Baked Apple Dumplings

These cute and sweet Baked Apple Dumplings are little gifts of love. A piece of home sweet home wrapped up like a present, just begging to be opened. Drizzled with cider sauce, wrapped in buttery pastry dough, a Baked Apple Dumpling is your own personal apple pie. Inside each dumpling you'll be surprised to find an oh so sweet filling in the middle. Trust me, if you present these dumplings for dessert to your guests, they'll be quite the show stopper. Talk about an impressive display of your homemaking skills! After all, the Seven Dwarfs were bursting with joy when Snow White said she could whip up a batch of these. And if you try them, you'll see why.

This recipe will be easier for someone who is comfortable in the kitchen and has made pies before, but my instructions are detailed enough that even a beginner shouldn't have trouble making these. The first thing I would suggest is making the Cider sauce and the pastry dough a day or two ahead of when you plan to bake the dumplings.

Just imagine sitting down to a breakfast smorgasbord with  these
 Baked Apple Dumplings as the star of the show.

This pastry dough is made from scratch, using a food processor to do most of the work for you, which is really nice. A combination of chilled butter and shortening are processed into the flour until the contents look like wet sand. This took me a good couple minutes, stopping periodically to scrape down the sides. My food processor is on the small side and a bit wimpy, so if you have a large capacity one it probably won't take that long. Just remember 'wet sand'.  Then, you'll combine the contents in a bowl with buttermilk (use store bought, not homemade clabbered milk) and mix it together. You should have a sticky dough. Dump it out and knead it on a floured surface a few times and it should be soft and lost it's stickiness. Work quickly, you don't want the dough to become warm. Shape it according to the directions, wrap it and put it in the fridge right away.

When I make the cider sauce, I keep my Pyrex 2 cup glass measuring cup next to the stove. While reducing the syrup down to the correct consistency, I periodically pour the contents from the pot into the measuring cup until it measures to 1 and 1/2 cups.

As for the apples themselves, use Golden Delicious, as suggested in the recipe. If you want to try a different type, be sure it's a crisp apple. Some apples, like McIntosh, can't take the heat of the oven and will just turn into mush. A strong apple must be used. I tried Ambrosia apples (which are my new favorite, and shown in the photographs below), and they were still hard after the recommended baking time. I had to cover the dumplings with foil so they wouldn't burn and bake for an additional 14 minutes before they were soft.

I used my teaspoon to cut the core and seeds out of these apples. Do you see the hole at the bottom of the one in the
center? No worries, I just plugged it with a small piece of apple.

The apples in this recipe are cored and cut at the equator. This way they are stable and won't wobble, spilling the filling. Use a melon baller or metal round teaspoon to remove the seeds and core. Be sure to remove stems, and if you don't like the remnants of the blossoms, you can remove them too. Just be sure to fill the whole with small slices of apple so the filling won't leak. I will sometimes get carried away with removing too much core and create a whole in the bottom. If you do this, no biggie, just fill it in with small bits of apple as mentioned above. No matter how fast I work, inevitably the first apples I have done are turning brown by the time I finish with the rest. Not to worry, it won't affect taste once they are baked. but I still try to work quickly anyway.

When I'm ready to assemble the dumplings, I have my filling already made and my dough just out of the fridge. Using some elbow grease, I roll it out cold on a lightly floured surface. Using a pizza cutter, I'll divide the dough into four equal parts. It may split apart at the edges, but this is okay, you can mush it back together once you wrap the apple halves. It's so much easier to work with cold dough.

To avoid the dough sloughing off the apples in the oven, lightly apply the egg wash around the edges of your dough square and make sure you pinch, crimp and smooth the edges together well. I'll even smoosh some thicker parts of dough (usually on top) to thinner parts of the apple (tends to be the bottom) for a more even distribution. Check the bottoms for holes in the dough. Don't forget to apply egg wash and cinnamon sugar to the tops before popping them in the oven! (Ask me how I know...)

Make sure you have some vanilla ice cream on hand to serve with these amazing dumplings. And please let me know how your experience goes with this recipe. I'd love to hear your feedback. I hope you find the end results worth the effort. Enjoy!

Equipment needed:  A food processor, rolling pin, small rounded scoop, and a baking sheet. Pizza cutter helpful but not necessary.

