Country Apple Dumplings

I am a complete sucker for community cookbooks. You know the ones your kids make in Girl Scouts or are sold at church craft shows. Yeah those ones. I love ’em!

To me they are the best way to document the current time period and give you an idea of what people are really cooking… or at least were really cooking. It seems like these humble little books are quickly vanishing.

But to this day, I love visiting my Mom’s house and seeing all these books, that we helped contribute to over the years, proudly line her kitchen bookshelf. And I love to sit down and carefully flip through each one, remembering this time or that long, lost friend and count how many recipes for Pumpkin Rolls or Cowboy Cookies dot each page of the same book.

It makes my heart swell as I read hear felt tributes to Mothers and Grandmothers, followed by simple, yet comforting recipes. These stories and recipes inspire me to blog and get in the kitchen and put updated twists on these classics. But occasionally, I want recreate some of these “old school” recipes exactly the way they were written because they remind me of my youth.

This recipe is one of those “classics”. I’m sure your Mom or Grandma made these Country Apple Dumplings, and if not, you know someone’s Mom who did, or you might even have a hand bound community cookbook or two with some variation of this recipe. I love this recipe because it is so simple and reminds me of some the things I created when I was first finding my way in the kitchen as an 8-year old girl. This recipe is by no means fancy, but it does evoke all kinds of memories, which is what this season is all about!

One Year Ago: Three Bread Stuffin’ Muffins
Two Years Ago: Crafty Concoctions: Felt Mitten Candy, Money or Gift Card Holders (Stocking Stuffer Idea!)
Three Years Ago: Lentil Bean Soup
Four Years Ago: Greek Burgers
Five Years Ago: Cheesy Turkey and Veggie Casserole
Six Years Ago: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Country Apple Dumplings
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30-40 minutes Serves: 8
Printable Version

Ingredients:
2 large Granny Smith apples*
2 (8 count) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 can (12 ounce) lemon lime soda (orange juice or apple juice can be substituted)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch deep dish pie plate or 9×9-inch square pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Set aside.

Peel and core apples. Slice apples into eight equal pieces. 

Separate crescent rolls into 16 triangles.

Mix ½ cup brown sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl and spread sugar mixture evenly over crescent rolls. Place a slice of apple on the wide bottom part of each crescent dough triangle. Starting at the bottom, roll up the apple slice in the dough, making sure the apple is completely enclosed in dough. Place dumplings in prepared pan.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in remaining brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted and bubbly. Pour sugar over dumplings in pan. Pour soda (or juice, if using) over dumplings.

Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until dumplings are golden brown and sauce is bubbly.

Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream!

*Note: Small Granny Smith Apples can be used, just add two apple slices to each crescent roll.

adapted from a community cookbook and variations found all over the web

Other recipes you might enjoy:
Apple and M&M’s® Pecan Pie Sandwich Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling
Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Apple Spice Cupcakes w/ Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Applesauce Spice Cake with Caramel Glaze
Caramel Apple Donuts