Apple Dumplings

After we put the girls down, Adam and I set out to make apple dumplings.  He's very willing to help in the kitchen when it comes to making anything using apples.  He sat and peeled a whole bag of granny smiths and I made the pie dough and filling.  I never had an apple dumpling until I met his family.  His grandma, Erma Mark, makes them and they are delicious.  I like apple pie, but this is almost better! You don't need a plate or fork, you can just pick it up and eat it like a cookie.  I love having a cold one in the morning with a cup of coffee.  But they are also delicious when they are hot right out of the oven.  And here's the weird part.  His family will have them warm, in a bowl, with milk poured over the top.  MILK!  I can see ice cream, or whipped cream.  But milk!  I'm knocking it and I won't ever try it!  :)

But you've got to give these a try.  They are easy and a nice treat to have around.  I know, I know...pie crust is too hard.  NO!  LIES!!  Pie crust is NOT hard.  You can do it.  Trust me.  It's just a couple of ingredients and water and then just roll the dough out.  Do you  have one of these?

I call it a dough cutter.  It probably has a real name.  You'll need this to make the dough.  But if you absolutely can't make pie dough and don't want to try it, then get the store bought tube of dough (tear) and use it instead.  Here's what you do:

Apple Dumplings

1.  Peel and slice 4-5 apples.  If you don't have a helper like I did, you can pour a little orange juice over them to keep them from browning while you do the crust. 

2.  Mix together the filling.  Set aside.

1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt

3.  Make pie dough (see recipe below) and then roll dough out so that you can cut out squares.  Cut out 4 x 4 squares and then pile apple slices in the middle. 

4.  Sprinkle the apples with the filling and then put a small glob of butter or margarine on top and then fold each corner to the top and pinch together.  Set on ungreased cookie sheet.

5.  Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until they turn golden brown on top and you can hear the juices bubbling. 

Pie Dough

2 cups of flour
1 Tbsp of sugar
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup of shortening

Mix together in a glass bowl the flour, sugar, and salt with a spoon.  Then add the 2/3 cup of shortening (Crisco) and mix it in the dough with your dough cutter.  Keep rocking it and mixing it in the bowl until the dough is all crumbly.  Next add 6-8 Tbsp of cold water to the dough.  Start with 6 Tbsp.  You want the dough to start sticking together.  You don't want it too wet (it will really stick to your hands) or too dry (it isn't forming into a ball). 

Once your dough is ready, sprinkle your counter with flour and take 1/3 of the dough and roll it out.  Sprinkle the top of the dough and then roll.  Then sprinkle the top again and flip it over.  Sprinkle the new top and then roll it some more.  Once you have your desired thickness, cut out your squares and make your dumplings.  You can do it!!!

Other than baking delicious treats, we had a busy day.  We changed banks.  Bye bye bank of america.  I mowed the lawn and it was quite the chore.  Our grass is thick in sections and the backyard is pretty big, so I got a good workout.  Adam gave Petey a bath with Aubrie's help. We played with the girls a lot.  Did you know this is how you eat yogurt?

It is.  Or you can use a spoon like this one did.

She just got a little on her nose.  Fun girls.  They sure did miss their daddy.  I did, too.  It's so good to have him home.  We have a busy day tomorrow.  We have our old neighbor coming to finish out our attic space so we can store some things in there and then we are cleaning out the garage.  I can't wait.  I have a lot of things I need to give to goodwill.  Adam got me two cooking magazines at the airport and I can't wait to cook them and share with you.  Tonight we had breakfast for dinner.  One of my favorites.  Oh, and I found the other slipper.  SOMEONE did have it on the backyard.  Hmmmm. 

Love to all! Pin It Now!