Okay, this recipe goes against everything I stand for. I’m a staunch supporter of homemade pie crusts and am not a huge fan of refrigerated crescent rolls. Cooking with soda is one of those Southern traditions like eating squirrel and pickling okra that I just have a hard time getting behind. And yet…this is easily in my top 3 dessert recipes. Ever. It is up there with pizzookies and that is saying a lot. Maybe it’s the radioactive nature of Mountain Dew or the sheer amount of butter involved, but these are A. MAZ. ING. Food-gasmic. Dumplightful, as my husband once called them. Okay, we might be heading in the wrong direction here…
I first found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman’s cooking blog. From many vehement comments over there, I discovered that this recipe has dark and mysterious origins–some people claim it comes from Allrecipes, others say that it’s from an old Pillsbury cookbook, their grandma, or Recipezaar. I don’t know what the truth is, but I do know that the world is a happier place with magical Mountain Dew-spiked slices of apple wrapped in cheap, canned pastry. So no knocking these until you’ve tried them. Seriously.
Ingredients Needed
- Granny Smith apples
- Crescent rolls
- Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Vanilla
- Can of soda – Mountain Dew or Sprite
How to Make Easy Apple Dumplings
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Peel apples and cut into 8ths.
- Open a can of crescent roll dough and carefully separate the dough along the perforations. Place 1/8 of an apple on one segment of dough and then roll/wrap the apple in the dough. Place in the prepared pan and repeat with remaining apples and dough. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add sugar and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour butter/sugar mixture over the apples, then pour the can of Mountain Dew or Sprite on top of everything. Sprinkle everything with cinnamon and bake for 40 minutes.
- When the dumplings are done, remove from oven and serve with a ladle of sauce. I usually plan on two dumplings per person, before they go back for seconds. And then breakfast. Then second breakfast. Then a little snack. For true transcendent awesomeness, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Storing and Other Tips
- These apple dumplings are definitely at their peak fresh from the oven, but leftovers can certainly be reheated. Store any cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days for best results.
Frequently Asked Questions
While I haven’t tried these with other forms of dough, they would likely be ok with other canned biscuit doughs!
Readers have reported great results using peaches! Other fruits you could try would be pears, plums, or nectarines.
This is an old recipe that has been making the rounds for decades. Other versions use orange juice or other soda flavors in place of the Mountain Dew, so feel free to try out other options!
The sugar is what cooks down to form the sauce, which is why it calls for so much. However, readers have reported cutting it down by up to half and still enjoying good results!
Easy (and Amazing!) Apple Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 medium Granny Smith apples
- 2 cans crescent rolls
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- cinnamon for sprinkling
- 12 ounces Mountain Dew or Sprite (1 can)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Peel apples and cut into 8ths.
- Open a can of crescent roll dough and carefully separate the dough along the perforations. Place 1/8 of an apple on one segment of dough and then roll/wrap the apple in the dough. Place in the prepared pan and repeat with remaining apples and dough. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add sugar and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour butter/sugar mixture over the apples, then pour the can of Mountain Dew (or Sprite, although I’ve never actually tried it), on top of everything. Sprinkle the pan with cinnamon and bake for 40 minutes.
- When the dumplings are done, remove from oven and serve with a ladle-ful of sauce. I usually plan on two dumplings per person, before they go back for seconds. And then breakfast. Then second breakfast. Then a little snack. For true transcendent awesomeness, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- These apple dumplings are definitely at their peak fresh from the oven, but leftovers can certainly be reheated. Store any cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days for best results.
- While I haven’t tried these with other forms of dough, they would likely be good with other canned biscuit doughs!
Questions & Reviews
wow mom…u really outdid urself this time!!! those were the exact words of my daughter and my husband…they were so delicious we couldnt believe it…and it was sooo easy to make making it harder to believe it was so easy. i just found this page and im so glad…thank u so much!!
So… made these tonight with a little less butter/sugar and used Virgil's Microbrewed Creamsoda instead of Mt.Dew. Totally forgot the cinnamon but had added in a small touch of nutmeg. Also added in a very small honeycrunch apple with the grannysmith. Overall: Sweet and Fantastic! Guess what I'm baking at the Apple BakeOff this weekend? 🙂 Thank you!
Oh, made the pizza rolls for dinner too, tasty! Thanks again!
I liked the top half of these a lot, but the bottom half seemed like there was WAY too much butter. Couldn't figure out why they were sopping on the bottom. Were they like that for everyone or did I do something wrong?
Loved these and I found it a little to much butter. Will cut back on it and the sugar. (personal preference) But easy and tasty. What a trest to come in from fall yardwork and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee.
These are way good they make them at McKay but they have about 700 cals each with the recipe they use here!
I made these twice right after Ree posted them and used Sprite instead of Mt Dew since I had Sprite on-hand. It turned out great both times!
I made these today with my little girls – SO AWESOME! I could only find Diet Mtn Dew, so I went with it. Still tasted amazing (and had less calories…every little bit counts, right?!) Thanks for the yumminess!
These do look easy AND tasty too! Will be bookmarking this one for apple season which is coming right up. Thanks for sharing.
Okay so I saw this post last minute before going to our family cabin for the weekend. Since it seemed so easy, and the ingredients were all a quick-grab at the grocery store, I decided to give it a try. Besides, Mountain Dew is my beverage of choice – how could I go wrong there? The only issue was trying to keep my husband and brother from drinking my prized bottle of "Dewski" before I could put the dumplings together!
The dumplings were FANTASTIC! They made a HUGE HIT! There were 12 people at the cabin so I doubled the recipe. When I started serving them up a huge line formed in the kitchen. They were gone within about 10 minutes. I can't wait to take them to a family dinner at my husband's sister's house!
Thanks so much for the recipe!!!!
These were amazing! I was with Linda (above) for our girls night when we made the dumplings. Way delish, and oh so easy. Most of our girls nights revolve around some sort of food we decide to make, and 98%of the time it's a BestBites recipe. We have a blast everytime! Thanks for making girls night Yummy.
Jeni, I love that you skipped dessert and moved straight on to breakfast. That's why we're friends… 🙂