Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about a recipe that could be a good holiday treat replacement or just a great house warming winter month recipe.

Baked Apple Dumplings—cookscountry.com

Ingredients:

Dough

• 2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 3 T. granulated sugar
• 2 t. baking powder
• ¾ t. salt
• 10 T. (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
• ¾ c. cold buttermilk
• Apple Dumplings
• 6 T. granulated sugar
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 3 T. unsalted butter, softened
• 3 T. raisins
• 4 Golden Delicious apples, room temperature
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Method:

Dough: Process flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined. Scatter butter and shortening over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to bowl. Stir in buttermilk until dough forms. Turn out on to lightly flour surface and knead briefly until dough is cohesive. Press dough into 8-inch x 4-inch rectangle. Cut in half, wrap each half tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Apples: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. In second bowl, combine butter, raisins, and 3 T. cinnamon/sugar mixture. Peel apples and halve horizontally (or through the equator). Using a melon baller, scoop out the core and seeds. Divide the butter mixture among the apple halves, filling the hollows.

Assemble Dumplings: On lightly floured surface, roll each dough half into 12-inch square. Cut each 12-inch square into four 6-inch 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. To gather dough, fold the corners of the dough up to enclose the apple halves, overlapping and crimping to seal. Using a paring knife, cut vent hole in top of each dumpling.

Finish Apples: Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange dumplings on baking sheet. Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon/sugar. Bake until dough is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 20-25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve with Cider Sauce.

Cider Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 c. apple cider
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. sugar
• ½ t. ground cinnamon
• 2 T. unsalted butter
• 1 T. lemon juice

Method:

Bring cider, water, sugar, and cinnamon to simmer in saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1-1/2 c., about 15 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and lemon juice. Drizzle over dumplings to serve. (cook’scountry.com suggests: To make this sauce up to 2 days in advance, reduce the cider mixture until it measures 1-1/2 c., then refrigerate. When ready to serve, return mixture to simmer and whisk in butter and lemon juice off heat.)

Yields: 8 servings

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