Heirloom Apple Dumplings

fall is here! i love it!

The name of a well known children's book among teachers and the exact sentiments of my emotions when autumn comes around. One beautiful thing about fall, is the apples. Fresh, crisp orchard apples. Not the ones that you can buy in the supermarket but rather the ones you get from a farmer's stand or a small independent grocery store if you can't make it to the orchard yourself. I miss my mitten state.

With apples, comes lots of warm and tasty apple desserts. And to be honest, I've already gone through about 3 large bags of apples. ^_^  What? I can't help if it I just come across way to many tempting recipes.

Anyway, my brother's future mother-in-law heard of my love of orchard apples and offered to bring me a large bushel of apples and apple cider. Yes! Yes! Yes!

My first goal was apple cider donuts, but that is for another day. My second spree came in the form of Apple Dumplings. I had never made these before and after looking at a variety of recipes, realized that "dumplings" is a very loose term as there were quite a bit of variations out there.

I finally settled on "My Sister's Kitchen", not only because the dumplings looked great but also I became partial to the blog name. It also appeared to be a unique recipe, using an apple peeler/corer/slicer and an entire apple.

So I flipped on my food processor to blend up some dough and got out my apple peeler/corer/slicer and cranked out some apples and went to work. An hour later, I packed up the dumplings and rode my bike over to my brother's apt to deliver the goods. And goods, they were. Even Angela who had said she was going to swear off sweets couldn't resist.

Oh, as far as the recipe goes. I got a little over excited and didn't allow the syrup to thicken enough in the beginning but then decided to put it back on the stove top. So when you look at the preliminary pictures, the glaze does look liquidy so please imagine it being more of a thick syrup. Thanks! Oh yeah, and I definitely cut this recipe in half so that I could get 6 servings rather than 12.

Heirloom Apple Dumplings
by MySistersKitchen

Crust: The crust is important, so you can’t use a pre-fab freezer crust.

• 2 c. shortening
• 4 c. flour
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. cold water
• 3 TBSP lemon juice

• Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl,

 

then cut in the shortening (we use butter).

 

• Add egg, water, and lemon juice, and work into the dough until just smooth. Refrigerate.

Filling:

• 12 tart baking apples, peeled & cored. (You want the apple to be whole, so if you use the peeler/slicer/corer, which we always do, keep the apple together.)
• 1 TBSP brown sugar per apple
• 1 pinch cinnamon per apple
• 1 tsp. butter per apple

Sauce:

• 2 c. water
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

•  Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan, cook 3 minutes over medium heat until sugar and butter are melted.

To assemble:

• Divide the dough into 12 balls. Roll out a ball into a circle about 8-10 inches across. Lay carefully into individual pie plate (we use the disposable tins–about 4 ” across.) Set whole apple into crust, put brown sugar, cinnamon and butter into center hole. 

• Wrap the dough circle up around the top of the apple and pinch dough closed. Pour a few spoonfuls of sauce over top.

• Place dumplings on cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake for 8 minutes at 475ºF, then reduce oven to 350ºF and cook for 45 minutes until the apples are soft and the crust is golden.

• If serving immediately, let cool to an edible temperature, then serve in tins or on plates, with scoop of the best vanilla ice cream you can find.

• If storing, let cool completely, then wrap each tin/dumpling in aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag. When ready to serve, remove from freezer and let sit on counter for 30-60 minutes, then place in a 400ºF oven until heated (it’s already cooked, remember–just needs reheating.)
• A note on portions: For someone who is behaving with moderation and discretion, these dumplings are a good size to SPLIT with another person. If, however, you are like US, you will cast discretion to the wind and snarf the whole thing by yourself. A word to the wise….