Apple Dumplings

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 20 to 25 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert apple pie American fall

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Ingredients (8 servings)

Dough

• 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Apple Dumplings

• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, sofened
• 3 tablespoons golden raisins, chopped
• 4 Golden Delicious apples
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Instructions

1. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter butter and shortening over flour mixture and process until mixture resembles wet sand. You may have to stop periodically and scrape down the sides. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in buttermilk until a sticky dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead briefly until dough is soft and not sticky. Press dough into 8 by 4 inch rectangle, using a ruler to measure. Cut in half, wrap each half tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

2 Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

3. In second bowl, combine softened butter, raisins, and 3 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar mixture from step 2. Peel apples and halve through center equator. Remove the core with a melon baller or metal rounded teaspoon and pack butter mixture into each apple half.

3. On lightly floured surface, roll each dough half into approximately a 12 inch square. Cut each 12 inch square into four equal 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. Gather dough one corner at a time on top of apple, crimping edges to seal. Using pairing knife, cut vent hole in top of each dumpling.

4. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 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 and ice cream.

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Cider Sauce

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: dessert

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Ingredients (1 and 1/2 cups)

Cider Sauce

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

Instructions

1. Combine the cider, water, sugar and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1 and 1/2 cups.

2. Off heat, whisk in the butter and lemon juice. Drizzle over apple dumplings and serve. (If making this ahead, refrigerate after step 1. Follow step 2 just before you're ready to serve, warming the sauce on the stove top first while the dumplings are baking.)

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Canadian Butter Tarts

If you're not from The Great White North, then chances are you've never heard of a Butter Tart. Well let me introduce you to the most popular pastry of Canada! They are so simple and really deliciously sweet. Butter Tarts are mini-pies you hold in your hand that are filled with a sweet and creamy mixture of butter, brown sugar, cream and eggs. It's all held together with a light and flaky pastry crust. Many have a surprise in the filling~ either raisins or chopped nuts can add a delightful extra bit of tastiness. Or you can just make them plain. (That's the way I like them best!)

I was almost immediately introduced to these lovely treats when I arrived in Toronto. I do have to say, after eating many Butter Tarts I learned that they should be enjoyed fresh and warm.

If you're the kind of person that really likes the taste of cookie dough, you'll love these little delights. I think the best thing about cookie dough is the creamy, sugary butter taste. And these 'tarts' are essentially that, unsalted butter and brown sugar are creamed along with eggs and half and half. But you get that sugary butter taste after they're cooked, so no worries about eating raw egg :0) They are really simple to make, especially if you purchase ready made pie dough for the crust. I used my recipe for foolproof pie dough, and they were light, flaky and perfectly delicious. I had to make a second batch because we ate too many and I didn't have enough to photograph!
As you can see in the pictures, they are fallen in the middle, and this is the normal look for any butter tart. The filling will rise up quite a bit when they are baked, and will be domed up above the rim of the pie crust. Once they are removed from heat they cool and collapse a bit.

Butter Tarts

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients (12 tarts)

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon real maple syrup
• 1/4 cup light cream
• optional: 1/2 cup raisins or chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans

Instructions

1. Roll out pastry dough to approx 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 4 inch rounds using a 4" cookie cutter (or small bowl or large lid). Gently press pastry rounds into the cups of a mini-muffin tin. Knead remaining dough and roll and cut again until you fill all twelve cups. Place in the refrigerator and continue with the filling.

2. Set an oven rack to middle position and set oven to heat to 375 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip butter at medium speed until light for about a minute. Scrape down the bowl if needed. With the whisk on medium, add in the brown sugar and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down bowl if needed. Next add each egg one at a time, then vanilla and maple syrup, then the half and half. Run the mixer on high for about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl (especially the very bottom) and mix on high again for another 30 seconds.

3. Transfer filling to a two cup measuring cup (or something easy to pour filling from). If raisins or chopped nuts are desired, sprinkle a few in the bottom of each pastry cup. Fill each pastry cup 2/3 full with filling. Try to fill each cup as evenly as possible.

4. Place in the oven and bake for 17-20 minutes. The filling will puff way up and should be slightly browned at the edges, along with the pastry dough. Remove the butter tarts and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Gently remove them by running a knife around the edges. Push the knife underneath and lift them out. Place on a wire rack to cool for 15 additional minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

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Chocolate Pecan Pie

Holiday pie made from scratch? There is rarely a thing in the world more delicious or rewarding!
I am the type of person who feels chocolate can make anything better, especially pie :0) Adding chocolate to Pecan pie just takes it to a whole new level! Plus a dollop of Caramel whipped cream on top puts this pie over the top. (See recipe below.) It's the perfect complementary flavor for the pecans and the caramel matrix in which they lay.

