Classic Apple Dumplings
An autumn recipe steeped in tradition and made with simple ingredients.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 medium honey crisp apples, peeled and cored *see notes
- 1 egg for egg wash, beaten, then mixed with 1 tbsp water or milk
Double Pastry/Pie Dough (or substitute with quality store-bought)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into ¼ inch cubes and chilled* 1 cup equals 2 sticks. If using salted butter omit the additional salt.
- 2¼ cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup ice cold water keep an extra tablespoon or two on hand, if needed
Filling
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp salted butter, quartered
Brown Sugar Syrup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp salted butter
Instructions
Gather ingredients and read through the recipe and notes before starting. Prepare the pastry dough first and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- To Make The Double Pastry Dough: In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt until well combined. Add the cold butter and pulse (about 20 times) until it resembles coarse sand and the butter is in bits no bigger than a pea (don't overwork it, maintaining pea-sized chunks will ensure a flaky crust). Add 1/2 cup of ice water around the perimeter of the contents in the food processor, pulsing to mix until the dough begins to slightly clump together.You'll know it's ready if you place some of the dough between two fingers and press and it stays together. Check after 1/2 cup, you may not need more water. Form a rough ball of dough and press it into a disc shape. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix together the filling ingredients, leaving aside the quartered butter.
- Roll the pastry dough into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut into four 7x7-inch squares. Note the size may need to be larger depending on the size of the apples used. Place an apple on the center of each square. Half-fill each apple core with the cinnamon sugar filling and top with a quarter piece of the salted butter.
- Gently bring up the corners of the dough to the center of each apple, trimming any excess as needed; pinch the edges to seal. Note with any leftover scraps of dough you can make leaves and stems, if desired; use a little water or egg wash to press and attach. Place the apple dumplings in a baking dish (no need to grease). Brush the apples evenly with egg wash. Refrigerate briefly while preparing the syrup.
- In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved and no grainy bits are felt at the bottom, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Pour over the apples. Sprinkle with leftover cinnamon sugar, if desired.
- Bake, basting once or twice until the apples are tender and the pastry is golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm with a generous spoonful of the brown sugar syrup drizzled over.
Notes
Note that this recipe calls for 4 medium honey crisp apples and uses a large pastry dough. If you have smaller apples, you might be apple to make 6.
Smaller apples will have a more filled core. For larger apples, expect a half-filled core.
Make sure the pastry dough isn't too thin at the bottom of the apples to offer proper support when baking.
Pastry dough bakes best when it is still somewhat chilled. Work swiftly, but note that placing the pastry wrapped apples back in the fridge before baking will help if the dough is too warm. The goal is to keep the fat within the dough very cold so that when it hits the oven's heat, the water content in the fat turns to steam, creating the desired flakiness. Chilling the dough after it's been shaped will help set the fat and relax the gluten, preventing shrinkage and slumping while baking.