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Craving a warm, comforting dessert but don’t want to make too much? This single serving apple dumpling is just right for you! It’s a delightful treat with a tender apple enveloped in a golden, flaky crust, filled with a sweet blend of brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked to perfection. This easy-to-make dessert is simple, satisfying, and perfect for enjoying anytime you want a sweet treat without leftovers.
Looking for more small batch and single serving apple recipes? You’ll love our crispy Apple Fritters for one, comforting Apple Crisp for one, classic mini Dutch Apple Pie, and delicious Apple Muffin for one among many others.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Single Serving: Perfect for those moments when you want a sweet treat without leftovers.
- Easy to Make: Simple steps that anyone can follow.
- Minimal Ingredients: You only need a few pantry staples.
- Nostalgic: Brings back memories of classic, home-baked desserts.
This single serving apple dumpling is a nostalgic and comforting dessert, perfect for when you want something sweet without leftovers. We make this dumpling with our simple pie crust recipe, which is the perfect size for a small to medium apple, but store-bought crust works just as well. The combination of a tender apple wrapped in a flaky pie crust, filled with brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked in a rich syrup makes it irresistible. It’s quick to prepare and offers the ideal portion size. This recipe blends ease and deliciousness, ensuring a delightful treat every time.
Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this easy apple dumpling recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
We love using our homemade mini pie crust for this recipe, but store-bought works perfectly too. Here’s a closer look at the ingredients used:
Pie Crust Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: The base of the crust, providing structure and a tender texture.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar adds a touch of sweetness to the crust.
- Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the overall taste and brings out the flavors in the crust.
- Butter: Cold, cubed butter ensures a flaky, rich crust. I use salted butter but you can use unsalted butter instead.
- Ice Water: Helps bring the dough together.
Apple Dumpling Ingredients
- Apple: We recommend using one small to medium apple, around 5 ounces. Varieties like Granny Smith, Gala, or Honeycrisp work well because they hold up nicely when baked. If using a larger apple, double the pie crust ingredient amounts to ensure it fits around the apple. If you’ve got an extra apple, consider using it in a small batch of small batch Morning Glory Muffins, an Apple Dutch Baby for one, small batch Apple Pie Oatmeal, or small batch Fried Apples.
- Butter: We add a bit of salted butter inside the cored apple and also use it to make the sauce, adding richness and enhancing the overall flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Provides a deep, caramel-like sweetness that pairs perfectly with the apple.
- Cinnamon: Adds warmth and a touch of spice.
Recipe Variations
Get creative with your apple dumpling! Here are some variations you might like:
- Apple and Raisin: Add 1/2 teaspoon of raisins to the inside of the apple for extra sweetness.
- Spiced Apple: Mix in a pinch of nutmeg or allspice with the cinnamon.
- Nutty Apple: Add 1/2 teaspoon of chopped walnuts or pecans to the filling for a crunchy texture.
- Caramel Apple: Add a soft caramel candy inside the apple for a gooey center.
- Chocolate Apple: Insert a few chocolate chips into the filling for a chocolaty surprise.
How To Core An Apple
Coring an apple ensures even cooking and provides space for the delicious filling. Here’s a simple method to do it:
- Using an Apple Corer: Place the apple upright on a cutting board. Center the apple corer over the stem, then push it straight down through the core. Twist and pull to remove the core.
- Using a Paring Knife: If you don’t have an apple corer, a small paring knife works just as well. Insert the knife about half an inch from the stem, angling towards the center. Carefully cut in a circular motion around the core. Once you’ve gone all the way around, gently pry out the core with the knife or a spoon.
How To Make An Apple Dumpling
These photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make one apple dumpling. See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
For the Pie Crust
- Prepare the Pie Crust: You can use store-bought pie crust if that’s more convenient, but we love using our mini pie crust recipe. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Cut in the Butter: Use a fork or your fingers to gently cut or rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. These butter flakes are what create those flaky layers in the crust.
- Add Ice Water: Gradually add ice water and mix with a fork until the dough just comes together and resembles wet sand.
- Shape the Dough: Form the dough into a ball in the bowl.
- Chill the Dough: Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board or flat surface. Flatten it into a disc with the palm of your hand, wrap it completely, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Chilling the dough helps the butter firm up and the gluten to relax, which leads to a flakier crust.
- Roll Out the Dough: Unwrap the chilled dough and place it between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent sticking. Roll the dough into a 6-inch circle or square, aiming for an even thickness of about 1/8 inch.
For the Apple Dumpling
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Prepare the Apple and Baking Dish: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 5×5 inch baking dish. Place the apple on the pie pastry with the cored opening facing up.
Note: Don’t worry about getting your pie crust into a perfect circle. Embrace the “rustic” look like I did, or feel free to roll it out into a more precise shape if you prefer. Either way, it will turn out delicious!
- Fill and Wrap the Apple: Add a bit of butter inside the cored apple, then fill the opening with brown sugar and sprinkle a little extra around the base. Dust the apple with cinnamon. With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of the pastry up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner up and press them together. Repeat with the remaining two corners and seal the edges. Gently pinch the sides to completely enclose the apple. Place it in the prepared baking dish.
- Make the Sauce: In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, and butter. Heat over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and pour the sauce over the dumpling.
