Baked Apple Dumplings

Half an apple, stuffed with raisins, sealed in dough, smothered in cinnamon and sugar served with ice cream and cider sauce. Sound yummy? It is.

These took a little time to put together. I made the dough and the cider sauce early in the day and it made it a little faster to assemble. Just pretend you are Snow White while you work away in the kitchen...you know, the seven dwarfs start salivating when she says she will make them apple dumplings??

Never mind. You obviously don't have 3 small children like I do :)


Baked Apple Dumplings

{serves 8}

Dough
2 1/2 cups 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 shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Apples
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons raisins, chopped
4 Golden Delicious apples (you can also use Braeburns or Galas)
2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1. For the Dough: Process the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter the butter and shortening over the flour and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the buttermilk until a dough forms. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead briefly until the dough is cohesive. Press into an 8x4 rectangle. Cut in half crosswise, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm {1 hour}.

2. For the Apples: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. In a second bowl, combine the butter, raisins, and 3 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Peel the apples and halve them through the equator. Remove the core of the apple with a spoon or melon baller. Pack the butter mixture into each apple half.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough half into a 12-inch square (my dough was quite sticky so I had to use quite a bit of flour on this step). Cut each 12-inch square into four 6-inch squares. Working 1 at a time, lightly brush the edges of each dough square with the egg white and place an apple half, cut side up, in the center of each square. Gather the dough 1 corner at a time on top of the apple, crimping the edges to seal. Using a paring knife cut a vent hole in the top of each dumpling.

4. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the dumplings on the prepared baking sheet, brush the tops with egg white, and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake until the dough is golden brown and the juices are bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes or so and serve with cider sauce and ice cream.

Cider Sauce

To make the sauce in advance, reduce the cider mixture until it measures 1 1/2 cups, then refrigerate. When ready to serve, return the mixture to a simmer and whisk in the butter and lemon juice off the heat.

1 cup apple cider (I used apple juice with good results)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Bring the cider, water, sugar, and cinnamon to a simmer in a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and reduce to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and lemon juice. Drizzle the sauce over the dumplings and ice cream and serve.

{Best of America's Test Kitchen 2011 Cookbook}