Apple Dumplings

The arrival of autumn signals the baking of apple dumplings.  I only make them in the fall and I usually make them only once or twice.  It seems that the minute we get the first cool wind of autumn, my husband is already hounding me about "when are you making the apple dumplings?"  Saturday I gave him a vague "one of these days," so yesterday he came home with a bag of apples and all the fixings.  Did someone say "crap?"  Oh, that must have been me.   It's not that I don't want to actually make them, it's just that once they're out of the oven, I want to eat them.  And they are not diet friendly.  But they are SO good!

This recipe is to make 6 dumplings.  I start with 2 boxes of Betty Crocker double pie crust mix.

Dump both boxes into a bowl and follow the directions on the back of the box for adding water.  Knead it together and then roll out into 6 squares or circles.  Mine are far from perfectly shaped.  Set aside for now.

Boil for 3 minutes in a pot on the stove.  This will make your sauce -
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Set aside.

Peel, core and slice 6 apples of your choice.  You can use whatever apple type you wish.  Now the recipe calls for one apple per dumpling, but truth be told, we are not all about the apple.  We kind of like a little apple with a lot of dumpling, so I usually use 4 large apples to make 6 dumplings.

In a separate bowl mix your filling - melt 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine and add 1 cup of sugar and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon.  Now lay out your pastry squares, pile some apple on top of each, and sprinkle some of your filling on top...

Then mold your pastry up around the apple and place them in a 13 x 9 pan...

Pour all the sauce over the dumplings in the pan....

Bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes.  You want them to get nice and brown and crispy on top...

Let them cool and serve with ice cream or whipped cream on top...

Ok, I know that last photo is kind of blurry, but I was drooling and in a hurry to eat it.  Enjoy!  If you have any left over, just refrigerate.  Then just heat them up in a bowl for about a minute. Don't blame me if you moan a little while you eat them.  They are that good!