I will never forget the first time I had a slice of Pecan pie. It was just after I had moved to Kingston, Ontario Canada. Some friends of mine had me over for a lovely dinner. Afterwards, I was offered a piece of pee-can pie.
"What's that?" I said.
My friend stared at me for a moment with eyebrows raised.
"You've never heard of pee-can pie before?!"
"No, I really haven't. I'm thinking it must be a Canadian dish?"
"I'm pretty sure people from the states eat it too...here, try it."
She place a slice of Pecan pie on my plate. Boy I felt stupid then!
"Oh!" I said. "Pecan pie! I was totally confused~ you guys just pronounce it differently here, ha ha, My bad."
I was mentally kicking myself the rest of the evening; feeling so stupid for not picking up on that! And I guess some in 'the states' pronounce it that way too :0) Even as I ate the pie that night, I decided I wasn't a huge fan of Pecan pie. I've just never been one to love nuts in my food. (Unless it's chocolate cashew or peanut clusters, I love them! See there's that whole adding chocolate to stuff makes it better thing :0)

Anyway, I naturally gravitate towards the chocolate pies during the holidays or whenever I have a choice of pie. So when I was watching an episode of Cake Boss on Netflix and saw them making Chocolate Pecan Pie (among other pies), my curiosity was piqued. I'd never herd of chocolate pecan pie before. I had to try it! And there, in one of my baking books I found a recipe for it. Bada-bing, bada-bang, bada-boom! After I tasted the first bite I wanted more and more!

I also think I enjoyed this pie so much because the pecans are roasted in the oven, softening them a bit and adding a new dimension of flavor. They are also chopped, which texture I preferred to whole nuts. Plus, adding in three different types of chocolate, semi-sweet, milk and white really was a delight for my taste buds. An important note: an instant read thermometer is essential to creating this pie. If you don't have one, see if you can borrow one from a friend!

Want to know a great trick for creating a gourmet pie? Flavor your whipped cream topping! Yes, a simple but delightful addition of flavored whipped cream can complement just about any pie. I love Caramel flavored Whipped Cream on my Pumpkin and Pecan pie. Whip it up just before you are ready to serve your slices. Find the recipe following the one below for Chocolate Pecan pie.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 55 to 65 minutes

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Ingredients (8 to 10 servings)

• 1 recipe for prebaked Pie Shell
• 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup of milk chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped into small pieces

Instructions

1. While preheating your oven to bake the pie shell, roast the whole pecans on a rimmed baking sheet for about 5 to 7 minutes. Watch carefully so they don't burn and stir them every couple minutes. Chop them up when they have cooled sufficiently.

2. Follow the directions for partially baking the pie crust. Melt the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer by placing it in a pot of water set over medium low heat. The water should not simmer.

3. Remove the bowl when the butter is completely melted and mix in the sugar and salt with a wooden spoon. Stir until all the butter is absorbed. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, beat in the eggs, then corn syrup and vanilla.

4. Return the bowl to the pot of hot water and stir the mixture until it reaches 130 degrees on an instant read thermometer. This can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. (The mixture should be shiny and hot.) Remove from the heat and stir in the toasted chopped pecans.

5. When the pie shell comes out of the oven, pour the pecan mixture into the pie shell. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the pie filling and use the back of a spoon to push them down into the filling. Adjust the oven temperature to 275 degrees and move an oven rack to the middle position. Bake the pie for 55 to 65 minutes, when the filling is set but soft when pressed with the back of a spoon. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 4 hours.

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Caramel Whipped Cream

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: about 3 to 5 minutes

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Ingredients (8 servings)

• 1 1/3 cup whipped cream
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Torani Caramel syrup or other flavor or liquor of your choice

Instructions

1. Chill bowl and beater(s) in a freezer for about 10 minutes. Add all ingredients into the bowl and whip at low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the mixture gets frothly with bubbles. Increase the speed to medium for another 30 seconds. Then turn the speed to high and whip until the cream is nearly doubled in volume, smooth, thick, and soft peaks form when you remove the beaters or whisk, about 1 to 2 minutes. (Soft peaks are when the point of the peak falls over and touches the whipped cream. A stiff peak will stand up strait.)

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Foolproof Pie Dough

If you have ever made a pie from scratch you know how difficult pie crust dough is to work with. Learning how to work with pastry dough is so important to some, they pay a lot of money to become certified Pastry Chefs. Working with pastry dough can really take some know how. I have in the past, personally tried TWO different 'No Fail' pie dough recipes; apparently they didn't factor me in when they named the recipes. They should have been named "No Fail pie crust except for Emily". Every time a disaster! I was scared off of pie baking for a long time. Then, I found this little miracle of science, "Foolproof Pie Dough" that even I can make!

