Apple Dumplings Again

  In the Fall I try to make apple dumplings at least once. I watch for the fresh apple crop to begin showing up and then I plan a baking day. I made a pan of six yesterday for our Saturday morning card game. Here they are coming out of the oven.

 I have to say that these were  not nearly as pretty as other years. Initially the dough was far too dry and I added milk twice and eventually got it too soft. So I worked a bit more flour into it, at least so it could be rolled out to the proper size. Tom said the pan looked more like apple crisp. In any case,  the taste was quite good and in line with what Mom used to make when we were kids.

 I've written about making them before and the recipe is posted here.

 A few in-progress pictures might be helpful for those who haven't made them before ...

 Here's the dough after the margarine was "cut in". It's of a crumbly texture.

 And the sheet of dough cut into six equal size squares. Well, somewhat!

 I pile the apple chunks atop the dough and then add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a small square of margarine.

 I fold them a bit roughly and I don't have much pride in how the final dumplings look. But the taste is truly wonderful. The best that can be said is that they look homemade.

 Here's the pan just out of the oven. When the dumplings are served I place them in a dessert bowl and spoon extra sauce atop them. I like the dough to get a little "dry" in the oven, at least on the tops. I check the dough for doneness by pushing a toothpick into several pieces of dough and make sure it comes up clean.

 So Saturday morning cards went well. We had a fresh baked good, tea and coffee, and dumplings. And maybe best of all, I won the game.