{Melanie's Apple Dumplings}

My mother-in-law, Melanie, can bake. I don't mean "Oh, she finds her way around the kitchen". I mean "please bake five dozen molasses crinkles and overnight them to me. I'll pay the shipping." kind of good. I was not given the gift of baking. She soo was! 

Melanie's Apple Dumplings

What You'll Need:

8 small apples {I prefer Macintosh or Macoun}

1 pie crust recipe {see below}

3/4 c white sugar

1/2 c maple syrup

3/4 c water

8-16 tbsp brown sugar

cinnamon

1 stick butter

Crust:  

{Melanie makes her own crusts. I, again, can't bake worth beans so I buy Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts. If you're a baker, here's her crust recipe...} 

3 c all purpose flour

6 tsp baking powder

3/4 c butter or shortening

Mix above ingredients together. Add 1 cup of cold water. Mix to make pastry. 

Assemble: 

Peel and core apples.

Roll dough to pie crust thinness and cut into 6"x6" squares. 

Place an apple on a square of dough. Into the core, put 1/2 tbsp of butter, 1-2 tsp of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Wrap the dough around the apple and seal the edges around it. 

Place the apple seam-side-down on to a baking dish and repeat for the 7 remaining apples. 

*You can also use 4 large apples. Core them, cut them in half, lay them cored-side-up, and place the butter, sugar and cinnamon in the cored portion.

Sauce: 

Mix together sugar, maple syrup and water. Pour over apples and sprinkles with cinnamon. 

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until dough is done and starting to brown.

Sadly, I baked these at night I didn't have much light to work with and the photos I took were pretty crummy. Just trust me on this one. They're simple, delicious, and worth it!