desserts

Place apples in large, deep container. Add enough water to cover. Add lemon juice and set aside.

To make syrup, place granulated sugar, water, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, cloves, and mace in 2-quart saucepan. Stir to combine and heat to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make dough, place all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in large bowl. Mix well.

Add 1 cup butter and cut into flour mixture with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and mix well. Add additional milk as needed to make soft but not sticky dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly about 15 seconds. Divide dough into 4 equal-size pieces. Roll each piece of dough to 21×7-inch rectangle. Cut each rectangle into three 7-inch squares to make 12 squares.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease shallow baking pan or pans large enough to hold 12 apples. Set aside.

Remove 1 apple from water and drain. Place on square of pastry and fill cavity with 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon butter, and dash each cinnamon and nutmeg. Repeat with remaining apples.

Lift edges of dough to meet over top of each apple. Moisten seams and press together. Trim off excess dough. If desired, cut small leaf shapes out of scraps of excess dough. Moisten 1 end of each leaf with water and press gently to attach at top of each dumpling.

Place dumplings in prepared baking pan(s). Reheat syrup briefly, if necessary, and pour over dumplings.

Bake in preheated 350 F oven 50 to 55 minutes, basting with syrup every 15 minutes. Place in serving bowls and spoon syrup over. Serve warm.

Makes 12 apple dumplings

This recipe created by McCormick, Inc.