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Every time the weather turns cold, I find myself craving apple pie. Sunday afternoons are particularly conducive to this craving, especially when it’s raining.

It’s not that I’m longing for one particular apple pie—not my grandmother’s recipe, for instance, or a version from a favorite pastry shop. It’s the whole experience I’m after: the couch, a blanket draped over my legs, a cup of hot mountain tea, and a little plate of apple pie resting beside an open book.

I know. It sounds like one of those picture-perfect, AI-generated scenes that younger generations would dismiss as cringe. And yet, every year around this time, when the first cold spells arrive and the weekends keep us tucked away indoors, apple pies start calling my name. My body craves them, much like the pastry chefs around the city crave the season’s apples, carefully selecting them from the fruit vendors’ stalls.

Some prefer the red apples grown in the Zagori region of northwestern Greece, while others opt for a mix of varieties to bring out deeper flavors and more interesting textures. Some make buttery tarts, others go for the decidedly foreign-inspired crumble, some wrap their apples in strudel pastry, and others turn the classic recipe upside down, allowing the fruit to caramelize at the bottom while the pastry turns golden and crisp on top.

There are countless other interpretations of apple pie, too. And, for some reason, I love every single one of them. That magical combination of apples, sugar, and butter really needs nothing else. Perhaps a little cinnamon or cardamom, though. Either works beautifully for me.

Now that apple season is officially upon us, and having already spent one weekend at home while eagerly anticipating the next, I’ve been revisiting the best apple pies in Athens. There are plenty, and they’re wonderfully different from one another: some are traditional, others more inventive. Every one of them deserves another taste.

I’m sure everyone has their own personal favorite, too—perhaps one that doesn’t even appear on this list. I’d love to try those as well. There are plenty of cold, rainy afternoons ahead. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a different slice of apple pie for every single one?

Apple Pies Worth Bringing Home

Poulette

If you ask around for a great apple pie, chances are someone will send you to Agia Paraskevi, in northern Athens, to pick up the extraordinary buttery apple tart made by Katerina Liva at Poulette.

The apples are caramelized and infused with cinnamon and spices before being nestled on a layer of almond butter. They’re then enveloped in buttery sablé pastry and topped with a crisp crumble, creating a wonderful interplay of textures and aromas.

The pastry chef herself recommends enjoying it on the day it’s made, while it’s still perfectly fresh, either warm or cold, ideally accompanied by a scoop of the shop’s homemade ice cream.

An absolute dream!

La Maison

Thanos Tsagliotis makes wonderful desserts. It’s no surprise, then, that La Maison has grown far beyond the confines of a small neighborhood pastry shop in Kallithea, attracting customers from all over the wider Athens area.

Everyone has their own reason for crossing the city to walk through its doors, but I’m sure many would agree with me that his apple pie is among the best in Athens.

The filling is made with green apples, whose tartness balances the sweetness of the buttery tart shell. The result is a dessert that showcases both exceptional pastry technique and genuine artistry.

Mike

A historic Athens pastry shop, Mike holds a special place in the hearts of those of us who love tradition, quality ingredients, sponge cakes, and the generous creams we grew up with.

Among its many offerings is its classic apple pie, made with buttery pastry on both the top and bottom and a juicy filling of fresh apples and slivered almonds.

It’s the perfect companion to an afternoon coffee—the kind of apple pie that, more than any other, tastes like something Mom would make.

But Mike also keeps a more contemporary version in its display case: a petite apple crumble tart featuring the same fragrant filling, but with a more playful texture and an extra-crunchy bite.

Heaven for apple pie lovers!

Melissa

Every dessert that comes out of this little workshop of pastry wonders in Peristeri—whether cakes, individual pastries, éclairs, or anything in between—is a work of art.

Everything is exquisite, light, and meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail. The apple pie is no exception. Far removed from the rustic, homemade version, it takes things to an entirely different level.

Think crisp tart-flan pastry, a rich cream filling, and caramelized apple slices, expertly arranged on top and finished with a dusting of fragrant Ceylon vanilla.

It’s the kind of dessert you bring out when you have guests: visually impressive, yet deeply satisfying to eat.

Petek

Since 1964, this historic pastry shop on 3rd September Street has been delighting Athenians, and it continues to do so today without giving in to modern trends or passing fads.

