The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again

I was helping to put away the groceries yesterday. Mom handed me a new bag of apples to go in the crisper, but the crisper already had a half a bag of apples. They weren’t soft yet, but they had that “need to use these up quick” look about them and I decided on the spot I needed to make Apple Dumplings again.

Fuji apple

If you’ve never had apple dumplings before, you’ve missed out. It’s a bit like having your own personal apple pie, but in my humble opinion, better.
So I dug out mom’s antique apple corer, fastened it to the granite countertop and proceeded to peel the six left-over apples. I’m not sure what type they were, the bag gave no clue. It seemed to me that they were Fuji when I bought them, but I’m not sure a few weeks later. The recipe might be better served with some McIntosh or Spartans, but I had 6 apples to use up and the family was going to get what they were going to get.

Apple Peeler/Corer

I attached the first apple to the peeler. This contraption peels, cores and slices the apples as you turn the crank. Boom! Six apples peeled, cored and sliced.

I whipped up a batch of Grandma’s pie crust, rolled it out and got it ready for the apples. I placed the cored apple in my left hand, stuffed a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and ground allspice into the core of the apple until it was full, added a pat of butter on top and set it in the middle of the rolled-out dough. Then I formed the dough around the apple and with a little water on the fingers, sealed the top and set it in a 9x13 pan. Another chunk of pie dough, rinse and repeat until all six dumplings sit in the pan. (Please don’t anyone take that literally and rinse the dough!)

Cored and peeled apples

The last step was to make the syrup in a pan on the stovetop and pour it over the dumplings. My pie dough recipe makes more dough than I need for this recipe, so I make a couple pie shells and froze them for later and made up a couple more and poured some Cherry Cranberry Pie filling (which I can only find at Walmart for some reason, I like it more than regular Cherry Pie filling, it isn’t quite so sweet) and baked a pie along with the Apple Dumplings.

Dumpling Ingredients
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound shortening, chilled
• 1 – 355mL can of chilled Lemon-lime pop (Sprite, 7-up, Mountain Dew – I used Fresca this time, the fizz helps make it flaky)

Cooked Apple Dumplings

Apple Ingredients
• 6 large apples, peeled and cored
• ½ cup butter cut into 8 pieces
• ¾  cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ cup walnuts, crushed (optional)
Sauce Ingredients
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


This is How We Roll
1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F (200˚C)
2. Whisk the flour and salt together in a large size bowl. With a pastry knife, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. The shortening pieces should be no larger than pea sized. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture, and pour the can of pop into the well. Mix until the pop is absorbed into the flour mixture. The pop and shortening need to be chilled to keep the shortening form mixing completely. As the little balls of shortening melt in the cooking process, they will leave air pockets that are the flaky part of the crust.
3. Gather dough together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
4. Cut dough into about 8 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the dough pieces into a 6 inch circle.

Get Stuffed!
1. Mix the brown sugar, spices and walnuts (if desired) in a small bowl.
2. Place an apple on the pastry with the cored opening facing upward. Divide brown sugar mixture between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple
3. Place 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; reserve remaining butter for sauce.
4. With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of pastry square up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners, and seal. Slightly pinch the dough at the sides to completely seal in the apple. Repeat with the remaining apples. Place in prepared baking dish.

Get Sauced!

Keep an eye out for man-eating apples!

1. In a saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla extract and reserved butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings.
2. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Place each apple dumpling in a dessert bowl, and spoon some sauce over the top. Top with ice cream if desired (I usually desire very much!) and serve.

As Mom, Barb and I sat around the table eating piping hot Apple Dumplings and ice cream, Mom and I decided that it needed some nuts, so I added the optional walnuts to the recipe!