These incredibly delicious Apple Dumplings are sweet, flaky and drizzled with a tasty syrup. Serve them with a scoop of ice cream for a true comforting experience.
These apple dumplings are the bomb! I could hardly wait to take them out of the oven and sink my teeth into one, not to mention I had to wait to take pictures! It was torture, pure torture!
But now all is good in the world again. I had my apple dumpling with some great vanilla ice cream and now I’m calm again. What can I say? I love my sweets, and apple dumplings are a weakness of mine which is why I don’t make these often.
What are apple dumplings?
An apple dumpling is a pastry filled with apple, cinnamon, and sometimes raisins. The apples are peeled and cored, then placed on a piece of dough. You then add some butter, sugar and cinnamon. Fold the dough over the apples and the dumplings are then baked until tender.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card for FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!
Crust
- Dry ingredients – All purpose flour and salt.
- Wet ingredients – Ice water, shortening, and cold unsalted butter cut into cubes.
Brown sugar syrup
- Water – To form the liquid base of our sauce.
- Sugar – Brown sugar to give us those lovely caramel notes.
- Cinnamon – To boost that all familiar apple pie flavor in our dumplings and create dimension and complexity.
- Lemon juice – Just a tablespoon will prevent your apples from oxidizing and browning before they find their way into the oven. Lemon juice will also add a bit of tartness, it will be good to keep on hand if using sweeter apples.
Dumplings
- Apples – Peeled, cut in half and cored.
- Butter – Unsalted so as to control the sodium content of our dish.
- Cinnamon – To boost that all familiar apple pie flavor in our dumplings and create dimension and complexity.
- Sugar – Brown sugar to give us those lovely caramel notes.
How to make apple dumplings
Crust
- Form the crust: Start by making the crust. Add the flour, salt, butter, shortening to the bowl of your mixer and mix to incorporate. Start adding a little bit of water at a time, and keep adding until the dough starts to come together.
- Refrigerate the dough: Dump the dough onto your work surface and divide it into 2 pieces. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Syrup
- Combine the syrup: Add all the syrup ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let the syrup reduce to about half, should take about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Prep the apples: Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the core.
Assembly
- Combine the filling: In a small bowl mix together the 3 tbsp of brown sugar with 1 tsp of cinnamon. Take 2 tablespoons of butter, cut it into 8 small pieces and roll each piece in the sugar cinnamon mixture. Place each butter piece in the center of each apple.
- Preheat your oven to 425 F degrees.
- Cut the crust: On a floured surface, roll out one of the pieces of crust and cut it out into 4 pieces. Each piece of has to be big enough to folder over the apple completely. Fold the crust over the apples, use a bit of water if necessary to wet your finger and run it along the edge of the crust. Pinch off any excess dough.
- Assemble the dish: Pour about a ladle of the brown sugar syrup into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Place the apple dumplings in the baking dish and pour the remaining syrup over the apples.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until the apple dumplings are golden brown. Let the dumplings cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
Some tips
- Make sure you choose the right apples. You’re looking for an apple with a crisp bite such as; Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonathans, Golden Delicious, or Granny Smith.
- Bake it properly! The upper crust needs to be a deep golden-brown!
- Wait for the dumplings to cool slightly before serving.
How to serve
Now of course if you can eat them just on their own, still pretty yummy, and I’m not here to judge you. Just make sure you take some of that extra syrup from the bottom and pour some over the dumpling.
But if you want to walk on the wild side and you want something that’s orgasmically delicious, then you must eat this with a scoop or two of the best vanilla ice cream you can afford, then drizzle some of that caramel sauce from the bottom of the pan all over the ice cream and enjoy! That’s all I’ve got to say.
Leftovers
Baked apple dumplings will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, covered loosely with foil or plastic wrap. You can keep them for an additional 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
To freeze, wrap the dumplings tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap and store it in the freezer for 3 to 4 months.
Thaw out the apple dumplings in the fridge and then reheat it in a 350 F degree oven for 30 minutes or until warm.
Craving more delicious apple recipes? Try these:
- Apple and Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
- Chocolate Apple Pie Monkey Bread
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars
- Apple Pie Taquitos
- Churro Apple Pie Cookies
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Homemade Apple Butter
- The Best Apple Crisp
- Pomegranate Cider Mimosas
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Apple Dumplings
Ingredients
For The Crust
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp butter unsalted, cold and cut into cubes
- 8 tbsp shortening cold and cut into cubes
- 6 tbsp ice water or more as needed
For Brown Sugar Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For Dumplings
- 4 medium apples peeled, cut half in and cored
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted, cut into 8 pieces
- 3 tbsp brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Crust
- Form the crust: Start by making the crust. Add the flour, salt, butter, shortening to the bowl of your mixer and mix to incorporate. Start adding a little bit of water at a time, and keep adding until the dough starts to come together.
