Apple Dumpling Recipe

I’ve been on an autumn cooking kick lately, and I’m delighted to share another recipe with you. This is an older Southern recipe, the kind of thing your grandma usually makes. But I fell in love with apple dumplings when I was a kid, so we’ve kept them around for a long time!

Apple dumplings are fairly simply to make, but aren’t necessarily the healthiest dessert in the world. But hey, everybody deserves to indulge now and then, right?

Apple dumplings are basically a biscuit with apples baked inside and syrup ladled over and baked in. They’re fluffy, sweet, and basically the best dessert in the entire world.

Things You’ll Need:

Six or seven medium-sized yellow apples

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup butter (You can substitute some of the butter with applesauce)

2-3 tbsp. milk

2 tbsp. cinnamon (you can also sub some of the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice)

10 or so biscuits

Steps:

1. Wash, core, and cut your apples. You don’t need to dice them, really, but cut them into small cubes about an inch across. You can go smaller than that, but no bigger!
2. Let your apples dry while you make the syrup.
3. Mix the melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, and milk in a bowl.
4. Put on the stove and let boil for 1-2 minutes.
5. Grab a deep baking pan and spray with Pam, or spread with butter or cooking oil.
6. Open your biscuits and remove each one individually. One biscuit makes one dumpling.
7. Roll or stretch each biscuit a bit so you have more room for more apples.
8. Lay flat, spooning apple pieces in, and fold. You can make them like fried pies or the picture above! Just be sure to seal very tightly. Don’t stretch them too much or they will bust open in the oven and the apples will fall out.
9. Place all of your dumplings in the pan and pour the syrup on top.
10. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

You want these dumplings to be fluffy on the outside, but not so doughy that they won’t hold together or aren’t good. You’ll want to check their progress every few minutes or so to make sure they’re holding together, too, because you can usually save them even if they open up.

After they’re baked, you might want to pour in some extra syrup. And voila! These are extremely tasty.