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★ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ★
You'll love this easy recipe for apple dumplings. It's a super simple recipe made with crescent roll dough, granny smith apples, butter, cinnamon, sugar and Mountain Dew!!
Great for Holidays
This recipe makes a large batch so it's a great Thanksgiving dessert or fall treat. Tart apples are wrapped in dough and baked in a buttery, cinnamon-sugar glaze. Topped with vanilla ice cream this hit all the right notes.
Kid-Friendly
This recipe is a fall favorite of ours. The kids love to help roll up the apples in dough.
Kid of all ages love rolling up the apple wedges in the dough and placing them in the baking pan. They also love to help stir and add the sugar of course.
Older kids can help pour on the Mountain Dew since you want to be careful to pour around the dough as much as possible to prevent soggy dough.
Make it a Fun Fall Activity
Add to the fun by picking your own apples.
But if you're past that point in the season, or just would rather the convenience of store bought, lucky for us, you can buy apples any time of the year.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
All you need is 7 ingredients to make this yummy apple cinnamon dessert:
- Pillsbury crescent roll dough. Or store brand crescent rolls work fine too.
- Granny Smith apples. I like to use this kind of apple because they are tart and that goes really well with the sweet, lemon-lime filling.
- Cinnamon. Ground cinnamon is all you need. (not cinnamon sugar)
- Nutmeg (optional). A little bit of nutmeg adds a nutty and scent flavor which I feel like really makes this dish comforting.
- Butter. This combine with sugar and soda, magically creates as sauce as it bakes.
- White sugar. You can substitute some or all with brown sugar for a touch of caramel-molasses flavor.
- Mountain Dew. Or another lemon-lime soda. Sprint, 7-up or store brand sodas all work. You can use diet soda, however your filling will end up a little runny so non-diet works best.
Optional Toppings
Try adding: Nuts, vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream and powdered sugar.
★ How to Make these Apple Dumplings ★
These dumplings are quick to prep, here are the basic steps:
- Wrap apple slices in dough.
- Place in a greased baking pan.
- Melt butter with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Pour cinnamon butter and Mountain Dew over dough-wrapped apples.
- Serve topped with vanilla ice cream.
- Bake.
Pretty easy! Super yummy.
★ Tips & FAQs ★
Use an apple slicer to save time.
I'm not big on kitchen gadgets but if you make this recipe a lot, then investing in a simple apple sliver will save a bunch of time and will create perfectly sized wedges for you each time.
Granny Smith apples are going to give you the best flavor — their tart taste pairs really well with the sweetness of the sauce. However, if prefer a more mild or different flavored apple, by all means, go with your favorite or experiment and see what type of apple you like best.
If you're having trouble finding Mountain Dew or want to just save money and go with store brand that's totally fine. You can also substitute any lemon-lime carbonated drink like sprite or generic lemon-lime soda.
Diet Mountain Dew will work but your sauce won't be as thick.
If you want to experiment, you can substitute some or all of the sugar for brown sugar. You'll get a darker brown sauce and some hints of molasses flavor when you use brown sugar. Brown sugar may give you a little more caramel-like flavor as well. So if you're into that, give it a try!
Top your dumplings with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce or nuts.
While you're at it, maybe some whipped cream too!
You can load these up with toppings or just enjoy them in their basic form. I find them really wonderful with just a simple sprinkle of powdered sugar but I do love them with a scoop of ice cream too.
★ More Recipes You'll Love ★
Try these savory apple recipes:
More Apple Dessert Ideas
Browse all my easy dessert recipes for more yummy sweets to make.
This easy apple dumpling recipe made with crescent rolls and Mountain Dew was featured on South Your Mouth and Meal Plan Monday!
Easy Apple Dumplings with Crescent Rolls and Mountain Dew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 granny smith apples
- 16 oz crescent roll dough 2 (8oz) tubes
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks
- 1 cup sugar
- 12 oz Mountain Dew (or other citrus soda)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Toppings
- powdered sugar to taste
- vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, nuts and/or caramel sauce (optional)
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Instructions
- Peel and core apples. Slice each apple into 8 wedges.
- Wrap apples in dough. Wrap each apple quarter in a crescent roll and place each dumpling in a buttered baking dish. 9x12 size works best.
- Make butter sauce. In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour butter sauce over dumplings completely covering each one.
- Add Mountain Dew. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan and in between the dumplings but not on top to the dumplings so the they don't get soggy.
- Bake at 350˚ for 35 minutes or until dumplings become golden brown.
- Add toppings and serve. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. Add a scoop of ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, nuts and/or caramel sauce to each plate as desired.
Video
Notes
- Bake on the middle or bottom rack in the oven to avoid over-browning the tops.
- Allow to cool before adding ice cream or whipped cream.
- Diet Mountain Dew can be used, but your sauce won't be as thick.
Julie says
why can't diet Dew be used?
Angela G. says
I do not recommend diet Dew for the sake of flavor. If you want to give it a try, it might be worth experimenting with. I have not tried it, so I'm unsure the diet variety of soda would give the same textures as using a soda with sugar.
Sherig says
Can you substitute sparkling water for the Mountain Dew? I keep lemon lime water in the house but don’t care for the taste of Mountain Dew.
Angela G. says
Hi Sherig, No, unfortunately sparkling water will not work since it contains no sweetener. You can use Sprite or 7-up. You need the sugar to sweeten and gel the sauce. Thanks for asking.
Janet Miller says
There is NO Mt. Dew taste when recipe is baked. 7 UP or Sprite ( really any carbonated lemon lime drink) can be used instead. This is surprisingly an very simple, EXCELLENT recipe!!
Carolyn G. says
Easy to prepare and VERY delicious!
Susan Kelly says
I substitute brown sugar and add vanilla bean paste to the butter with the nutmeg. I sprinkle Korintje cinnamon over the dumplings instead of adding to the sugar mixture and reduce the amount of Mountain Dew to 8 oz, depending on how liquid you like them and bake. They don’t last a day and are everyone’s favorite apple dessert! Delicious and so easy.
Chris says
This is a favorite with all my grandkids! Easy to make too!
Pam Oladko says
OMG. I think this is super delicious and very easy to make. Thank you so much for sharing. Everyone at work loved it.
Shelua says
I substituted peaches for apples and its delicious too
Linda B Smith says
Our troop has a thing for apples. The BSA Scoutmaster made these in a Dutch oven during a campout. They were gobbled up by the scouts faster than he could get them cooked. Absolutely divine!
Angela G. says
What a great idea. I never thought to make these while camping. So glad you all enjoyed them!
Barbe says
Have you made these ahead to take to a pot luck? If so, what tips do you have to keep them from getting soggy?
Angela G. says
Hi Barbe, if making ahead, I would prepare them as directed, cover and bake them when you get where you're going. If that's not an option, your next best bet is to bake them at home and then cover loosely with foil so that moisture isn't trapped inside to make them soggy.You could even poke a few hols in the foil to vent so steam. Good luck! I've had these before brought to a potluck and they are still pretty yummy so I don't think you'll need to worry.