Where To Find America's Best Apple Pies

Apple pie is an American staple across the country, especially during the holiday season. The iconic treat can be served hot or cold, with whipped cream or à la mode, with a lattice crust or streusel style. While it's hard to find an apple pie that's bad, the real question is where are the best apple pies in the country served?

In order to compile our list of the best apple pies in America, The Daily Meal started by scouring lists of bakeries and shops known to serve some of the best apple pies in the country. We took to review sites to ensure that every establishment included had no fewer than 4.0 stars, with the exception of spots with a cult following. After guaranteeing each place was well-reviewed by the public, we checked their pie menu to ensure that their apple pie is something you can still order today. The pies on this list are award-winners or known as the most-popular or most-ordered pie on the menu of each establishment.

The French apple pie at A La Mode is no joke. It uses locally grown Granny Smith apples, cinnamon and features a buttery crumb topping. The crust can also be made vegan. Make sure to pair the dessert with some homemade coffee recipes for a can't-beat night cap. 

The pies at Dangerously Delicious Pies are loaded with fresh ingredients. And the most requested pie of all time is — you guessed it — apple. This Baltimore staple serves a classic apple pie and an apple crumb pie with a topping of oats, brown sugar and butter, both of which are comparable to grandma's baking.

Apple pie is one of those guilty pleasures we'll never apologize for loving, and First Slice Pie Café will show you why. The Chicago-based business serves an apple pie with Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, butter and spices. The cafe works in connection with First Slice, a nonprofit founded by owner Mary Ellen Diaz over a decade ago that makes meals for homeless people.

The Big Apple serves some of the best apple pie in America. Brooklyn-based bakery Four and Twenty Blackbirds was founded in 2009 by sisters Melissa and Emily Elsen, who were born and raised in rural South Dakota, and they brought their small-town recipes to the big city. Their salted caramel apple pie is the shop's most popular order. They combine homemade caramel sauce with sweet and tart apples straight from the Hudson Valley of New York.

At Southern Baked Pie Company in Gainesville, Georgia, you can expect to find pies that use the season's freshest fruit from local Georgia farmers and businesses. Choose from a selection of three different apple pies, including caramel apple pecan pie, cranberry pear apple crumble pie and classic apple pie. This pie shop is further proof that nowhere does food quite like the South.

With flavors like apple cheddar bacon, cherry apple, caramel apple, classic apple cinnamon and brown butter bourbon apple, there's an apple pie for everyone at Honey Pie Café, a Milwaukee-based bakery that opened in 2009 with the goal to make Midwestern-inspired food using local ingredients. 

Sweetie-Licious pies, located in DeWitt, Michigan, serves some of the best vintage recipes, including homemade baked goods with fresh ingredients and no preservatives. The most famous pie is Grandma and Mommy's Pumpkin Caramel Apple Pie, which is served only in the fall. It won first place at the American Pie Council Crisco National Pie Championships.

Hoosier Mama Pie makes all of its pies by hand, all the way down to the crust. Although apple picking season doesn't start until September, Hoosier Mama pie serves it's most popular apple pie year-round. It's typically made with Granny Smith apples, but in October, it's made with Spies, Empires and Mutsus.

Going to the apple orchard is a perfect fall day trip activity, but luckily Rulfs Orchard in Peru, New York, doesn't make you wait for a specific season to get apple pie. The farm stand is open year-round so guests can get apples, pie and doughnuts at any time of year. The beloved bakery opened in 1987 and quickly gained popularity due to its apple pie and apple crumb pies, which can be purchased in a 6- or 10-inch pan.

California has more than just beautiful sunsets and iconic beaches. The town of Julian has a storied history of successfully growing delicious apples. And the legend continues with Julian Pie Company. While the signature apple pie is made with Granny Smith apples and a traditional crust, guests can select from a variety of seven different apple pies, including peach apple crumb, Dutch apple and a no-added sugar natural apple pie.

New York is one of the happiest states in America, and New York City's Little Pie Company might be one of the reasons why. Located in the Theater District of Manhattan, this bakery has been making delicious pies from scratch since 1985. Locally-sourced ingredients are turned into fresh pies in small batches that are baked until the hand-pinched crusts are a delectable color of golden brown. Little Pie Company's signature pie is a Sour Cream Apple Pie made with fresh Granny Smith apples.

