Easy Apple Dumplings and the Meal Plan 10/25-10/31

Hello friends! It's been so long since I posted a recipe on here, that I decided to include a recipe with my regular Sunday night meal plan post. Holy cow, were these apple dumplings ever delicious!



Apple dumplings are probably my favorite fall dessert. My recipe is the one that my grandma used to make (you can click HERE for the recipe), baked with the dumplings swimming in a sweet, spiced sauce. I wasn't really shopping for a new apple dumpling recipe, but a while ago, I came across The Pioneer Woman's recipe for apple dumplings, which she obtained from her mother, who got the recipe from a friend named "Donna". I decided to try the recipe because it was 1. a quick, easy take on apple dumplings (No need to make pastry dough, you use crescent rolls. Plus, I only needed to peel 2 apples for this one.) AND 2. It called for Mountain Dew, which piqued my curiosity.

In a fraction of the time that it usually takes me to make apple dumpling dough, peel apples, make sauce, and lovingly shape each dumpling using my grandma's recipe, I had the pan of PW's dumplings ready for the oven. I think it only took me about 15 minutes to assemble these babies!

Here's what I did:

First, I peeled 2 big, gorgeously green Granny Smith Apples. (The sauce is so sweet that the tart Granny Smith is a good choice).



Since I needed to cut each apple into 8 slices, I enlisted my 8 slice apple cutter for the job. If you don't have one, you can obviously use your paring knife to core the apple and cut into slices.



Next, I busted open a couple of tubes of crescent rolls. Separate the dough into triangles and then place one apple slice on each crescent roll.



Roll em' up and place them into a 13 X 9 baking dish.



Now make the sauce. Melt 2 sticks of butter (That's right....2 WHOLE sticks!) in a saucepan.



Then stir in 1-1/2 cups of sugar, until just combined. You'll still have a layer of butter over the sugar. Don't bother stirring it too hard or too much. It won't help. Just accept the obstacle presented by the mass quantity of butter in front of you and move on. : )



Oh, and add a teaspoon of vanilla too.



After you stir in the vanilla, pour the sauce over the dumplings.



And now for the surprise ingredient: Mountain Dew!



I used about 10 oz. Pour it around the edges of the pan and down the center too.



After I poured in the Mountain Dew, I realized that I had my dumplings lined up into two fairly tight rows, so I moved them around a bit so that each dumpling had a chance to soak up the decadent sauce and brown evenly on the sides.



Then I sprinkled the whole pan with cinnamon before popping it into the oven for 40 minutes.



I have to say that the whole house smelled pretty amazing as this dessert bubbled away in my oven. Here's what the dumplings looked like when I pulled them out to cool.



And now for a bite!



These apple dumplings were yummy for such a little bit of effort. Here's how the Pioneer Woman described them: "these are really surprisingly delightful! The texture of the crescent rolls becomes something entirely different during the baking process: the top gets delightfully crisp and flavorful, while the underneath side remains soft and mushy and more “apple dumpling-y”. And the Mountain Dew, coupled with the obscene amount of butter, creates a yummy, sweet sauce at the end."

I took them to an afternoon get-together and they were a big hit! Of course, they were quite different from my grandma's apple dumplings, but wonderful in their own rite. Faced with an apple dumpling craving in a time crunch, I'd definitely make these again!

Here's the recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Apple Dumplings

Ingredients
■2 whole Granny Smith Apples
■2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
■2 sticks Butter
■1-½ cup Sugar
■1 teaspoon Vanilla
■Cinnamon, To Taste
■1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Preparation Instructions

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

*Notes: I did not butter my pan first...I'm pretty sure there was plenty of butter in this recipe to prevent sticking. Also, I only used 10 oz. of Mountain Dew.

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Now...for the Meal Plan:

Monday October 25th

Ham and Cheese Risotto

Tuesday October 26th

Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos

Wednesday October 27th

Pumpkin Peanut Soup

Thursday October 28th

Leftovers

Friday October 29th

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pizza

Saturday October 30th

Trunk or Treat

Sunday October 31st

Trick or Treat (pizza party with neighbors and donuts in my driveway again!)

Grocery List

Produce

mushrooms
shallots
garlic
lime
ginger
2 onions
2 large sweet potatoes
taco topping veggies: lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, etc.

Meat

1 lb. cooked deli ham
3 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup cooked chicken breast meat, cut into chunks

Dairy

butter
5 oz. shredded asiago cheese
milk or half and half
Shredded cheese (for tacos)
flour tortillas
1 refrigerated pizza dough
sour cream
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Canned Goods

white wine (8 oz.)
6- 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
peanut butter
Dijon mustard
ketchup
soy sauce
vegetable oil
red wine or cider vinegar
sesame oil
1-16 oz. can pure solid pack pumpkin
1 jar salsa

Dry Goods

arborio rice
brown sugar
onion powder
red pepper flakes
3 packages taco seasoning

I hope that you all have a wonderful week!