and oats with a cup of butter and three quarters of a cup of pecans. Sixteen servings, which is why it is on a sheet pan. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 16 servings · 16 ingredients

Grandmas Apple Crisp

Nine ingredients: six Granny Smith apples with a quarter cup of water, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg under a simple topping of sugar, flour and a quarter cup of butter. No oats. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 8 servings · 9 ingredients

Apple Crumble Bars

Four cups of diced Granny Smith apples between a shortbread base and a crumble made from the same dough with a third of a cup of oats. Cuts into nine bars, which travel better than a crisp. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 9 servings · 12 ingredients

Apple Cakes and Breads

Four. One has rum in it, one is built on Greek yogurt, and one is apple butter rather than fresh apple.

Greek Yogurt Apple Cake with Cinnamon Topping

A cup of chopped apple in a batter with half a cup of Greek yogurt and half a cup of oil, with a cinnamon sugar layer and a powdered sugar glaze. Fifteen ingredients, fifty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 8 servings · 15 ingredients

Apple Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Six tablespoons of apple butter in the batter and four more in the frosting, with a tablespoon and a half of cinnamon and three egg whites rather than whole eggs. Topped with apple chips. Seventeen ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 9 minutes · 12 servings · 17 ingredients

Classic Classic Apple Cake

Nine ingredients and a quarter cup of rum: four apples folded into a batter of only a cup of flour, so it comes out closer to a French apple cake than an American one. View the full recipe — 1 hour 10 minutes · 8 servings · 9 ingredients

Cinnamon Apple Bread

A cup and a half of chopped apples tossed in brown sugar and cinnamon first, folded into a sour cream batter spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, with a cinnamon sugar crust on top. Twenty ingredients. View the full recipe — 2 hours 25 minutes · 10 servings · 20 ingredients

Hand Pies and Pastries

Three portable versions. All three serve eight.

Apple Hand Pies

Nine ingredients: two apples cooked with sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon, folded into rounds cut from two pie crusts, brushed with egg and coarse sugar. Fifty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 8 servings · 9 ingredients

Apple Pie Egg Rolls

Three Granny Smith apples cooked down with cornstarch and cinnamon, rolled in egg roll wrappers and fried in two tablespoons of oil, served with whipped cream or caramel. Ten ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 8 servings · 10 ingredients

Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers with Whipped Cream

Six cups of Granny Smith apples in two sheets of puff pastry, egg washed and baked, served with whipped cream. Twelve ingredients and the pastry does the work. View the full recipe — 1 hour 40 minutes · 8 servings · 12 ingredients

Apple for Breakfast

Four. The casserole is assembled the night before, which is the point of it.

Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Quesadillas

Four tortillas with a cup and a half of apple pie filling and four ounces of sweetened cream cheese, griddled in butter. Twenty-seven minutes and it uses filling you can make from the recipe at the end of this page. View the full recipe — 27 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Baked Apple Fritters

A cup of chopped apples in a cake batter with cinnamon and nutmeg, baked rather than deep fried and finished with a powdered sugar glaze. Thirteen ingredients, forty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 8 servings · 13 ingredients

Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

A proper yeasted dough with five cups of flour, three quarters of a cup of butter and two eggs, filled with two apples in cinnamon and nutmeg and iced with cream cheese frosting. Nearly three hours, most of it rising. View the full recipe — 2 hours 58 minutes · 12 servings · 18 ingredients

Overnight Apple Pie Brioche Casserole with Spiced Butter

Sixteen slices of day-old brioche with six Gala apples, eight eggs and two cups of whole milk, rested overnight and baked in the morning with maple syrup. Nine and a half hours total, almost all of it in the fridge. View the full recipe — 9 hours 40 minutes · 8 servings · 12 ingredients

Savory Apple and One Filling to Keep

Two dinners where apple is the sharp note, and a filling worth making a batch of.

Brussels Sprout Apple Salad with Bacon and Hazelnuts

Ten ounces of shaved brussels sprouts with a red apple, six ounces of bacon and two ounces of hazelnuts in a cider vinegar and Dijon dressing. Ten ingredients, thirty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Sheet Pan Chicken Apple Sausage with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

A pound of chicken apple sausage with sweet potatoes, sixteen ounces of brussels sprouts and red onion, glazed with Dijon, honey and cider vinegar. One pan, forty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 4 servings · 14 ingredients

Stovetop Apple Pie Filling

Three pounds of apples cooked down with both sugars, two tablespoons of cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Ten ingredients, thirty-five minutes, and it is what the quesadillas and the protein balls above both call for. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 8 servings · 10 ingredients

Apple Questions, Answered

Which apple should I use?

Granny Smith for anything baked where you want the pieces to stay distinct and the result to taste tart, which is eleven of these recipes. Golden or Gala for a softer, sweeter result, which is why the Dutch pie uses Golden and the breakfast casserole uses Gala. The sheet pan crisp uses both on purpose, six Granny Smith for structure and three Gala for sweetness.

Do I need to peel the apples?

For pies, crisps and fillings, yes. The skin does not soften at the same rate as the flesh and you get chewy strips through the filling. For the salad and the air fryer apple fries, leave the skin on; it holds the wedge together.

Why does apple pie need to cool for hours?

Because the thickener has to set. The salted caramel pie here lists three hours twenty total for exactly this reason: cut a pie while it is hot and the filling runs out of the slice. Cooling is not resting, it is part of the recipe.

What is the fastest apple dessert here?

Crispy Air Fryer Apple Fries at twenty-two minutes, then apple pie protein balls at twenty-five and the wonton cups at thirty-five. The wonton cups make eighteen, which makes them the best of the three for a party.

Can I make apple pie filling ahead?

Yes, and it is worth doing. The stovetop filling at the end of this list takes thirty-five minutes, keeps about a week in the fridge, and freezes for months. Two other recipes here, the breakfast quesadillas and the protein balls, already call for prepared filling.

Which apple recipe feeds the most people?

Apple Pie Wonton Cups at eighteen, then Sheet Pan Apple Crisp at sixteen. The apple cinnamon rolls make twelve.

What is the difference between a crisp and a crumble?

In American usage, a crisp has oats in the topping and a crumble usually does not, though the words get used interchangeably. On this page, Grandmas Apple Crisp has no oats despite the name, and the apple and rhubarb crumble has a full cup of them. Read the ingredient list rather than the title.