What’s Cookin’ – Apple Dumplings

I made desserts for the Cross Country kids’ dinner this week.  I made pumpkin bars decorated for Halloween.

I added some food coloring and cinnamon to the icing this time and topped each piece with a candy corn in honor of Halloween.  Okay, I was shooting for orange icing, and it came out to be more peach than orange but close enough.

The other dessert that I made, however, was introduced to me about 2 years ago at a board meeting for the mothers of twins club organization of which I am a member.  This dessert has been featured on The Pioneer Woman website as well as on her food blog, Tasty Kitchen.

I love this dessert for the following reasons:

1) It’s super easy to make.
2) It has an unusual secret ingredient which makes it fun.
3) It’s a great dessert to make with young children.  I made them with my niece, Nora, this summer.  Everyone raved about them which made her proud, and she took the recipe back to Oregon with her and made it again for friends.  I hope this created a nice memory for her of cooking with her Aunt Theresa.
4) It has WOW factor because you will hear, “Wow!  These are great!  Can I have the recipe?”
5) They are super delicious and yummy and you should make some immediately.

Here is the step-by-step followed by the recipe.

The cast of characters – I made 2 batches so there are double the ingredients here, but the recipe can also easily be halved for a smaller gathering.

Take 2 Granny Smith apples.  Cut into 8 pieces, core, and peel.

Melt butter, add sugar, and vanilla.  Stir but do not continue to cook.

Wrap each apple slice in a piece of crescent roll.  Nestle the 16 wrapped apple slices in a buttered 9 x 13 glass dish.  Pour butter, sugar, vanilla mixture over the top.

Pour 2/3 cup of Mountain Dew around the edges and sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350° oven.

Serve with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  These are extremely easy to make and yummy!