Healthier Homemade Apple Dumplings
I'm not about fat-free or sugar free anything, these apple dumplings are healthier because I have cut out some of the sugar and butter and made the pastry thinner. They still have that good old fashioned apple dumpling taste with the great cinnamon sauce. But at 10 points per apple (or 413 calories) vs 28 points or (802 calories) they are much healthier for you! I love to make a batch and freeze them for later. When I want a little treat, I'll take just 2 out for my husband and me, make a small amount of the sauce and bake them up in our toaster oven.
Ingredients
- 1 c. all purpose flour plus a bit more 1/4 c. for rolling out the dough
- 1 1/4 t. baking powder
- 1/4 t. kosher salt
- 5 1/2 T. unsalted cold butter-cut into small pieces do not let it soften
- 1/4 c. 2 % milk
- 8 medium apples-peeled and cored I like Gala or Jonagold
- 4 t. sugar
- ground cinnamon to sprinkle over apples
- Apple Dumpling Sauce see notes at bottom
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 1/2 c. water or 2/3 c. if you want thinner but more sauce
- 2 t. butter
- 1/2 t. ground cinnamon or more if you like it a bit spicy
- 1/8 t. freshly ground nutmeg
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add cold butter and pulse until mixture looks like fine crumbles.
- While the food processor is running, add milk through the top. Combine only until mixture comes together.
- Divide dough into 8 pieces. I like them to be the same so I use a scale - each ball weighs about 1.2-1.3 oz.
- Roll out each ball on a lightly floured board until big enough to cover apple.
- Sprinkle with 1/4 t. sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet (if flash freezing) or in a 9 x 13 pan if baking immediately.
- Do this for the remaining apples.
- When ready to bake, make the sauce by combining 2/3 c. sugar, 1/2 c. water, 2 t. butter, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/8 t. nutmeg in a small saucepan. Heat until mixture comes to a boil.
- Pour sauce over apples and bake at 375° for about 35 minutes or until apples are done. If baking frozen apple dumplings, lower heat to 350°, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake 30 more minutes until apples are done.
Notes
- I like a thicker sauce. This allows for about 1-2 T. of sauce per dumpling. I would love more sauce on this apple dumpling but I don't always want all the points. If you want more sauce you can use equal parts of sugar and water, it won't be as thick but you'll have more for the same points.
- Or if you want to splurge and have a lot of sauce, then you can double the sauce recipe, but be sure and add 4 points to your total freestyle point count. The apple dumpling alone is 6 and the sauce as written is 4 points. So if you splurge and have double the sauce then it's 14 points per dumpling. It's still way better than the original recipe of 28 points.