Everything at Petek moves to a different rhythm, following the old, traditional Constantinopolitan style of pastry-making—a culinary heritage rooted in the Greek communities of Constantinople, today’s Istanbul.

Its apple pie comes in two versions.

The first resembles a tarte Tatin, with caramelized green apples on top, apple cream, and pastry. The second is more unusual: the so-called rose apple pie, in which sheets of puff pastry wrap around thinly sliced apples before being baked until golden and crisp, with a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon.

Light as air, it’s the kind of pastry that practically begs to be devoured in two bites.

Antonis Selekos Conceptual Desserts

It takes four days to make Antonis Selekos’s panettone: four days of kneading, proofing, maturing, and baking. Only when each one has reached the exacting standards of perfection set by its creator is it hung upside down, where it waits for someone to pick it off the shelf.

A standout offering in a collection that changes with the seasons, the Apple Caramel Panettone is here to steal the show.

Pieces of caramelized green apple are folded into its honeycomb-like dough. The aromas of nutmeg and cinnamon burst forth with the very first bite, while a topping of salted caramel and crunchy crumble completes the masterpiece.

It’s not apple pie. It’s in a category all its own.

Apple Pies Best Enjoyed Out, With a Hot Cup of Coffee

Petite Fleur

Forget the coffee for a moment. Give me a beautiful vintage teacup filled with fragrant tea, a slice of the heavenly apple pie made at Petite Fleur, and I honestly wouldn’t need another thing.

This enchanting little place looks as though it has stepped straight out of a fairy tale, so naturally, its apple pie is every bit as magical. It’s filled with juicy, soft, honey-sweet apples, whole walnuts, and crunchy crumble, then finished with a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

A genuine dream!

Portatif

Portatif doesn’t have much outdoor seating—just one or two little tables on the sidewalk along Mavromichali Street. But if you’re lucky enough to snag one, sit down, resist the temptation of the rosy croissants in the display case, and head straight for the dessert of the season.

Pastry chef Tasos Lytras’s apple pie is a masterpiece of buttery, aromatic crunchiness. There’s a cookie-like pastry base, a crisp, sugar-coated crumble on top, and, right in the middle, a filling of finely chopped apples scented with cognac and cinnamon.

It smells like winter from a mile away.

In Love Again

A favorite café in the heart of Athens, with even more irresistible desserts that change with the seasons and the inspiration of its talented pastry chef, Fania Andreadi.

Her latest creation is the wonderfully seasonal Apple Cake with caramel and cream cheese frosting, which will be appearing in the display case on weekends—just in time for our Sunday strolls around Athens.

Picture two thick layers of cake, with a layer of caramelized apples and frosting in between, all topped with crunchy crumble for the perfect contrast of textures in every bite.

This is the kind of cake that will have you coming back again and again, hoping to find a table on Kleitiou Street.

Holy Llama

If someone blindfolded you, sat you down at one of Holy Llama’s tables, and served you a slice of its apple tart, there would be absolutely no way of guessing that this incredibly delicious, aromatic dessert doesn’t contain a trace of butter.

And yet, it’s entirely vegan.

Filled with almond cream, fragrant cinnamon, raisins, and pecans, this plant-based take on apple pie is every bit as indulgent and comforting as the homemade versions we grew up with.

And since you can enjoy it without quite so much guilt, there’s nothing stopping you from ordering a second slice.

Amerikana

In one of Athens’s liveliest and loveliest neighborhoods, you’ll find one of the most authentic American-style apple pies you can eat on this side of the Atlantic.

Amerikana serves classic, USA-style street food, but among the hot dogs and pretzels, it also bakes a wonderful double-crust apple pie, just like the ones Grandma Duck used to make, with an intricately patterned pastry top that bakes to a beautiful golden crisp.

Enjoy it warm, with a scoop of homemade ice cream melting alongside it, and you’ll feel as though you’ve been transported somewhere deep in the American South.

Solène

The menu bears the signature of Alexandros Tsiotinis, but the little pastry and baked-dough wonders that make this delightful hybrid space so special are the work of pastry chef Alexandros Koufas. In the mornings, the venue operates as a premium French viennoiserie, specializing in buttery French-style pastries.

His apple pie is essentially a tarte Tatin, featuring airy, crisp puff pastry, caramelized Pink Lady apples, and a brandy-infused caramel sauce.

Fine pastry craftsmanship, served on a plate.