Spiced Baked Apple Dumplings

By sugarbear

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup butter (very cold)
• 1/2 cup milk
• Apples:
• 4 medium apples, peeled and cored
• 1/2-3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup raisins or golden raisins, or a combination of both
• 3 oz butter
• Syrup:
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1-1/3 cups hot water
• Dash of cinnamon
• Dash of nutmeg
• Pinch of cloves
• Pinch of ginger

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Peel apples and remove all of the cores using a sharp knife. Slice
off just a small amount at the top and bottom of each apple to
flatten them out so they'll wrap easily in the dough.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in
the butter, using your hands to squish everything together, until
the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the milk all at once
and stir to form the dough. If it's too sticky, add a little more
flour in small increments until you reach the desired consistency.

4. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4'' thick. Cut
into four 6'' squares. Place an apple on each square. Mix together
the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fill the core with raisins,
generously dust each apple with this mixture, and top each apple
with a dab of butter.

5. Moisten the edges of the pastry square with a little water. Gently
pull the dough up around the apple as close to the top as possible
and pinch the edges to seal. Pinch together any tears in the dough
around the apples. Decorate the top of the apple with dough cutouts
of leaves, or add any other creative flair you wish. Place in a 3-qt
sauté pan.

6. Combine butter, hot water, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger in a
small saucepan. Pour this mixture over the dumplings and bake for 45
minutes, or until dough is nicely browned. These dumplings are best
served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.