Yet another type of apple at the grocery store?

While you may think you have everything you want while snacking on your Granny Smith or Honeycrisp—or any of the other hundreds of varieties available around the country—a new variety might soon become the apple of your eye.

A new Honeycrisp and Enterprise hybrid claims to strike the perfect balance of sweetness, acidity, juiciness, and crunch, along with an impressive year-long shelf life, making it an ideal apple for just about anything.

According to the Cosmic Crisp website, the apple “has a remarkably firm and crisp texture” and “provides ample sweetness and tartness.” It sounds too good to be true, but growers and industry experts shot for the moon when they created the new Cosmic Crisp.

Why is it called the Cosmic Crisp?

It has to do with the lenticels. If you’re not an apple grower, you may never have heard this term. It refers to the little spots on the apple’s skin that function as pores. The Cosmic Crisp has bright white lenticels that some have said look like bursts of light in outer space.

Where did the Cosmic Crisp come from?

With an unparalleled taste and texture, it would be easy to think the could only come from out of this world, but the Cosmic Crisp was made at Washington State University’s fruit tree breeding program. Developers started working on the task in 1997—22 years ago!

How much do Cosmic Crisps costs?

If you think that all that development time comes with a cost, you’re right. The fruits are being sold as a “premium” apple for around $5 a pound. That’s about twice as expensive as other popular apple varieties like Gala or Honeycrisp. It may be a hefty price tag, but considering you have a whole year to eat them before they go bag, you’re far more likely to cut back on expensive food waste.

It’s also unclear if growers intend to lower the cost once more fruit becomes available, but we can keep our fingers crossed!

Where are Cosmic Crisps sold?

Cosmic Crisp apples hit grocery store shelves for the first time ever in December 2019, after a mid-October harvest. They were rolled out nationwide on December 1, so keep an eye out at your grocer for the super crunchy Cosmic Crisp.

Will Cosmic Crisps only be sold this year?

No way! After more than 20 years of development, growers are expecting their new Cosmic Crisp apple will have a place in our pies, cobblers, and lunch boxes for as long as crunchy apples remain popular—and, I mean, who likes mushy apples?

Some 12 million Cosmic Crisp apple trees have been planted in the state of Washington, according to the Associated Press, so you can expect the crops to be even bigger in upcoming years. Only 450,000 40-pound boxes are available in 2019, but that number will jump to 2 million boxes in 2020 and more than 21 million boxes by 2026.

If you come across Cosmic Crisp apples, learn how to properly store apples through the winter.


For fall baking supplies and fun kitchen gadgets, visit everybodyshops.com


Also: Old Fashioned Caramel Apple recipe. 


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Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. She’s thrown away just as many meals as she’s proud of.