(DELAWARE GRAMMY STYLE)
makes 12 — Sheet cake pan
6 medium-sized baking apples, cut in half, peeled and cored
4 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/3 cups butter flavored Crisco
1 cup milk
To make pastry:
*Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
*Cut in Crisco until the particles are about the size of small peas.
*Sprinkle milk over mixture and press together lightly, working dough only enough to hold together.
*For ease in handling, separate dough into two parts. Roll each half out to at least 10″x15″ (or 12″x 18″) and cut into six equal squares of 5″- 6″ each.
*Put a dab of butter (like 1/2 teaspoon or so) on each square.
*Put about 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of sugar on top of the butter.
*Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the sugar.
*Place a half apple on top, with the middle cavity over the sugar and cinnamon.
*Fold the dough up and around the apple to cover it completely.
*Place dumplings 1 inch apart in the greased baking pan, with the seam down and the sugar cavity up.
*do the same with the second half of the dough.
*Pour over the the sauce made as follows:
Sauce:
3 cups brown sugar
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter
*Combine brown sugar, water and spices.
*Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes
*Add butter
*Pour over the dumplings, trying to drench each one with the sauce.
*Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.
*Baste occasionally during baking.
*Serve hot with rich milk or ice cream
Variation: Sometimes I grate my apples – especially if I’m using seconds and don’t have nice “halves” and then I use a half-cup measure pretty tightly packed to put a pile of grated apple on top of each sugar pile and wrap it in dough, just like it was an apple half. Daniel seems to prefer this to having a half apple in there, but it is strictly personal preference.
Another variation that I’ve had (but never made) is to roll the dough out, butter the dough, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on it and then spread it with the grated apple, and roll as a jelly roll, slice as a cinnamon roll, and put into the pan and pour the sauce over it like you would with the regular dumplings. Bake as instructed. This is REALLY good, and I’m indebted to Loretta Miller for my exposure to this method.
Delaware Grammy 
Nice apple recipe 🙂
My mother always made them the latter way – chopped and then rolled up in the dough like a cinnamon roll. I never had them with half an apple wrapped until one of my sisters-in-law made them for us. Since then, that’s the only way I make them. They’re an annual tradition for my son’s birthday (late December). He doesn’t consider his birthday really celebrated until he’s had his apple dumplings. I use white sugar for the sauce, though, and add a few drops of red food color to it when I add the cinnamon.