Pioneer Woman apple dumplings from Ree Drummond wrap Granny Smith apple wedges in crescent roll dough and bake them in a butter-sugar sauce with Mountain Dew. And the recipe serves 6 at approximately 680 calories per serving in about 50 minutes at 350°F.
Instead of making dough from scratch, Ree uses two cans of refrigerated crescent rolls as the wrapper for each apple wedge. So the top crisps into a flaky, golden shell during baking while the underside stays soft and absorbs the sweet sauce pooling in the dish.
Barely stirring the melted butter and sugar together so the mixture stays lumpy and grainy is the step that builds the caramel sauce. And if you whisk it smooth, the sugar dissolves completely and the finished sauce turns thin instead of forming those sticky, sweet pockets around each dumpling.
Source: The Pioneer Woman (thepioneerwoman.com)
Pioneer Woman Apple Dumplings
Course: DessertsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalPeeled apple wedges roll up inside crescent dough triangles and line a buttered 13×9 dish. Then a lumpy butter-sugar mixture pours over the top, Mountain Dew goes around the edges, cinnamon sprinkles on, and 30 to 45 minutes at 350°F turns everything golden and caramelized.
Ingredients
- For the dumplings:
2 Granny Smith apples
2 (8-oz.) cans crescent rolls
- For the sauce:
1 cup butter, plus more for greasing
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12-oz.) can Mountain Dew soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat and prep the dish: Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 13×9 inch baking dish.
- Cut the apples: Then peel and core the apples, cut each in half vertically, and slice each half into 4 wedges for 16 total.
- Unroll the dough: While the apples are ready, separate the crescent dough into 16 triangles on a lightly floured surface.
- Wrap the wedges: Then place one apple wedge on the wide base of each triangle and roll toward the pointed end.
- Arrange in the dish: Once all 16 are wrapped, place them in the prepared baking dish.
- Melt the butter: Then melt the cup of butter in a small saucepan.
- Add the sugar: Once melted, add the sugar and barely stir to keep the mixture lumpy and grainy.
- Add the vanilla: Then add the vanilla and barely stir again.
- Pour over the dumplings: Once mixed, pour the butter-sugar mixture over all the wrapped apples.
- Add the Mountain Dew: Then pour the soda around the edges of the pan.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon: Once the liquid is in, sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the top.
- Bake until golden: Then bake for 30 to 45 minutes until the dumplings are golden brown and crispy on top.
- Serve with sauce: Once done, serve with ice cream and spoon the pan sauce over the top.
FAQs
Why does the recipe use Mountain Dew?
The soda combines with the melted butter during baking to create a sweet, caramel-like sauce at the bottom of the dish. And the citric acid and sugar in the Mountain Dew react with the butter to produce a sticky glaze that would take much longer to build from scratch.
The source page says not to use diet or sugar-free soda, because the artificial sweeteners do not caramelize the same way. And if you cannot find Mountain Dew, Sprite, 7-Up, or ginger ale swap in directly since any lemon-lime soda produces a similar result.
Can I use a different apple variety?
Granny Smith apples hold their shape during baking because their firm flesh resists turning mushy at 350°F. And the source page suggests Honeycrisp or Gala as alternatives, though both are sweeter so the finished dumplings taste less tart.
But avoid soft varieties like McIntosh or Red Delicious, because they collapse inside the crescent dough and the filling turns to applesauce. Since the apple wedge needs to stay intact for the texture contrast between crispy top and tender fruit, firmness matters more than flavor here.
Can I prep the dumplings ahead of time?
The source page says you can wrap the apple wedges in crescent dough up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerate them on the prepared dish. And keeping the dough cold actually helps it puff better in the oven, since warm dough starts flat and does not crisp the same way.
But wait to pour the butter mixture, soda, and cinnamon until just before baking. Since the liquid softens the dough if it sits, adding it fresh means the tops stay flaky and the sauce builds properly during the 30 to 45 minutes in the oven.
How should I store and reheat leftovers?
The source page says to cover the dish with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days. And the sauce thickens as it cools, so the chilled dumplings actually hold together better than fresh ones when you scoop them out.
Reheat in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes so the crescent dough crisps back up, since microwaving makes the pastry chewy. And the same oven-reheat rule applies to pastry-topped desserts like the pioneer woman pecan pie, where direct heat restores the crust better than steam does.
What should I serve with apple dumplings?
Ree says vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream on the source page, and spooning the pan sauce over both the dumpling and the ice cream is the key to the full experience. Since the sauce is essentially liquid caramel, it melts the ice cream into a warm pool underneath.
And cinnamon ice cream would be an even better match if you can find it, because the warm spice echoes the cinnamon sprinkled over the top. For a full Pioneer Woman dessert spread, pair these with the pioneer woman blackberry cobbler, since both bake at 350°F and can share the oven on the same rack.
