Homemade Apple Dumplings Recipe
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons butter
Dough Ingredients:
Making the Dough for Apple Dumplings:
Measure the shortening out and put it into the freezer until you have the rest of the dry ingredients together. It will be easier to cut the shortening into the flour when it’s very cold. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or you can get your hands in the bowl and rub the mixture between your fingers then add the milk to the mix all at once. Mix the dough with a fork just until it forms a ball. The dough will be very soft.
Flour your board, you can roll the dough out into one big piece and cut individual equally sized dough patches for the apples to sit on or take the dough and divide it into 6 equal potions and roll them out individually. Place your peeled and cored apple in the center of the dough. Put enough butter into the hole of the apple to fill it. Sprinkle sugar ( be generous) over the apple, then sprinkle cinnamon on top. I’ve never measured the sugar or cinnamon out, I just sprinkle the two equally over each dumpling.
Wrap the dough around the apple until it’s completely covered and looks like a ball. I take it in my hands like a ball after I wrap the apple in dough and mold it around the apple and seal any opening, the dough is very easy to work with. Check the bottom and top of the apple to make sure there is enough dough at those points so none of the butter , sugar and cinnamon can leak out.
Decorating the Dumpling
I decorated the dumplings with the scrapes of dough that were left by making two leaves and a stem for the dumplings. For years I made the leaves by just cutting out two oval shapes of dough for each apple and just putting lines on them with a sharp knife to make it look like a leave. If you look online you can find little leaf cutters that do a fantastic job of making pretty leaves for the dumplings.
Pour the sauce we made earlier over top of each apple dumpling. Sprinkle the apples with sugar and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. In my house we eat the dumplings warm with a little milk poured over them or with a scoop of ice cream. After the dumplings are baked you can take any sauce in the pan and coat the apples one more time before you serve them. The apples. the sauce, the dough, the cinnamon…it’s so good, ENJOY!
Homemade Apple Dumplings Recipe, I hope you love these as much as I do!
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Homemade Apple Dumplings
Ingredients
- Sauce Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbls butter
Dough Ingredients
- 2 cups all flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup Crisco shortening
- 1/2 cup milk
- 6 small Macintosh or Gala Apples about 3 inches in diameter Peeled and cored. Do not cut in half I used Gala, leave them whole.
Instructions
- Make the sauce first so it has time to cool down.
- Make the dough and refrigerate it until you have peeled and cored your apples.
Sauce Directions
- I put all the sauce ingredients together in a medium saucepan. When it comes to a boil, I let it boil a minute or two to thicken a little bit.
For the dough
- Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. Add milk all at once. Stir with a fork until the dough just forms a ball. Place in the refrigerator until you have peeled and cored the apples.
- Peel and core the apples. You can keep the apples from turning brown by placing them in cold water while you work.
- I divide the dough into six equal portions and roll them out on a lightly floured surface individually. You can also roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface long enough to fit 6 apples on it and cut the dough into six squares.
- Place the apples on a dough square, fill the center with butter, sprinkle sugar over top then sprinkle cinnamon over top.
- Mold the dough around the apple, making sure there are no opening for the filling to escape from. Place the apples in a 13x9 inch baking pan. Spacing them about an inch apart. Pour the sauce over the dumplings , then sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Spoon the sauce on the bottom of the pan over the apple dumplings after they come out of the oven.
Video
Thank you Dina, will be there for sure!
These are so beautiful! I can’t wait to try and make them.
Thank you Debbie! Let me know if you try them, would love to hear about it!
I have seen your comments that you have never made them a day ahead. Have you ever made them earlier in the day and then baked them just before you were ready to serve them? If so, did it work out well?
Thanks.
Cindy I’ve never done that either BUT…I don’t see why that wouldn’t work as long as you kept them refrigerated. And obvious don’t put the sauce on them till your ready to bake. You may also want to use some lemon on the apples to keep them from browning even though they will be in the dough and refrigerated. Please come back and let me know if you do it!
I am SO very glad to find your blog. My grandmother used to make Apple Dumplings many decades ago. I had her recipe on a card, but lost it when I entered it in a contest somehow. This is the first recipe I’ve seen that makes them exactly like she did. I am so glad to have it again.
Thank you SO much!!!
I’m very happy this recipe is just like your grandmothers Karen, that is absolutely wonderful!
My hubby said, after I made these over the past weekend, that’s it there will be no more searching, its over! These were to die for! We are addicted!!!! Wonderful! Perfect!!
Kathy, this was the first recipe I tried for apple dumplings, after I tasted it I never bothered to look for another recipe. You just can’t beat it! Thank you so much for coming back to tell me!
I made these but used melted red hot candies for the sauce and served with Vanilla ice cream , very good 🙂 thanks for the recipe
You’re so welcome Debbie!
I really like your writing style, good info, regards for putting up :D.
Question on the sauce for the apple dumplings. Recipe states sugar and I was wondering if it is brown sugar or regular sugar. Saw other recipes use brown sugar. Would love clarification.
Thank you,
Debbie.
It’s regular sugar Debbie, I hope you love these as much as we do!
Excellent recipe. I have been trying to conquer these for years. I paid close attention to her instructions and tips Thank you!
Thank you Dale
Thank you. I am sure I will. Can’t wait to make.
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Oh, Mary! I can definitely see why your customers were always on the lookout for which days you’d be baking these! And why you’ve never searched for any other recipe to make instead. Why mess with perfection?!? Even more wonderful is that these are actually surprisingly easy to make, too. And so pretty if you do the little leaf decorations on top! 🙂
Thank you Shelly, it’s been a favorite for years and it makes my heart happy that the recipe has another person who loves it!
I have made these for years, but for the crust, I use plain flour ,salt but no baking powder. I will have to try it your way .
Wonderful, let me know what you think Dora, it’s a family favorite in this house!
[…] Homemade Apple Dumplings from Bunny’s Warm Oven […]
I’m so glad I found this recipe! I have a serious love for dumplings, and I can’t wait to make these at home. Looks so easy and delicious!
thanks for sharing and keep on sharing.
Thanks for sharing with us!
I have made several recipes for apple dumplings but these were by far the best!!
Wow, what an honor! I am so glad you enjoyed these homemade apple dumplings!
These look amazing. But may I ask you for one clarification? You state that you fill the center of the apple with butter. Is that the sauce? Thank you!
Oops, just watched your tutorial and it is butter! I”m going to make this when the weather cools down and I’m sure the family will enjoy it! Thanks!