Petsi Pies is an independent bakery in Somerville, Massachusetts, that bakes everything from scratch daily using only natural ingredients — you won't find any fillers or mixes in these pies. You'll find a selection of not one but four different apple pies: classic apple, crumb apple, salted caramel apple and a seasonal fall/winter treat: apple pear cranberry pie.

While it's certainly rewarding to bake your own pie straight from the ingredients in your pantry, Random Order Pie Bar makes buying a pie hard to resist when you're in Portland, Oregon. The Tahitian Vanilla-Sugar Salted Caramel Apple is made with a divine combination of Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples coated in a homemade caramel and covered with a Tahitian vanilla sugar-salted crust. The award-winning pies here are made by hand with fresh local and organic ingredients.

While apple pie isn't technically a regional dessert, everyone does it differently, and Kimmswick, Missouri, spot Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery's version of the dish is especially interesting. Its Levee High Caramel Pecan Apple Pie is made with 18 apples that are all hand-placed and peeled. And to further solidify this shop's reputation for amazing pies, it has been featured on Oprah's Favorite Things.

If you're craving apple pie, but you're not that promising of an amateur baker, San Francisco bakery Three Babes Bakeshop has you covered. The classic apple pie is made with organic apples, organic sweet cream butter, freshly squeezed lemon juice and a homemade spice blend. The pies are then topped with a hand-woven lattice, and the edges are crimped by hand. The final result is a pie that is flaky, buttery and delicious.

Mukwonago, Wisconsin, bakery The Elegant Farmer is a great place to satisfy your sweet tooth. The hot-spot is most known for its award-winning Gourmet Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag. It is, as the name implies, baked in a paper bag, a technique that creates a crunchy top and light crust.

Ditch the refrigerated pie crust and head to Whidbey Pies in Seattle, where the crew works on 151 acres of land and produces more than 2,500 handmade pies a week. No two pies are the same, and each piemaker has their own style of crimping, which acts like a signature on each dessert. Year-round the shop serves a selection of pies, including two varieties of apple pie: Granny Smith Apple and Salted Caramel Apple. And due to popular demand, the signature apple pie can now be made gluten-free.

Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies is a place with history. The family hand pie recipe was passed down and perfected by Maude Pletcher's nine children, and in 1954, one of her sons bought the property where Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies are still sold today. Today, fried pies are known as one of the most iconic pies in America, and at Arbuckle Mountain, apple is listed as one of the most famous flavors of fried pies.

At Royers Pie Haven, you can have your pie and eat it too. This bakery in Round Top, Texas, serves a hard-to-beat apple pie. The Not My Mom's Apple Pie is made with Granny Smith apples, filled with brown sugar and whipping cream, and topped with a pecan and brown sugar streusel. This pie will give even the most impressive desserts a run for their money.

This Louisville, Kentucky-based shop has a storied history with pies dating back to 1982 when Gina and Mike Cox opened the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen as a lunch spot. They made one or two pies a day during lunch, but soon they became so popular that they swapped the lunch counter out for a pie case. In addition to the award-winning Dutch caramel apple pie, the shop also serves a double-crust apple pie. Have a slice alongside some homemade ice cream.

Have you been looking for an excuse to eat an entire apple pie by yourself? Now you can. At I Like Pie in Claremont, California, you can order individual-sized pies that are made from natural ingredients. Try a delectable Dutch apple pie for the best of what the shop has to offer.

Known as a delicious chocolate shop in Long Grove, Illinois, Long Grove Confectionery Co. also serves a popular apple pie, the Brown Bag Apple Pie. It's made with fresh apples, real butter and no preservatives. The brown bag helps make the topping extra crunchy.

Lynden Dutch Bakery has been providing the Lynden, Washington, community with delicious baked goods and perfecting its award-winning apple pie recipe for more than 100 years. Its pies are made with locally sourced ingredients and use old-fashioned baking techniques to guarantee top-notch quality.

Lyman Orchards sits on more than 1,100 acres of land in Middlefield, Connecticut, and is one of the most popular family attractions in New England. The apple crumb pies you can get there are not to be overlooked. Available in 6 or 9-inch pan sizes, they are made with a blend of fresh apples and spices and served with a cinnamon crumb topping.

The signature pie at My Sugar Pie in Zionsville, Indiana, is a Dutch apple pie baked with layers of apple and cinnamon and topped with a crumb topping. The bakery opened because of the popularity surrounding this pie, and it remains My Sugar Pie's most-requested treat. While apple pie is an all-American staple, there are more iconic desserts from every state.

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