Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings
Homemade apple dumplings made with flaky pie crust, sweet cinnamon-sugar filling, and a rich, buttery sauce.
Homemade apple dumplings made with flaky pie crust, sweet cinnamon-sugar filling, and a rich, buttery sauce.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 cups water
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- ingredients
- 1 package 15 oz. refrigerated pie crusts (2 rolled crusts/package
- 6 each large or 8 medium granny smith apples peeled and cored from the stem end, leaving the bottom end slightly in-tact
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups white sugar
- Carbohydrate 131.360929529683 g
- Cholesterol 40.6708333333333 mg
- Fat 16.4517363461538 g
- Fiber 9.78066649938241 g
- Protein 4.06550653854563 g
- Saturated Fat 9.8986308974359 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (586g)
- Sodium 136.151205151835 mg
- Sugar 121.580263030301 g
- Trans Fat 1.64660751282052 g
- Calories 622 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9x13 inch pan.
- On a lightly floured surface, cut a total of 6-8 rounds from unrolled pie crusts (2 crusts, making 3 or 4 circles from each). Roll out each one thin enough to completely wrap one apple.
- Place an apple on each rolled pastry, the cored opening facing upward. Cut butter into 8 pieces (if using 6 apples) or 10 pieces (for 8 apples). Insert 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; save remaining 2 pieces for sauce. Divide brown sugar between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples.
- With slightly wet fingertips, carefully “gather†small amounts of pastry, bringing each little section to the top of the apple, pinching gently to completely wrap and seal each one. Place in prepared baking dish.
- In a large saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla and remaining 2 pieces of butter. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings. Use all of the sauce. It may seem like a lot but the end result will show otherwise.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Pour remaining sauce over each dumpling.
Scaling Yields Without Compromising Structure
Adjusting the number of servings requires careful attention to the ratio of pastry circles cut from the 15-ounce package. Each standard package contains two rolled crusts, yielding enough dough for six individual apples if rolled thinly on a floured surface. Decreasing the batch to four portions means redistributing the baking liquid proportionally so the pastry absorbs moisture evenly without becoming waterlogged during the 50 to 60 minute bake time.
Managing Liquid and Sugar Ratios
Altering the core liquid components alters the final sauce consistency significantly. Boiling the three cups of water with two cups of white sugar, vanilla extract, and remaining butter for five minutes creates a heavy syrup that reduces into the baking dish. Substituting artificial sweeteners for the granulated sugar prevents proper caramelization, resulting in a thin liquid rather than a rich coating. Brown sugar placed inside the cored opening of each Granny Smith apple melts down into the cavity, blending with the cinnamon and nutmeg to steam the fruit from the inside out at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fruit Selections and Dough Integrity
Granny Smith apples hold their shape under high heat better than softer varieties like McIntosh, preventing the pastry packets from bursting prematurely. Leaving the bottom end slightly intact during coring keeps the butter and brown sugar contained inside the fruit cavity rather than leaking into the pan prematurely. Wetting fingertips slightly before gathering the pastry sections helps seal the dough seams securely around the rounded shoulders of each fruit.
