Marian's Favorite Apple Dumplings

Take 4 juicy apples...

and take a recipe...

  to make this delicious apple treat!

 Let's get started

Ingredients:

4 apples of your choice.  I used Gala.

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Syrup ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

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Dumpling Pastry:

1 1/2 cups of sifted flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp butter

3 or more Tbsp cold water

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Dumpling Filling:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Wash, peel and core apples

Boil syrup ingredients together and let sit while preparing apples and pastry.

 

Next,

Measure sifted flour into mixing bowl and add salt, mix together.

With pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until coarse.

Using a pastry cutter

or

Using two knives

Sprinkle with cold water, one Tbsp at a time and mix lightly with a fork until flour mixture is moistened.

 

After flour mixture is moistened, press dough into a ball.  Then, divide into four smaller dough balls.

 

Roll out each piece of dough using a rolling pin.  I place my dough between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper to roll mine out.

Roll out to approx. 8-10 inches, depending on large your apple is.

If your dough is too sticky, it may be because you handled it too much and may need to go into the refrigerator until it gets firm again.

If using wax or parchment paper, slowly peel paper off of the dough.

Place that delicious, juicy apple in the center and wrap the dough around the apple, making sure to leave a hole in the top.

Secret:  Do not wrap apple in a beautiful manner.  This is the time to make it look kind of ugly.  It makes it looks more delicious in the end.  Does that kind of make sense?  So, for you perfectionists, this may be difficult, but try anyway to make it look lumpy and bumpy.

Place all apples covered with dough in a baking dish.

See how ugly they look?  It's ok my dears, they will be delightful to look at in the end.

Mix dumpling filling (sugar and cinnamon) together in a little bowl.

Spoon dumpling filling in the hole of the apple.  Sprinkle a little around the top and add 1/4 Tbsp of butter inside the hole of apple.

Pour syrup into baking dish with apples.

Place apples in a 425 degree oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

 

After baking apples, let them cool a little bit before serving.  They are very delicious on their own or you can add ice cream!

Oh my dear!  So yummy, they are soooo yummy! 

These Apple Dumplings are a family Thanksgiving tradition which started a few years ago when my friend Tracy and her mother, Marian, had an Apple Dumpling Making Day.  They shared their recipe and we love it so much, it has now become one of our family favorites.

Okay, here's another secret:  If you're just not that pastry making kind of gal, buy store bought pie dough and wrap your apples in those.  Follow the rest of the directions and bake!  Shh!  Just don't tell anyone I told you.

Thanks Tracy and Marian!

Bon Appetit!

~ Christa ~