Baked Apple Dumplings

Name: Baked Apple Dumplings
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Pastry for a double-crust pie (homemade or store-bought), chilled; 6 small baking apples (such as Gala, Jonagold or Granny Smith); 1/3 cup packed brown sugar; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 3 tbsp soft butter; For the syrup: 1 1/2 cups water; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 cup packed brown sugar; 4 tbsp butter; 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; pinch of salt; vanilla ice cream or cold heavy cream, to serve

Whole peeled apples filled with cinnamon sugar and butter, wrapped in flaky pastry and baked in a buttery brown sugar syrup until golden. A Pennsylvania Dutch fall classic.

Prep35 min

Cook45 min

Total1 hr 20 min

Serves6

What you'll need

9x13 glass baking dishFor casseroles and bakes

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Mixing bowl setFor mixing and marinating

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8-inch chef's knifeFor all the chopping

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Ingredients

Pastry for a double-crust pie (homemade or store-bought), chilled

6 small baking apples (such as Gala, Jonagold or Granny Smith)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp soft butter

For the syrup: 1 1/2 cups water

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

vanilla ice cream or cold heavy cream, to serve

Steps

Heat the oven to 400°F and butter a 9x13 baking dish.

Simmer the syrup ingredients in a saucepan, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Peel and core the apples, leaving them whole. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and soft butter into a paste.

Roll the pastry about 1/8 inch thick and cut six 7-inch squares (re-roll the scraps if needed).

Set an apple in the center of each square and fill the hollow with the cinnamon butter. Bring the four corners up over the apple, pinch the seams closed and set in the dish.

Pour the warm syrup around (not over) the dumplings. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, basting with the syrup twice, until the pastry is deep golden and a skewer slides easily into the apples.

Cool 10 minutes and serve warm in bowls with plenty of syrup and ice cream or a splash of cold cream.

TipChoose small apples, about 3 inches across, so the pastry fits around them and they cook through by the time the crust is browned.