Apple Dumplings with Caramel Sauce

Jan here, with a bit of a hodge-podge post. But don't worry! We'll get to the apple dumplings!

First of all, don't miss the fun over on the Amish Wisdom blog! Mattie's Pledge is part of a fourteen book giveaway!

And next....

...Autumn has arrived in the Black Hills in all her glory!

On Saturday we explored a part of the Black Hills we've rarely visited. Formally, the area is called the "Central Hills," but people generally say, "We went up by Mystic today." Or, "We went hiking west of Rochford." Or, "We went camping up by Castle Creek."

But whatever we call it, the area is beautiful. It was also one of the earliest settled areas of the Black Hills (1876), which means that gold was found there.

At one time, gold drove everything in the Black Hills. But today we're lured there by the golden leaves of the aspens.

And now, finally! We get to the apple dumplings! We bought some apples and pears over the weekend. I'll tackle the pears another week (if there are any left!), and share one of my favorite apple delicacies with you.

Apple Dumplings with Caramel Sauce

Don't let the caramel sauce part of the name scare you - it practically makes itself!

For each dumpling, you need:

1/2 apple (any kind, but Macintosh or Golden Delicious bake well)
Pastry - more on this below
1 generous teaspoon butter
2 Tablespoons - heaping - brown sugar
a sprinkle of ground cloves
4 or 5 dashes...or more...ground cinnamon

Pastry:
I used Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry sheets.

I try to keep a box of these in my freezer for last minute baking urges.

But for this recipe, you can also use pie crust or biscuit dough.

Assembly:

Thaw the puff pastry sheet according to the package directions. Then cut the sheet into four squares. Roll one square out until it's about 7" x 7".

Cut an apple in half and remove the core.

Place one half in the center of your pastry square and pile on the butter, brown sugar, cloves, and cinnamon.

Don't worry if the goodies spill onto the pastry!

Bring the corners of the pastry together at the top and give them a nice twist to hold them there. You can fold the edges together to close them, but don't worry about sealing them. As the dumplings bake, you want the delicious butter/sugar/spice/apple juice to drip into the pan and make your caramel sauce. :)

Place the dumplings in a greased baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350° for about an hour, or until the apple is baked through.

To serve, put the hot dumplings in bowls and top with the caramel sauce in the baking dish. A scoop of vanilla ice cream would be great on top if you have it!

And I guarantee that your kitchen will smell delicious!

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com