FEATURE — Apple season is in full swing in Utah. With so many varieties to choose from, how do you know which apple to “pick?”

Some are excellent for eating fresh. Some apples work well for juice or applesauce, while other varieties are better when they are cooked or used in pie. The different uses are based on factors such as storage requirements, tendency to brown when cut or sliced, flavor and sweetness and hardness of the apples.

Whether you prefer to bite right into a crisp Fuji or cook up some Granny Smith apples as a healthy side dish, you’ll find these fun apple facts pretty sweet.

• Washington state grows the most apples in the US. According to pickyourown.org, Washington produced 171 million bushels in 2018. New York came in a distant second with just over 31 million bushels. Apples are grown in all 50 states.
• A bushel of apples weighs approximately 45 pounds. A “peck” is approximately one-fourth of a bushel.
• The US is the second-largest apple producer in the world after China.
• The top three apple varieties in the US are Red Delicious, Gala and Granny Smith.
• One average-sized apple provides 5 grams of fiber (with the skin on).

Are you craving a sweet, juicy, delicious apple yet? Below are some common varieties you’ll find in most grocery stores and ways to use them.

Applesauce – Fuji, Gala and Golden Delicious

You’ll love the way your kitchen smells when making our crockpot applesauce recipe. For a basic applesauce recipe, click here.

Eating fresh – Honeycrisp, Fuji, Pink Lady and Cameo

Do you like to dip? Peanut butter fruit dip, pumpkin pie dip and cream cheese fruit dip are all delicious!

Apples add a sweet crunch to many different types of salads. Try broccoli apple salad, apple and poppyseed coleslaw or harvest cobb salad.

Apple donuts and apple pie smoothie make for a healthy and delicious sweet treat.

Cooked or baked – Golden Delicious, Jazz, Jonathan and Autumncrisp

It’s not quite fall without apple cranberry crisp or apple cranberry bites on the menu. Cinnamon apple crisps are a perfect after-school snack for the kids to munch on.

Canning apples or making juice and jam are also great ways to enjoy the fall harvest all year long. For helpful hints and tips, as well as basic how-to’s and canning safety, visit USU Extension’s amazing resource pages here.

My family loves apples with cinnamon. For fruity dessert, we made baked apple fries. Click here for the recipe.

The house smelled so good as the apples and cinnamon were baking. My family couldn’t wait to try the fruity dessert I created. It was the perfect end to a fall night. Enjoy!

Written by CANDI MERRITT, Certified Nutrition Education Ambassador.

This article originally appeared Oct. 14, 2020 on the USU Extension Create Better Health blog.

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