Apple Dumplings (no refined sugar)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 grams) (see updates note below for gluten free)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2/3 cup butter softened
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3 apples peeled, cored and halved (choose a sweet apple like Golden Delicious or Opal)
• 1 can frozen Apple concentrate (100% juice. No sugar or sweetener)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Mix in the butter with your fingers and stir in the milk until a soft dough forms.
4. Divide the dough into 6 balls and roll out each ball of dough to about 1/4” thick on a floured surface
5. Place an apple half cut side down in the center of each piece of dough and fold the dough around the apple and press it together to seal.
6. Place the dumplings in a 9×13 pan.
7. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the frozen apple juice concentrate and cinnamon and bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat and swirl in cold butter.
8. Pour this mixture around the dumplings.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Apples should be soft and dough golden brown. Remove from oven and spoon syrup over dumplings.
10. Serve warm with syrup or with honey or maple ice cream (links below) if skipping refined sugar. If not skipping refined sugar, serve with regular vanilla ice cream.

I needed to make a dessert using no sugar or sugar substitute and thought an apple dumpling would be perfect, but I couldn’t find a single recipe that didn’t include sugar, so I made my own.

I used golden delicious apples and opals, and they were both perfect. They got soft without getting mushy. They were naturally sweet with a hint of tart, so I didn’t need to put sugar on them. The frozen apple juice worked soooooo well, I don’t know why it’s not the standard sauce for apple dumplings. If you’ll notice I have seven dumplings. I totally miscounted when I cut the dough into pieces to roll. I just rolled the dough a bit thinner.

I will definitely be making these forever.

Updated note: bob’s red mill gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour is an excellent substitute for wheat flour if you want to make these gluten free.

Link to honey ice cream and maple ice cream.