Apple Dumplings 101
These apple dumplings aren't just something we make every fall. They're a little piece of our family history.
My great-great-grandma Elsie, who was born in the 1800s, taught my great-grandma Ann, her daughter-in-law, how to make them.
Grandma Ann taught her daughter, my great-aunt Wanda.
Dad's mom was sick for much of his childhood, so Aunt Wanda and Gram played a big part in his life growing up in Pennsylvania. They taught him a lot of things, including how to cook.
And now Dad has taught me how to make the apple dumplings.
One of my favorite memories of going to Pennsylvania to visit Grandma Ann was that she always had a pan of apple dumplings waiting for us when we got there, no matter how late it was.
Dad would call her to let her know what time we expected to arrive, and she would ask what she could fix us for dinner.
Dad would tell her, “It’ll be late. We’ll just grab something on the way.”
But she never listened.
No matter what time we got there, she would have a pot of spaghetti and a pan of apple dumplings waiting for us.
That's one of those little things that sticks with you.
There isn't actually a recipe for these dumplings. Each generation learned by watching the one before them make them.
So when Dad taught me, he didn't hand me a recipe card with measurements written down. He showed me how to do it.
And now, every time I make them, I think about all those generations of women who made the same thing before me. We've gotten to spend time together making them, too, and those memories come back every time I smell a pan of apple dumplings baking in the oven.
Gram always made her food in big batches so she could put some in the freezer, and that's the way I do it now, too.
So after our recent trip to the mountains for apples, I spent a good part of the week working them up and getting our freezer stocked for the year.
And since there isn't really a recipe to hand you, I decided to make a video and show you how we make them.
If you want to make them yourself, here's the basic process.
Take a ball of pie dough about twice the size of a golf ball and roll it out into a 9-10” circle.
Put a spoonful of regular sugar and brown sugar in the center of the dough, then sprinkle with cinnamon. Add a generous handful of apple slices. I use a mixture of granulated organic cane sugar and organic brown sugar.
Wrap the dough around the apples and place it seam-side down in a baking dish. I usually get 6 dumplings in an 8.5×11 pan.
Now for the part that makes them extra good:
In the cracks between the dumplings, put some brown sugar and pats of butter. As they bake, the butter and sugar caramelize on top and make a buttery sauce underneath the dumplings.
Sprinkle a little more cinnamon over the top of everything.
Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes, or until the apples are tender when you poke a knife into the center dumpling.
Our family has always enjoyed them warm with milk poured over the top.
They're also good on their own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but around here, warm apple dumpling + cold fresh milk is hard to beat.
Love and miss you, Grandma Ann 💕
