Apple Dumplings are a classic American dessert perfect for the Fall that can be served alone or with ice cream on top! Make a big batch today!
When it comes to delicious Fall Pastries, recipes Apple Crostata and Apple Pie Pops are always on top of the list. Apple Dumplings is another easy recipe, that you need in your life with with all of that amazing, warmly spiced apple pie flavor.
Why You’ll Love These Dumplings?
- All the flavors of a caramel apple but baked in a perfect pastry crust.
- A fun twist on an apple pie that is easier to make and more fun to eat!
Sabrina’s Apple Dumplings Recipe
I just love the smell of apples and cinnamon baking in the oven. It gives the house a cozy feeling and piques the interest of everyone in the house. They all start to make their way to the kitchen wondering what’s baking. My Apple Dumplings recipe couldn’t be easier and is the perfect kind of dessert to serve during the fall months when the weather is getting cooler and you need a sweet treat to warm you up.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 cans crescent roll dough
- 6 granny smith apples , peeled and cored
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar , packed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Caramel Syrup:
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
To Serve:
- 4 cups vanilla ice cream
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9×13″ baking dish with baking spray.
- Peel and core your apples.
- In a small bowl mash together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Stuff the butter evenly into the middle of the cored apples.
- Roll the cans crescent dough together into a 16×24" rectangle.
- Cut the rectangle into 6 square pieces.
- Add a stuffed apple to the top of each piece of pie crust.
- Bring up the corners of each square over the apples and pinch together to close. The apples should be completely enclosed in the pastry.
- Add the apple pastries to the baking dish.
Caramel Syrup:
- Add the water, sugar and butter to a saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer, swirling to the mix.
- Continue cooking until it starts to turn a golden color and the sugar is dissolved. Add the vanilla extract.
- Pour the caramel syrup around the pastries in the baking dish. (Not on top of it.)
- Bake, uncovered for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve on a dessert plate, spoon over and remaining syrup and top with vanilla ice cream and a thin drizzle of caramel sauce.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
The key to making these dumplings turn out fluffy, flaky and delicious is to keep you pie crust as cold as possible. Make sure that your apples have been peeled, cored, and stuffed with the cinnamon butter before you start on the step of working with your crust so that it’s not just sitting out and getting warm the entire time that you are working on the apples. This will result in a crispier, more buttery crust when when come out of the oven.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
The easy part with my Apple Dumpling recipe is that there’s no need to stress about making a pie crust, because I’m using crescent dough as my pie dough. Simply unroll it, cut it into 6 uniform square pieces and you’re ready to roll. With only a few ingredients, the cinnamon sugar butter mixture takes almost time at all to prepare. Once it’s stuffed in each apple, and the apple is wrapped in dough and baked, the flavor soaks into the apple, while it gets tender. On the outside there is an easy caramel sauce that is baked around the puffy little pastries, so the whole dish comes out heavenly.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can prepare the dumplings up to the step of closing the apple in the pastry dough. At this point you can place them in the fridge for up to 48 hours. When you are ready to bake them, pull them out of the fridge while you prepare the caramel sauce and then bake as usual. You may need to add a few more minutes onto the baking time. You can also bake these fully, let them cool completely, flash freeze them and store them for up to 2-4 months. When you are ready to eat them you can reheat them in the oven so they crisp back up.
Pairing Suggestions
When the dumplings come out of the oven, spoon some of the caramel sauce over the top of them. Serve these Apple Dumplings with a big scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or a dollop of Whipped Cream and your family will thank you or just be asking for more.
How to Store
- Serve: Apple Dumplings can stay out at room temperature for up to 2 days if covered loosely.
- Store: Wrap any leftover dumplings in plastic wrap or place in a storage container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, place in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes or until warm throughout.
- Freeze: I recommend flash-freezing your dumplings on a baking sheet and then wrap them in plastic wrap or foil to avoid freezer burn and place them into a freezer-safe storage container. They’ll be good for 2-4 months.
Variations
- Sugar: Replace the white sugar with brown sugar in cinnamon-sugar mixture for a richer flavor.
- Dried Fruit: Include dried fruit inside the crescent dough alongside the apples, such as raisins or cranberries.
- Apples: I chose Granny Smith apples for this s recipe but you can use whatever tart apple you prefer, like Fuji or Honey Crisp.
- Lemon: If you want a little zing to your dessert, you can zest 2 lemons and roll the apple into the lemon zest before adding it inside of the pastry.
- Adult Version: Add 2 tablespoons of Bourbon or Dark Rum into the caramel sauce when it is coming off of the heat. Or if you are feeling wild, you could even use Fireball for a cinnamon apple flavor.
- Nuts: You can add chopped walnuts or pecans inside of the pastries before baking them. Make sure to chop them really well and put a little down on the pastry before adding the apple and closing it.
Related Recipes
More Fall Apple Treats
This recipe is pure, nostalgic comfort food at its finest. The pastry wraps around the tender apples beautifully, and the sweet sauce bakes up into a rich syrup.
Thanks for the great review Ella!