Cooking in KC: Grandma's Recipes: Apple Dumplings

I like apple pie as much as the next red-blooded American, but oh boy, these apple dumplings are good. It’s like the perfect individual pie. I don’t need to tell you how fall this recipe is. It’s legit. My Grandma McCaskey penned this recipe, and believe me, it’s a treat for her to make these for you, because she’s typically very health conscious. (Her favorite joke to make, at my Grandpa’s expense, is to tell you he has Dunlap’s disease, because his belly ‘done lapped’ over his belt. She’s hysterical.)

My original recipe from Grandma calls for “easy flaky pastry” which, my Mom has penciled in, is code for store-bought refrigerated pie crust. Again, it’s not about what’s fancy; it’s about what’s good.

Apple Dumplings

Makes 6

Dumplings:

6 medium tart apples (McIntosh or Jonigold)

*I used Granny Smith for 3 dumplings and Honeycrisp for 3 dumplings, just to experiment a bit. My pick is Honeycrisp.

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

several tablespoons of butter (I used 6-8)

1 recipe of easy flaky pastry (i.e. two store-bought pie crusts)

*I used 3 pie crusts, because the crust is my favorite part, and it was easier for me to roll out the dumplings if I had a little extra pastry to work with.

Syrup:

Apple peelings

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

about 1 tbsp lemon juice

Roll pastry into 6-7 in. circles about 1/8 in. thick.

Peel and core apples, saving the peelings. I use a potato peeler and apple corer to do this.

Place each apple in the center of a circle of dough. Fill the apples with the cinnamon sugar mixture (the 1/2 cup and 1 tsp mixture). Dot with butter (about 1 tbsp per apple).

Moisten the edges of pastry with cold water. Wrap the apples up, pressing the edges of the pastry together.

Place in a greased baking dish and chill. For the syrup, pour boiling water over the peelings. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Drain off the syrup (I usually just fish out the apple peels with a slotted spoon), and add the rest of the ingredients to the apple liquid. Stir until combined. Pour over dumplings. You really can't skip the syrup; it's what makes the dumplings.

Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes (a bit longer if you used more pastry like I did).

Now, as for how to eat an apple dumpling--a hot debate in my family. Do you serve them hot, cold, or at room temperature? I personally like them at room temperature. I served mine up with whipped cream--so good--but my favorite way to eat apple dumplings is with milk poured over them. My grandpa and my mom do this--bizarre but delicious.