Do Hawthorns Taste Like Apples? A Comprehensive Flavor Guide

December 13, 2025 •

3 min read

Hawthorns, also known as haws, and apples are both members of the Rosaceae family, making them botanical cousins. This common lineage often leads to comparisons, yet their flavor profiles tell a very different story. So, do hawthorns taste like apples, or is their unique, pome-like fruit a flavor entirely its own?

Quick Summary

Hawthorn berries are a distant relative of apples but differ significantly in taste and texture. They possess a tart, slightly sweet, and astringent flavor with a mealy texture, which improves when cooked.

Key Points

Botanical Cousins: Hawthorns (Crataegus) and apples (Malus) are both part of the Rosaceae family but belong to different genera.
Tart and Astringent Flavor: Raw hawthorn berries have a noticeably tart, tangy, and astringent taste, unlike the typically sweet and crisp flavor of common apples.
Dry and Mealy Texture: The flesh of a raw hawthorn berry is dense, sticky, and mealy, which differs from the juicy crunch of an apple.
Best When Cooked: The hawthorn's flavor improves significantly when cooked with sweeteners, mellowing the tartness and bringing out more fruity, apple-like notes.
High in Pectin: Hawthorn berries are naturally high in pectin, making them an excellent choice for making homemade jams and jellies.
Discard the Seeds: Hawthorn seeds contain small amounts of cyanide and must be removed before eating. The fruit can be safely puréed and sieved for jams and sauces.
Medicinal History: Historically, hawthorn has been used in herbal medicine for heart and digestive health, offering more than just a culinary use.

The Flavor Profile of Hawthorn Berries

Unlike the sweet, juicy apples found in grocery stores, hawthorn berries have a more complex and rustic flavor. When eaten raw, the taste is often described as subtly sweet, vegetal, and distinctly tart, with an astringent quality that can dry out the mouth. The texture is dense and mealy, rather than crisp. Depending on the specific species, there can be undertones reminiscent of rose hips, pear, or even a very sour crabapple. The wild nature of the fruit means its flavor can vary significantly from one plant to another.

Raw vs. Cooked Taste

How hawthorns are prepared dramatically affects their flavor. When consumed raw, they are typically not a 'taste sensation' but more of a novelty due to their dryness and astringency. The best way to enjoy hawthorns is by cooking them. When heated with sweeteners, the bitter and astringent notes mellow, and the flavor becomes more reminiscent of a cooked apple or a mixed berry and apple fruit sauce. The cooking process also softens the dense flesh, making it much more palatable.

How Hawthorns and Apples Compare

While related, hawthorns and apples have many distinguishing characteristics beyond just taste. From their physical attributes to their culinary applications, the differences are significant.

Comparison of Hawthorn Berries vs. Common Apples


Feature	Hawthorn Berries (Haws)	Common Apples (Malus)
Taste (Raw)	Subtly sweet, tangy, and astringent; can be vegetal or slightly bitter.	Primarily sweet or tart, with a crisp, juicy profile.
Texture (Raw)	Dry, dense, and mealy.	Crisp, firm, and juicy.
Size	Small, typically 1 to 2 cm in diameter.	Large, varied sizes depending on cultivar.
Appearance	Small, rounded, red berries with a distinctive calyx at the base.	Larger, round to conical fruit with smooth skin in various colors.
Seeds	Inedible, hard seeds clustered in the center.	Edible flesh surrounds a central core with small, brown, inedible seeds.
Best Uses	Jams, jellies, teas, sauces, and wine after cooking.	Snacking, baking, sauces, ciders, and other fresh preparations.
Pectin Content	Very high, making them ideal for setting jellies.	Moderate to high, also used for jams and jellies.

Culinary Uses for Hawthorn Berries

Since their raw taste and texture are less than ideal for snacking, hawthorns are best used in preparations that involve cooking and sweetening. Their high pectin content makes them a natural choice for preserves.

Jams and Jellies: The natural pectin in haws means they set beautifully with sugar, creating a flavorful preserve often combined with other fruits.
Sauces and Chutneys: Cooked hawthorn purée can be used to make sweet or savory sauces, including a hedgerow ketchup or a sauce for desserts.
Syrups: A simple syrup made from simmering haws with sugar and water is excellent for flavoring drinks or drizzling over pancakes.
Herbal Tea: The dried berries can be steeped to make a pleasantly flavored, antioxidant-rich herbal tea.
Candies: In some cultures, hawthorn paste is used to make candies, such as the Chinese snack haw flakes.
Wine: The fruit's unique flavor makes it a candidate for crafting homemade wines.

Important Safety Precautions

When using hawthorn berries, it is crucial to remember two key safety points. First, the seeds within the fruit should not be ingested, as they contain cyanide compounds. When making a purée or jelly, the fruit should be cooked and then sieved to remove the seeds and skins. Second, while hawthorn is used in traditional medicine for heart conditions, anyone on heart medication should consult a doctor before consuming hawthorn supplements or significant quantities of the fruit, as it can have an effect on the cardiovascular system.

Conclusion

So, do hawthorns taste like apples? The simple answer is no, not really. While they share a family tree and have a faint, cooked-apple-like flavor when sweetened, the raw hawthorn berry is a different fruit entirely. With its dry, mealy texture and tart, astringent flavor, it is best suited for culinary applications that transform its unique characteristics into delicious jams, sauces, and teas. The subtle apple-like note that emerges during cooking is a reminder of its lineage, but the hawthorn's true flavor is a wild, rustic taste all its own. For anyone interested in wild edibles, harvesting and preparing hawthorns can be a rewarding seasonal activity.

Explore the distinct profile of hawthorn berries at Specialty Produce

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, ripe hawthorn berries are edible raw. However, their flavor is often very tart and astringent, and their texture is dry and mealy, so they are not as enjoyable to eat raw as an apple.

A raw hawthorn berry has a subtly sweet, tart, and astringent taste, often with a vegetal or slightly bitter aftertaste. It can also have faint notes of apple, pear, or rose hip.

Hawthorns belong to the same botanical family, Rosaceae, as apples. As pome fruits, they share a similar internal structure and general form, with a calyx at the base, leading to their resemblance to miniature apples.

The best way to consume hawthorn berries is by cooking them with sweeteners. This process reduces their bitterness and brings out a more palatable fruity flavor, ideal for jams, jellies, sauces, syrups, and teas.

Yes, the seeds inside hawthorn berries contain small amounts of a cyanide compound and should not be eaten. The fruit pulp must be strained or sieved to remove the seeds when preparing jams or sauces.

You can substitute cooked hawthorn berries for apples in recipes like jams, jellies, or sauces, but you will need to adjust the sweeteners to balance the hawthorn's high tartness. Due to their texture and size, they are not a good substitute for baking with fresh apple slices.

The texture of a raw hawthorn berry is dense, dry, and mealy, not crisp like an apple. When cooked, the flesh softens into a sticky, pulpy consistency.