
Here’s a detailed recipe for Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings, written in a clear, step-by-step format. This version stays close to the classic recipe that made it famous — sweet, buttery, and totally irresistible!
🍎 Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings Recipe
Warm, Buttery, and Made with Crescent Rolls!
These apple dumplings are the ultimate comfort dessert — soft apples wrapped in golden crescent dough, baked in a buttery cinnamon-sugar syrup, and topped with a splash of soda (yes, really!). It sounds wild, but it’s pure magic.
📝 Ingredients
- 2 whole Granny Smith apples
- 2 cans (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 can (12 oz) Mountain Dew soda
- Optional: vanilla ice cream for serving
👩🍳 Instructions
1. Preheat Oven
- Set your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Prepare the Apples
- Peel and core the apples.
- Cut each apple into 8 slices (you’ll have 16 slices total).
3. Wrap with Crescent Dough
- Open the crescent rolls and separate into triangles.
- Roll each apple slice in one triangle of dough, starting at the wider end.
- Place all 16 wrapped slices in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
4. Make the Syrup
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir gently (don’t boil).
5. Pour It All Together
- Pour the buttery sugar mixture over the dumplings in the dish.
- Then, pour the Mountain Dew around the edges and between the dumplings — not directly on top.
6. Bake
- Place the dish in the oven and bake for 40–45 minutes, or until the dumplings are golden and bubbly.
🍨 Serving Suggestions
- Best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Drizzle a bit of the syrup from the bottom of the pan over the top. Heavenly!
💡 Tips & Variations
- Apples: Granny Smith is best for its tartness, but Honeycrisp or Fuji work too.
- Dough: You can also try puff pastry, but crescent rolls give the best texture.
- Soda Substitute: Sprite or 7UP can be used instead of Mountain Dew.
- Spice it up: Add a pinch of nutmeg or clove to the butter mixture for a fall twist.
🍏 Why It Works
This dish is the perfect blend of sweet and tart, soft and crispy, warm and gooey. The soda creates a slightly caramelized bottom and keeps everything moist. It’s one of those recipes that sounds strange — until you taste it. Then it becomes a family favorite forever.
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