Apple Dumplings

Last week we had a Thanksgiving Brunch at work, which was a potluck deal.  One of my co-workers signed up to bring apple dumplings-something I had never heard of before, but couldn't wait to try.  They were amazing!  I can't believe I've gone this far in life without having had any!  Anyhow, she gave me the recipe, which called for Mountain Dew-crazy, I know!-and then I googled away to find other online recipes to compare it to.  The Pioneer Woman blog that I follow happened to have a recipe almost identical to my coworkers, only the blog added cinnamon, and doubled the recipe.  I thought the cinnamon would be a nice addition, but since there are only 4 in our family, I figured I would half the recipe.


Here is how I made the Apple Dumplings.  First I gathered all the ingredients.  (1 Granny Smith apple, 1 can crescent rolls, 1 stick butter plus 1 tbsp, 3/4 c sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, cinnamon, and 6 ounces Sun Drop).  The recipes called for Mountain Dew, but my co-worker had told me any clear-ish soda would work fine.

First, I sliced the apple in half, in half again, and in half again... 

making 8 slices of apples. Then I took out the cores.  My co-worker has one of those apple corer/slicer gadgets that she uses here, which I am sure saved her some time.

Then I peeled them. That apple on the left I sliced too far when I was coring, and then I finished it off by breaking it into 2 pieces when I was peeling the skin off.  Oops!

The instructions said to grease the pan with butter.  I actually did this, rather than using non-stick spray.  Next time I'll probably use non-stick spray.

I have a confession to make.  I have never used canned crescent rolls before.  I wasn't even really sure what to expect when I opened the can.  This is what it looked like.  Who knew? (Well, probably everybody but me, lol!)

Roll out the crescent rolls... 

That's pretty cool!  How long have these been around?  Okay, better question, where have I been?

One by one, remove each triangle... 

...add an apple slice to the big end... 

...roll them up... 

...and place them in the pan!  How simple! The blog made a big deal about using a 9 by 13 pan, but I halved the recipe so my 8 by 8 or 9 by 9, whichever it is, worked well.

Next, melt the butter on the stove... 

...and add the sugar and vanilla.  Two things-I forgot to half the vanilla-I should have only used 1/2 teaspoon.  (I didn't notice a weird taste in the finished product, so I am sure that was fine).  Also, I had trouble getting a decent picture of this.  I noticed we have a couple lightbulbs out in the kitchen, and I think it was affecting picture quality-I will have to change those out today!

Back to recipe...add the sugar and vanilla into the melted butter, and stir just until the butter has soaked up the sugar. 

Pour that mixture over the dumplings.  It looked a little to liquid-y to me, but I figured 2 recipes can't be wrong. 

Next I poured some Sun Drop over the top and around the edges.  I didn't measure. 

And now it is almost ready to go in the oven... 

as soon as I sprinkle on some cinnamon. 

My co-workers recipe said to cook it according to the crescent roll packaging time and temperature (which would have been 375 for 10-12 minutes), but the blog said 30 to 45 minutes.  I put them in for 15 minutes, checked them, and figured they could stay in at least until they browned, so I added another 10 minutes.

The blog said to serve the finished product with ice cream.  If I were to serve this as a dessert (which I would, by the way), ice cream would have been the perfect companion.  But these dumplings are breakfast this morning, and I am not sending my boys to school loaded down with sugar!

I loved these!  They are as good as I remember them being last week.  My boys asked if I could make them again, which is always a good sign.


Here is the official recipe from the Pioneer Woman's blog:

Ingredients

• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples
• 2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• 1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Preparation Instructions

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.