It may be tough to choose among Apple Hill’s 50 farms and ranches. Here’s some insight on six of our favorite hilltop hangouts.
Stick to Grandpa’s Cellar’s classics like apple pies and turnovers or try a pie filled with cinnamon Red Hots candies or butterscotch applesauce cookies. The lunch-hour tamales, packed with shredded chicken and slightly spicy California chiles, should not be missed.
Choose from the delectable apple buttermilk pie or the indulgent apple pie caramel apple, which consists of a Granny Smith apple coated in caramel, wrapped in pie crust and dusted with cinnamon. You might not be able to try everything in one visit because there are so many options. Be sure to check out Abel’s huge selection of frozen desserts and pies to bake at home later.
Visit the nature path and farm with your family any day of the week or sign your children up for the weekend Junior Farmers tour, which takes them through the entire site. Try their famed “Walkin’ Pie,” a portable apple pie or one of the bakery’s fruit empanadas, which come in varieties like blackberry or apple.
Hundreds of tourists are greeted each year by the scent of hot apple cider doughnuts as they enter Rainbow Orchards’ colorfully painted farmhouse. The irresistible fried cakes are prepared to order using cider squeezed on-site from the farm’s own apples and a dusting of granulated sugar. Try the Pink Lady apple pie, a variation on the classic prepared with delicious Pink Lady apples or the nectarine pie if you’re searching for a baked treat.
Spend the afternoon picking apples from Denver Dan’s rows of trees. On weekdays, kids can fulfill their culinary fantasies by enrolling in baking classes where they can make their own 6-inch apple pies from scratch. Denver Dan’s specialty jams include spicy tomato jams and strawberry rhubarb as well as pomegranate and peach jalapeño fresh syrups and glazes.
Mill View Ranch’s newest addition has 18 structures that make up a real farm town. Adults can enjoy a bacon caramel apple doughnut, which is an apple cider donut topped with caramel icing and bacon bits, while the kids play.