The Apple Dumpling Gang

I’ve been promising this recipe to various people for what seems like forever, so I’m going ahead and posting now, with hopes of adding a pic later tonight if I can get JiT to snap one when I heat up my dessert tonight. In the meantime, apologies for the photo flake out. Update — got him to take a photo but Sportcenter was on and his heart wasn’t really in it.

So, as I promised, this recipe is SO easy. I know I say that alot, but this one is seriously so easy and simple and…well, in my screwed up mind I think of this as a “cheating” dessert because its not totally from scratch. But its so good and fast that, well, who cares? I say, if the Pilsbury Dough Boy wants to do me a favor now and then…”tee hee!”Really, I literally assembled these while sitting in front of the television once using some of those pre-sliced apples from the produce section (have Americans really become that lazy?…I know I’m being a hypocrite).

I found the original version of this recipe on Allrecipes (where else), and its perfect as-is. Especially right out of the oven, with the gooey syrup on top and a dollop of really, really decadent vanilla ice cream. But the last time I made it, JiT suggested added pecans to the dumplings. And when JiT asks, he gets (mostly). I also received some ground cherries in my CSA box this week. If you’ve never had a ground cherry — I hadn’t until this summer…they are these little berry things that come in their own shell that looks like a tomatillo or a dried up leaf. You pop them out of their wrapper and they have this semi-sweet also nutty flavor thats really indescribable. Anyway, I threw a handful of those in, just for kicks, but they’re certainly optional.

Also, I find that a whole batch is too many, so I take some of the biscuit dough-wrapped apples and pop them into the freezer…pull a few out, add some of the sauce mixture and bake for an easy, last-minute dessert in no time.
So, without further delay….

Easy Peasy Apple Dumplings
Serves 8
Adapted from Allrecipes

1 (16 ounce) can refrigerated flaky biscuit dough
4 apples – peeled, cored and halved (or quartered if your apples are large)
1/4 cup chopped pecans or other nuts (optional)
Handful of ground cherries (optional)

1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Separate biscuit dough into 8 pieces. Flatten each piece of dough into a circle using a rolling pan or your hands. Wrap one biscuit around each apple half — or a couple of the quarters if the apples are large — and a sprinkle of nuts and ground cherries if desired, pinch the dough closed and place, seam side down, in a baking pan.

In small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add in the sugar, water, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour mixture over dumplings in pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until golden. Serve hot drizzling the sauce over top and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.

As an aside JiT gave me a new iPod Nano for my birthday and I’ve been glued to it while cooking and posting. A friend suggested that it might be fun to start adding a note on my posts about what I was listening to while either cooking or writing the post(especially given recent revelations about my diverse musical taste). I’m game so here goes (with a twofer).

When I was making the dumplings, I was listening to the new John Mayer version of Free Fallin

As I write this post, I’m listening to a song called Love Song Requiem by a defunct Indie group called Trading Yesterday.

So there.