With its golden brown and buttery crust and cinnamon-spiced apples, these easy apple dumplings will become your go-to every apple season.
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Homemade Apple Dumplings
Recently, I traveled to Atlanta for my Godson’s first birthday. It was a full house of non-stop cooking and eating. It was great. The first morning, my sister-in-law was craving her mom’s famous Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings. Traditions filled the kitchen as they gathered up the ingredients.
Alyssa peeled the apples while her mom, Cathy, prepared the homemade and perfectly flaky pastry dough. Less than an hour later, a delicious dessert came hot and steaming out of the oven.
I always thought dumplings were a dessert dish, but Cathy said she’s served these for her kids for breakfast, dinner and dessert.
Who can resist a sweet apple treat? Not me! Since I have a huge sweet tooth, I had no objections to starting my day this way.
Cathy scooped a dumpling into a bowl and recommended I pour milk on top and mash it a bit. It was like hot apple oatmeal—only way better.
Cathy was gracious enough to allow me to share her recipe on my blog.
I baked a batch up this morning just to make sure I had the hang of it and I’m sharing the foundation recipe with you. But as always at Zestuous, feel free to make this your own by adding nuts, cheese, brown sugar or anything else you fancy.
And feel free to experiment with different apples. Let me know what you came up with below.
Perfect Old-Fashioned Apple Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1 cup Crisco shortening, or 1 stick
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, 300 grams
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5-7 tbsp cold water
- 1 batch pastry crust
- 7 Courtland apples
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Heat Oven: Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.
- Mix: Combine the shortening, flour and salt in a large bowl with a pastry blender. Add water one tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and doesn’t crack when flattened.
- Roll: Roll the dough into a log.
- Cut: Slice log into seven equal pieces.
- Prep Fruit: Peel and core the apples.
- Combine: In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon and toss each apple into the mixture.
- Cover: Flatten 1/7th of the pastry crust into a small circle. Place a sugar-coated apple in the center of the circle. Pull the crust up to the top of the apple, being careful not to tear it.
- Butter: Place 1/2 tablespoon butter into the center of the apple core. Sprinkle in more sugar.
- Place: Set the pastry-wrapped apples onto a foil or Silpat-lined baking dish
- Baste: Brush each with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Cook: Bake at 425F degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F degrees and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes or until the apples are tender.
- Serve: Plate and serve with milk, ice cream or caramel sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients for apple dumplings
Pastry Crust Ingredients
- Crisco Shortening: You can use sticks or a can of vegetable shortening for this recipe. You can find it in the baking aisle of your local grocery store. It’s usually near the vegetable oil.
- All-purpose Flour
- Table Salt
- Cold Water
Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings Ingredients
- Pastry Crust: Making these homemade makes them a little more decadent, but grabbing your favorite store-bought pie dough would also work great.
- Apples. If you can find Courtland apples, that’s what Cathy recommends. But virtually any types of apples will work.
- Granulated Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter are both fine.
- Milk
Substitutions: You can use any of your favorite apples here. If Courtland apples are unavailable, Granny Smith, Pink Lady or Honeycrisp apples would all be excellent choices.
See the full recipe card for servings and a full list of ingredients.
How to make the perfect fall dessert
- MIX: Combine the shortening, flour and salt with a pastry blender. Add water one tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and doesn’t crack when flattened.
- ROLL: Roll the dough into a log.
- CUT: Slice log into seven equal pieces.
- PREP FRUIT: Peel and core apples.
- COMBINE: Stir the sugar and cinnamon and toss each apple into the mixture.
- ROLL: Roll 1/7 of the pastry crust into a small circle. Place a sugar-coated apple in the center of the circle. Pull the crust up to the top of the apple, being careful not to tear it.
- BUTTER: Place 1/2 tablespoon butter into the center of the core. Sprinkle in more sugar.
- PLACE: Set the pastry-wrapped apples onto a foil or Silpat-lined baking dish
- BASTE: Brush each with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- COOK: Bake in a 425F degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F degrees and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the apples are tender.
- SERVE: Plate and serve with milk, ice cream or caramel sauce.
✔️ PRO TIP
Sprinkle cinnamon on top the apple dumplings for extra color, flavor and a pretty presentation.
How to serve your new favorite apple dessert
Classic apple pie flavors in bite-size form? I can’t think of anything better. Delicious as is, you can also try them with milk, like Cathy recommends, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, maple syrup or whipped cream for dessert.
Whip up a buttery brown sugar sauce or caramel sauce for dipping and indulge in all things warm and comforting.
Storage
When stored in an airtight container, these apple dumplings will keep for up to three days in the refrigerator and several weeks in the freezer. If you reheat them in the microwave, the dough will soften. For crispier dough, reheat them in the oven or air fryer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes, there just isn’t enough time to make homemade pastry dough and that’s okay. Look for premade pie crust in the grocery store fridge near the canned biscuits.
They should be soft but not mushy. But this is your recipe, so they should be as you like them.
Apple dumplings are done cooking when the crust is golden brown and the apple is fork tender.
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Can I have these apple dumplings shipped to me?
Oh my, this looks heavenly!!! I have made dumplings with all kinds of fruit, but have never thought of apple filling! Great idea, I am making them over the weekend! Thank you so much for sharing!