If you’re looking for a quick fruit dessert, stovetop apple dumplings are just what you need. By boiling sliced apples and spices and then adding spoon drop dumplings, you can make an amazing dessert for you and your family. Although I did not peel the apples in the video, I highly recommend doing so: I now know that apple peels do not cook down fully. Besides that, this recipe was a big success, and I know you’ll love it if you give it a try. If you want to know how to make stewed stovetop apple dumplings, keep reading!

What Are Apple Dumplings?

Apple Dumplings History

Although the first recipes can be traced back to 18th century England, in the United States apple dumplings are usually associated with Pennsylvania Dutch culture. According to a PAEats.org article, old-fashioned apple dumplings consist of a whole apple, peeled and cored, sometimes stuffed with spices or nuts. The apple is then wrapped in pie crust, covered in a butter sauce, and then baked.

Traditionally, apple dumplings were sometimes eaten for breakfast with milk poured over them. Nowadays, they are often served as a dessert, either plain or with vanilla ice cream.

Modern Recipe Variations

Modern apple dumpling recipes can vary greatly from the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch version. Instead of pie crust, some versions call for wrapping the apples in crescent rolls, puff pastry, or even biscuit dough.

In addition to a buttery sauce, some people add lemon-lime soda such as Mountain Dew or Sprite. Other recipes call for caramel sauce, too. As you can see, modern apple dumpling recipes are very diverse, some differing greatly from the old fashioned version.

How Does My Recipe for Stovetop Apple Dumplings Differ?

Although apple dumplings are delicious, many people shy away from them because peeling, coring, stuffing, and wrapping each apple individually is very time-consuming. Nobody wants to do all that.

However, I’ve made southern-style blackberry dumplings by boiling frozen berries with pie crust, and the result was amazing. So, I started thinking: I wonder if I could do something similar with apples.

At the same time, I saw a recipe by The Hillbilly Kitchen YouTube channel that was basically what I had in mind. Inspired by that video, I decided to give it a try.

Stovetop Apple Dumplings Ingredients

This recipe has two parts: the apples and the dumplings. Let’s go over the ingredients for both:

For the Apples

Apple Slices – I used 1 pound (about 2.5 cups) of sliced apples.

Apple Juice – Usually, I use water to make stovetop dumplings, but since I was making apple dumplings, I decided to use apple juice and water.

Lemon Juice – As with other fruit desserts, lemon helps to bring out the flavor.

Light Brown Sugar – The bit of molasses goes well with apples. Normally, I use light brown sugar, but in the video I used dark brown sugar because that is what I had on hand.

Spices – Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Salt – Even with desserts, a bit of salt really brings out the flavor.

For the Dumplings

Self-Rising Flour / All-Purpose Flour – If you have self-rising flour, go on and use it. Otherwise, use all-purpose flour and add salt and baking powder (exact measurements down below).

White Sugar – A bit of sweetness never hurts.

Melted Butter – Butter makes everything better.

Vanilla – A bit of vanilla is the secret ingredient in these dumplings.

Milk / Buttermilk or Sour Cream + Water – Regular milk is fine, but I wanted to use up leftover sour cream–besides, the acidity helped to make the dumplings light and fluffy.

Homemade Stovetop Apple Dumplings Recipe — My homemade stovetop apple dumplings are a great way to satisfy a craving for pie or cobbler quickly and easily.

What Apples Are Best For Apple Dumplings?

Old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch apple dumplings are usually made with Granny Smith apples. Although many chefs cooks with Granny Smith apples because they hold their shape and their tartness balances out with sugar nicely, I prefer to cook with Golden Delicious apples.

Why I Use Golden Delicious Apples in Cooking and Baking

As I explained in my southern apple cobbler with pie crust recipe, I think Golden Delicious apples are superior. They have almost as much pectin as Granny Smith apples, so they hold their shape nicely when baked. Although they are usually tart as well, they also have sweetness, along with more of an apple flavor than green apples.

Additionally, Golden Delicious apples can be traced back to West Virginia, Granny Smith to Australia. Since I like to make southern recipes, it makes sense to use a southern apple. Although I suggest using Golden Delicious apples in this recipe, Granny Smith or any other tart apple will work, I think.

How to Make Stovetop Apple Dumplings

Although learning how to make stovetop apple dumplings is easy, there are a few important steps:

Peel the Apples

As I state in the video, I wanted to see if I could make these dumplings without peeling the apples. Honestly, I thought that boiling the apple slices would soften the apple skins to the point of not being noticeable–but I was proved wrong.

Although the skin did not bother me too much, I highly recommend peeling the apples. Apple skins are a lot tougher than you would think, so they’ll still be noticeably unless you puree the apples to make applesauce. Even though it’s more work, I think the improved texture is worth it.

Add liquid

Once the apple slices are in the pot, it is time to add liquid so that the fruit does not burn. Normally I add water when making cobbler filling or stovetop dumplings, but this time I decided to use 1/2 apple juice and 1/2 water. When making apple dumplings, it just seemed to make sense.

