Apple Dumplings... There's a theme here, can you tell?

Happy Halloween! Sorry for the delay in posting. We're down to the wire here, last few days of the month, and I still only have apples in my fridge.

Well, actually, now I don't even have that, because I used them. Good thing I get paid tomorrow, right? :)

Today, I made "Southern-style" apple dumplings. I deviated from this recipe a bit too, but not too much. And they were definitely delicious!

1. Use an apple cutter to core and cut an apple into eight slices. Peel the slices. This totally brought out the Montessori kid in me. I love my apple slicer- it was one of the things on my "must buy" list when I started college! However, I did totally forget to peel the slices- it didn't really affect the taste, though.
2. Open can of crescent rolls, and unroll. Place apple slice at one end of crescent triangle and roll up. I added some brown sugar and cinnamon to the inside of the crescent, to add some flavor to the apples. If you can't tell yet, I love brown sugar.

3. 

   Before rolling.

4. Place apple rolls into an 8x8 (of 9x9) greased pan. So far, the #1 thing I've learned about cooking is that lining the pan really helps with cleanup. Seeing as I was using another sugar-and-butter sauce, and soda in this recipe, I thought I should probably line the pan again. 

   

   It's OK if they're close together!

5. In a small bowl, melt 1 stick of butter, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp of flour, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. This is the first time I used my microwave, which is a hand-me-down from my parents from when they got married. Because, of course, #safety and #radiationprotection. Also, this mixture turned out pretty thick. I triple-checked every measurement, because I thought that it was maybe too much. Next time I make this, I'm going to add a little butter and sugar, and maybe only do one tbsp of flour. I also added pumpkin pie spice, because I don't have regular cinnamon. 
6. Spoon mixture over each crescent. You're definitely going to need to spoon it, because it's too thick to pour. Also, next time I might just double the amount I make. Because of how thick it was, there wasn't enough to entirely coat each crescent.

   

   Before baking

7. Pour 6 oz of sprite in the open space in the middle of the pan, NOT over the crescents. He BOLDED that part of the instructions, so it seemed important.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. I had to bake these the full 40 minutes, and then turned out great.

   

   All done!

   These were SO. GOOD. Almost better than the caramel apple blooming onion, but not quite. I would definitely double the sauce next time, but these tasted great. Fantastic warm, and even better cold this morning for breakfast. The sprite makes the bottoms a little soggy- you definitely need to put these in a bowl or a plate that's not entirely flat, like the plates I have, because they're a little runny. 

Today I'm going grocery shopping for the entire month of November. I have most of my recipes for the month planned out, but I'm always open to suggestions and I have a little bit of wiggle room! If you have any specific recipe or technique you would like to see, comment below or email me at dontexpectmiraclesblog@gmail.com, and I will do my best to attempt it! I'll post again on Tuesday with an attempt at one of the staples of my extended family gatherings- a diet-friendly entree my Grandma calls "Chicken Fiesta". Thanks for reading!

Original Recipe: http://southernbite.com/2011/12/06/apple-dumplings/