- Refrigerate the dough: Dump the dough onto your work surface and divide it into 2 pieces. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Syrup
- Combine the syrup: Add all the syrup ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let the syrup reduce to about half, should take about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Prep the apples: Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the core.
Assemble and Bake
- Combine the filling: In a small bowl mix together the 3 tbsp of brown sugar with 1 tsp of cinnamon. Take 2 tablespoons of butter, cut it into 8 small pieces and roll each piece in the sugar cinnamon mixture. Place each butter piece in the center of each apple.
- Preheat your oven to 425 F degrees.
- Cut the crust: On a floured surface, roll out one of the pieces of crust and cut it out into 4 pieces. Each piece of has to be big enough to folder over the apple completely. Fold the crust over the apples, use a bit of water if necessary to wet your finger and run it along the edge of the crust. Pinch off any excess dough.
- Assemble the dish: Pour about a ladle of the brown sugar syrup into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Place the apple dumplings in the baking dish and pour the remaining syrup over the apples.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until the apple dumplings are golden brown. Let the dumplings cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Baked apple dumplings will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, covered loosely with foil or plastic wrap. You can keep them for an additional 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
- To freeze, wrap the dumplings tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap and store it in the freezer for 3 to 4 months.
- Thaw out the apple dumplings in the fridge and then reheat it in a 350 F degree oven for 30 minutes or until warm.
Nutrition Information:
Originally shared Oct 20 2015.
I used Granny Smith apples and I am here to tell you that a full and complete recipe of Jo’s Apple Dumplings will never, but never, last long enough to store in the freezer because there won’t be any “left-overs”… I tweeked the dumplings slightly: soaked a few raisins and a single 1/2 pecan for each, in the brown sugar syrup prior to assembling. Pressed the raisins into the individual crusts, apple atop the raisins, the half- pecan in the centre of each apple, then the brown sugar filling… then finished according to recipe instructions. For baking, I used a muffin tin with large wells to accommodate the size of each dumpling.. The apple dumplings are sensational.. thankyou once again JO.
That’s what we like to hear!! We are so glad you like the recipe 🙂
Is there a substitute for the shortening?
Butter!
sitting here drooling. Oh how I need to make some. I did though laugh at waiting 5 mins. to eat. That smell will drive you crazy and by the time you get to eat you should be shaking. And that first bite, yup Heaven has arrived.
Oh do let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Many, many years ago I work on the weekends for Woolworth’s Department store. Every Saturday I would go to the food counter and order an apple dumpling. They served it covered with a vanilla custard and a drizzle of butterscotch. It is still one of my favorite desserts 50 years later. Thanks for giving me a fond memory.
I love the idea of serving it with a vanilla custard. Definitely have to try that. 🙂
Can I double the recipe in a single batch, or would I need to split everything into two batches?
Yes, you could double the recipe all at once, you’d need to baking dishes or a really large one.
These look awesome. I was wondering if they can be put together earlier in the day and then cooked later. Also can they be frozen before cooking?
Oh absolutely, I just wouldn’t pour the syrup over them until ready for baking.
Yes you can also freeze them….without the syrup as well, just cover them up with plastic wrap tightly.
Made this yesterday morning, kept them in the fridge until later in the afternoon and then cooked them. They were so good. Thanks Jo. Going to make some and freeze them for when time is short and company is coming.
Glad you liked them!! Great idea on freezing them. 🙂
I saw this one on Google + and couldn’t wait to see the recipe, these are so much better than just baked apples, that buttery dough looks amazing and the sauce OMG I love it!
Pure torture? Yes, I can imagine it. Welcome back to the land of the living Jo! 😉 You can almost HEAR the extra energy in this post!!!
I had to pop by and check this out as soon as I saw the recipe, never made anything like this before!
And YES to making it orgasmically delicious with top notch ice cream….yes yes YES!!! 😉
LOL Ah you crack me up Nagi! You’ve got to try these apple dumplings, they’re really worth all the calories. 🙂
I have made apple dumplings with whole apples and filled the centres with mincemeat. Oh so good
I’d never had an apple dumpling until I moved to Knoxville for college. One taste and I was hooked forever. I think this is my all-time favorite dessert. It is a bit fiddly to put them all together but my god, they’re heavenly. Yours look just like I remember!
You’re right, they take a bit of time to put together, but so worth it in the end. 🙂
This looks just delicious! My dad loves apple deserts. I try so many things for him. ♡♡
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