Baked Apple Dumplings

By jeckert

Recipes

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Baked Apple Dumplings
A homespun combination of warm pastry, concentrated apple flavor, raisins, butter, and cinnamon, this popular dessert has somehow fallen off the radar. We wanted to bring back this American classic and see if we could improve on tradition. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

•Biscuit dough was easier to work with than pie dough and did a great job of absorbing the liquid from the apples without getting mushy.
•Some apple varieties we found didn’t cook through quickly enough, while others turned to mush. We settled on sweeter Golden Delicious, which had the perfect consistency when prepared correctly.
•There’s no reason to bake the dumplings in syrup. To avoid a soggy mess, just make the sauce separately and save it for serving.


STEP BY STEP


Dumpling Assembly Line

According to an 1888 Good Housekeeping article on apple dumplings, King George III (1738-1820) had been sadly puzzled to know how the apple came inside the dumpling." (Is it any wonder that he lost the American colonies?) Here's how, Your Highness:
1. Scoop out the core and seeds, taking care not to pierce the bottom of the apple halves.


2. Divide the butter mixture among the apple halves, filling the hollows.


3. Fold the corners of the dough up to enclose the apple halves, overlapping and crimping to seal.


4. Arrange the dumplings on baking sheet, brush with egg white, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar

Ingredients

• Dough
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening , cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
• 3/4 cups cold buttermilk
• Apple Dumplings
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
• 3 tablespoons golden raisins , chopped
• 4 Golden Delicious apples (see note)
• 2 egg whites , lightly beaten

Preparation

Step 1

1. MAKE DOUGH Process flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined. Scatter butter and shortening over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to bowl. Stir in buttermilk until dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead briefly until dough is cohesive. Press dough into 8- by 4-inch rectangle. Cut in half, wrap each half tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

2. PREP APPLES Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. In second bowl, combine butter, raisins, and 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar mixture. Peel apples and halve through equator. Following photos 1 and 2, remove core and pack butter mixture into each apple half.

3. ASSEMBLE DUMPLINGS On lightly floured surface, roll each dough half into 12-inch square. Cut each 12-inch square into four 6-inch squares. Working one at a time, lightly brush edges of dough square with egg white and place apple, cut-side up, in center of each square. Following photo 3, gather dough one corner at a time on top of apple, crimping edges to seal. Using paring knife, cut vent hole in top of each dumpling.

4. FINISH APPLES Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Following photo 4, arrange dumplings on prepared baking sheet, brush tops with egg white, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake until dough is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve with Cider Sauce.
Cider Sauce
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

To make this sauce up to 2 days in advance, reduce the cider mixture until it measures 1½ cups, then refrigerate. When ready to serve, return mixture to simmer and whisk in butter and lemon juice off heat.

1 cup apple cider
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Bring cider, water, sugar, and cinnamon to simmer in saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1½ cups, about 15 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and lemon juice. Drizzle over dumplings to serve.
Cider Sauce
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

To make this sauce up to 2 days in advance, reduce the cider mixture until it measures 1½ cups, then refrigerate. When ready to serve, return mixture to simmer and whisk in butter and lemon juice off heat.

1 cup apple cider
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Bring cider, water, sugar, and cinnamon to simmer in saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1½ cups, about 15 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and lemon juice. Drizzle over dumplings to serve.