A little package of apple love.
Note: Nutrition goes off the rails here. You might want to save this one for a holiday or a special occasion. Just sayin’…
Old-Fashioned Apple Dumplings
Little packages of apple love.
Author: APB: Eats
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
For the sauce:
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoons Earth Balance spread
- ⅔ cup plant-based milk (almond, coconut, soy -- whatever you like)
- 1 cup vegan-certified granulated sugar
- 3 cups water
Other ingredients:
- 2-3 large apples (such as Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, or Granny Smith)
- Cinnamon, to taste
Instructions
For the dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, gently whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the ½ cup of Earth Balance spread to the flour mixture. Toss the flour over the Earth Balance spread to fully coat it. Use your fingertips (not your palms) to quickly and lightly cut in the Earth Balance. (You don’t want to do this for too long, nor do you want to use the palms of your hands; the goal is to keep the fat from melting.) Do this until the Earth Balance is evenly distributed; the mixture should be crumbly.
- Add the plant-based milk to the mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon. With floured hands, form a ball with the dough, making sure to get a light coating of flour onto the dough.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and chill the ball of dough for at least 30 minutes. (Note: This dough can be made days in advance and kept in the fridge until you're ready to make the dumplings.)
For the sauce:
- In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, water, and 3 tablespoons of Earth Balance spread to a boil so that sugar and Earth Balance melt.
- Remove from heat and set aside. This will be your sauce; it will thicken as it bakes.
For the dumplings:
- Peel and core 2 apples to start (I don't always need a third apple -- it depends on their size).
- Slice into ¼-inch-thick pieces and place apple pieces in a mixing bowl. Coat with cinnamon (go as heavy as you like -- I coat them heavily!).
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle (roughly 24 inches x 16 inches). Cut the dough into 6 squares.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place a pile of cinnamon-coated apple pieces on each square of dough. With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of a square up to the top of the apple pile, then bring the opposite corner up and pinch together. Bring up the remaining two corners and seal. Make sure the apples are sealed in tightly by pinching up all sides -- they don't have to look perfect! Repeat with the remaining five squares.
- Place the dumplings into a prepared 13" x 9" baking dish. Carefully pour the sauce over the dumplings. (They'll appear to be swimming in liquid, but magic will happen in the oven.)
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (until tops are golden).
- To serve, place one dumpling in a bowl and spoon some of the sauce on top (and don't forget the coconut-milk (or other dairy-free) vanilla ice cream)!