Apple Dumplings: Family traditions begin with trips to the apple orchard

by Jennifer Brown

Cooler fall evenings and earlier sunsets are a clue to plan an apple picking adventure. I have always loved heading out to the orchards to pick the first fragrant apples of the season, with their dusty surface and tart crunch. One of my favourite treats growing up was the delicious and aromatic Apple Dumplings my mother would bake. With their crisp sugary surface, and an entire apple inside each one, it could be a meal in itself! Try serving with a slice of local cheddar cheese.

This recipe is out of my handwritten cooking journal I started keeping as a teenager. Apple Dumplings are one of the delicious family traditions that my mother taught me to prepare, using a few simple ingredients. 

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APPLE DUMPLINGS

Ingredients

6 MacIntosh apples

Brown sugar to fill cores

1 cup water

⅔ cup white sugar (or less)

Biscuit Dough

2 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. white sugar

½ cup shortening or margarine

¾ cup milk

Dough: Mix dry ingredients for biscuit dough, cut in shortening until fine (use 2 knives if no pastry cutter), and add milk quickly (mix with fork until moistened). Using your hands, toss gently on a floured board or countertop, just until the dough holds together, and then cut into 6 equal portions. Form dough into balls, and let rest while prepping apples.

Allow biscuit dough to rest, while preparing apples.

·     Core apples from the top, leaving the very bottom intact—scrape away visible core bits with a narrow spoon. 

·     Peel apples. 

·     Stuff cores with brown sugar. 

Core apples carefully, leaving the bottom attached, then fill with brown sugar.

·     To cover apples with dough, take one portion of dough covered with flour, and set one apple on it. Holding this in your hands (flour hands when necessary), gently pull/press the dough up around the apple to seal completely. 

Roll each ball of biscuit dough in flour to keep it from sticking to your hands.

Turn the dough and apple in a circular motion, while gently pressing the dough upwards. 

Continue patting dough upwards until fully sealed around the apple.

·     Place apples side by side in a well greased (sprayed) pan. Pour water over to wet all surfaces of the dough, then sprinkle with white sugar.

I use no-stick spray on the baking pan, to help make clean up easy.

Pour some of the water over each apple, to help the sugar stick on top.

·     Bake at 350°F for about 50-55 minutes or until crisp and apple is soft when poked with a sharp knife or skewer. Serve hot or let cool.