This recipe's success relies heavily on one key ingredient. Vodka.
Yep, that's right, alcohol. Or more accurately, ethanol.
It turns out Vodka has a high percentage of ethanol (40%), and that's why it's used in this pie dough. And NO, it's not for taste! In fact, it imparts zero flavor into the crust because the alcohol evaporates in the oven. This recipe is all about the chemistry. Have a desire to be enlightened? Then read on!

The Rolling and placing process of pie dough:

You will need: one refrigerated pie dough disk,
a long rolling pin, flour, and your pie plate (obviously).
And you'll need to work quickly so the dough will not get warm. If it
doesn't stay cold, it will get sticky.

This dough is more moist and supple than others, and I suggest
flouring your work surface with at least 2 tablespoons of flour. Roll out
the dough to no thinner than 1/8 inch. It should be about 12" in diameter.

Now roll the dough onto your rolling pin, and unroll it over your pie plate.
( My bench scraper comes in handy in case the dough sticks a bit to the surface.)

Using kitchen scissors, trim the excess dough that is hanging longer
than 1/2 inch over the sides.

Fold or tuck that 1/2 inch overhang of pie dough under itself, making the
end of the dough flush with the edge of the pie plate. You can smoosh it
together gently.

Lastly, use your fingers as shown to create a decorative edging.
Some folks use the tines of a fork to smoosh the dough around the edges,
Whatever you personally prefer! Now the dough is ready to be
 refrigerated and then baked!

FYI: You will need a food processor for this recipe :0)
Gluten (the protein chains that holds dough together) forms readily in water. Too much gluten will make the dough tight, causing it to be difficult to roll out.The more you knead the dough the more gluten forms. Most pie dough recipes are stingy with the water for this very reason, and the dough can often turn out dry and fall apart. But gluten can't form in ethanol. So we can add more moisture to the dough, making it moist and definitely easier to work with. (No ripping!)
Take note: This dough takes a bit longer in the oven to bake than traditional dough as there is more moisture to evaporate.

Recipe step by step photographs

The "cottage cheese curd" stage after adding butter and shortening.

Dough processed with the last 1/2 cup flour. It should have lots of small clumps.

Dough with the water and vodka incorporated into it. See how sticky it is?

The final disc wrapped in plastic ready to be refrigerated until firm.

This dough will bake up just as tender, sweet and flaky as any pastry dough, and you'd never know the difference. As long as you follow the recipe, this dough will be just right every time!

Foolproof Pie Dough

by The Goldilocks Kitchen

Prep Time: 10 min.

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert pie

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Ingredients (1 single crust pie dough)

• 1 1/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for the work surface
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes and chilled
• 1/4 cup of shortening, cut into 2 pieces and chilled
• 2 tablespoons cold vodka
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

1. In a food processor, add 3/4 cup flour, the sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to mix together. Now add the butter and shortening and process strait for about 10 seconds. You should see a few large and small clumps of dough (It resembles cottage cheese curds). No dry flour should remain. With a spatula, scrape down the dough and spread it evenly around the food processor. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of four over the dough and pulse 6 times. Empty the contents into a medium mixing bowl.

2. Pour the cold vodka and water over the dough and fold it in with a rubber spatula to thoroughly mix it in. It should be somewhat sticky. If it's really wet, sprinkle on more flour and hand knead it in on a lightly floured surface until the dough is manageable. You can knead and work this dough till the cows come home and it will never get stiff like regular pie dough. Lay out some plastic wrap, pick up the dough in your hands and mold it into a flat disk about 4" wide. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least an hour. Pull it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before rolling it out. Can be refrigerated for up to two days.

3. After rolling and placing the dough in your pie plate, poke the bottom of the crust a few times with the tines of a fork. Cover the pie plate with plastic wrap and chill the dough again for at least 30 minutes before baking. When ready to bake, line the dough with a layer of aluminum foil and add pie weights or pennies. If you only have beans or rice to use as weights, make sure you fill your pie to the very top with them; they're not as heavy as standard weights. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil, set the pie filled with weights on it, and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven. If you only need a 'partially baked pie crust' then stop here. If you need it completely baked through, remove the weights, rotate the baking sheet, and continue to bake until the crust is light golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes more.

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