Although using apple juice was good in this recipe, I would recommend using water. Apple juice has some acidity, and since I did no want that much acidity in the final dish, I had to boil the dumplings for a long time. In order to control the acidity and shorten the cook time, I recommend using all water.

Add Lemon

Lemon really brings out fruit flavors, so I make sure to it to berry cobblers. I usually squeeze lemon juice over apples as I slice them for pies and cobblers, the bit of lemon really helping to enhance the flavors.

So, I decided to add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice to the stovetop dumplings. I only add juice, no zest, because I did not want to overpower the apple with taste of lemon.

Add Sugar and Spices

After adding the lemon and bringing the pot to a boil, it was time to add the sugar and spices. Since the apple juice had natural sugar, I started off with just 1/4 cup sugar, I then added 2 Tablespoons of extra sugar because I did not think it was sweet enough.

Ideally, I would recommend 1/4 cup of light brown sugar (which I didn’t have), and 2 Tablespoons of dark brown sugar. But honestly, you can adjust the sugar to your liking.

I also added spices at this time, too. Whenever I make apple desserts, such as my southern apple cobbler with pie crust, I always use the same combination of spices. So, to this recipe I added:

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

If you’ve never tried this combination of spices with apple desserts, I highly recommend it. It’s enough spice to accentuate the apples, but not so much as to compete with the apples. In my opinion, it is perfect.

Boil the Apples

Once the sugars and spices are in the pot, boil the apples on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You need to make sure the apples on are on their way to getting soft before adding the dumpling.

Spoon Drop Dumplings Ingredients

Although I usually prefer pie crust dumplings, I decided to mix up a batter and make spoon drop dumplings. The dumpling batter had very few ingredients:

1/2 cup Self-Rising Flour*

1/4 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla – This is the secret ingredient. It really makes the dumplings taste like dessert.

1/4 cup milk or buttermilk**

*Or, you can use all-purpose flour and add 3/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

**Although I would normally have added regular milk or buttermilk, I used 2 Tablespoons of sour cream and 1/4 cup water. Buttermilk or sour cream will help create an acidic environment to make the dumplings fluffy.

Drop In and Cook the Dumplings

After mixing the ingredients together, I used a spoon to drop the raw batter into the pot. Most cooks on the Internet seem to use Tablespoons when dropping in dumpling batter, but I think that 1 teaspoon, maybe 1.5 teaspoons, is the perfect dumplings size.

Once all the dumplings were added to the apples, I continued cooking on medium for 10 minutes. Although I did run my spoon around the edge of the pot, I did not mix thoroughly since I did not want to break up the dumplings.

Serve

10 minutes later, it was time to serve! The apples were tender (except for the skins, which I will get to later), the dumplings were soft and fluffy, and the syrup was sweetened and spices perfectly.

Although these apple dumplings are great on their own, they’re also delicious with vanilla ice cream.

Stovetop Apple Dumplings with Ice Cream — Although stovetop apple dumplings are delicious on their own, they’re also good with a bit of ice cream.

Stovetop Apple Dumplings FAQ’s

Here are quick answers to a few questions that a lot of my readers / followers might have:

Can You Make Apple Dumplings Without Peeling the Apples?

I did not peel the apples when making these dumplings, I highly recommend that you do. Even though the apple flesh was nice and soft, the peels were still noticeable. While this dessert was still very good, the fact that there were small bits of apple peel floating around negatively affected the texture.

Can You Make Dumplings With Pie Crust?

Yes, you can! As I referenced earlier, I usually cut up pieces of pie crust to use as dumplings. In addition to adding pie crust dumplings to cobbler filling, I also add them to stovetop blackberry dumplings, among others.

If you choose to use pie crust dumplings, I would use 1 9-inch pie crust. Simply cut it into strips and then into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces, drop the dumplings into the boiling liquid, and cook for 10 minutes.

Can You Freeze Stewed Apple Dumplings?

Unfortunately, I don’t think apple dumplings would freeze well. My guess is that the dumplings would get soggy and the apple mushy. Considering this, this dessert is best enjoyed immediately after cooking.

A Chef’s Review

Overall, these stovetop apples dumplings were good. Sweetened and spiced perfectly, this would be a great fall or winter treat if you are craving apple pie or cobbler but want something easy.

Even though you can make this recipe without peeling the apples, I highly suggest that you do. I know it’s an extra step that is time-consuming, but it will result in a better culinary experience.

Possible Changes to the Recipe

If I were to make this recipe again, I would:

Peel the apples – Like I said, apple skins do not break down completely, so they through off the texture a bit.

Use different apples – I am curious how this recipe would turn out with Granny Smith apples, or perhaps a combination of apples.

Pie crust dumplings – I usually use pie crust dumplings, so I will have to try those next time.

Other Dumpling Recipes

If you love southern-style dumpling recipes as much as I do, you’re going to want to try:

Peach Dumplings on the Stovetop – Pie crust, sweet syrup, and fruit chunks go together perfectly.