- Bake: Bake the dumpling in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the apple is tender and the crust is golden brown. If you like, you can baste the dumpling with the sauce a few times during baking.
Pro Tip: I like to place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any possible spills.
- Serve: Enjoy the apple dumpling warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.
Expert Tips
- Use Cold Butter for the Pie Crust: Cold butter is key to achieving a flaky pie crust. The small, solid pieces of butter in the dough create steam as they melt during baking, which helps form those delicate, flaky layers. Keep your butter cold until you’re ready to incorporate it into the flour.
- Adjust for Larger Apples: If you’re using a large apple, you might want to double the pie crust ingredients to ensure the dough fits around the apple properly. The dough in this recipe is enough for one small to medium-sized apple, so doubling it for a larger apple will give you the right amount of crust.
- Core the Apple Properly: Coring the apple is crucial for this recipe. Use an apple corer or a small paring knife to remove the core while keeping the bottom intact. This prevents the filling from leaking out during baking and ensures the apple cooks evenly.
- Baste the Dumpling: For extra flavor, baste the apple dumpling with the syrup from the baking dish a few times during baking. This adds a rich, glossy finish and infuses the crust with even more sweetness.
- Watch the Oven Temperature: Bake the dumpling at 375°F (190°C) for the right balance of a tender apple and a golden, crispy crust. If you notice the crust browning too quickly, you can loosely cover the dumpling with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Let It Rest: After baking, allow the dumpling to cool slightly before serving. This brief resting period lets the syrup thicken and the flavors meld together, making each bite more delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, a store-bought pie crust works beautifully and saves time.
Yes, you can make the dough up to 2 days ahead and keep it refrigerated.
Cover the dumpling loosely with aluminum foil if the crust browns too fast.
You can prepare it in advance and bake it just before serving for best results.
Yes, this recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled. Just scale the ingredients accordingly and bake the apple dumplings as directed. If you’re making more than one dumpling, make sure they have enough space in the baking dish to bake evenly.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
If you’ve tried this single serving apple dumpling recipe or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
Also, if you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Apple Dumpling For One
Watch How To Make This
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust: You can use store-bought pie crust if that’s more convenient, but we love using our mini pie crust recipe.
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cold salted butter -cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons ice water
For the Apple Dumpling
- 1 small to medium sized apple -peeled and cored
- 1 ½ tablespoons salted butter -divided
- ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar -divided
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Make the Pie Crust
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Use a fork or your fingers to gently cut or rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Gradually add ice water and mix with a fork until the dough just comes together and resembles wet sand.
- Form the dough into a ball in the bowl.
- Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board or flat surface. Flatten it into a disc with the palm of your hand, wrap it completely, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Unwrap the chilled dough and place it between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent sticking. Roll the dough into a 6-inch circle or square, aiming for an even thickness of about 1/8 inch.
Make the Apple Dumpling
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly butter a 5×5 inch baking dish. Place the apple on the pie pastry with the cored opening facing up.
- Add ½ tablespoon of butter inside the cored apple, then fill the opening with 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, sprinkling a little extra around the base. Dust the inside of the apple and its sides with cinnamon.
- With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of the pastry up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner up and press them together. Repeat with the remaining two corners and seal the edges. Gently pinch the sides to completely enclose the apple. Place it in the prepared baking dish.
- In a 1-quart saucepan, combine ½ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of butter. Heat over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and pour the sauce over the dumpling.
- Bake the dumpling in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the apple is tender and the crust is golden brown. If you like, you can baste the dumpling with the sauce a few times during baking.Pro Tip: I like to place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any possible spills.
- Enjoy the apple dumpling warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.
Notes
- Use Cold Butter for the Pie Crust: Cold butter is key to achieving a flaky pie crust. The small, solid pieces of butter in the dough create steam as they melt during baking, which helps form those delicate, flaky layers. Keep your butter cold until you’re ready to incorporate it into the flour.
- Adjust for Larger Apples: If you’re using a large apple, you might want to double the pie crust ingredients to ensure the dough fits around the apple properly. The dough in this recipe is enough for one small to medium-sized apple, so doubling it for a larger apple will give you the right amount of crust.
- Core the Apple Properly: Coring the apple is crucial for this recipe. Use an apple corer or a small paring knife to remove the core while keeping the bottom intact. This prevents the filling from leaking out during baking and ensures the apple cooks evenly.
- Baste the Dumpling: For extra flavor, baste the apple dumpling with the syrup from the baking dish a few times during baking. This adds a rich, glossy finish and infuses the crust with even more sweetness.
- Watch the Oven Temperature: Bake the dumpling at 375°F (190°C) for the right balance of a tender apple and a golden, crispy crust. If you notice the crust browning too quickly, you can loosely cover the dumpling with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
- Let It Rest: After baking, allow the dumpling to cool slightly before serving. This brief resting period lets the syrup thicken and the flavors meld together, making each bite more delicious.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Joanne, love your recipes. I have several bags of sliced frozen apples in the freezer. Can I use them instead of a fresh whole Apple?
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes. For this apple dumpling recipe, I really recommend using a whole apple since it’s the centerpiece of the dish and helps maintain the dumpling’s structure and texture. Sliced apples wouldn’t quite give the same result here.
That said, if you’re looking for ways to use your frozen sliced apples, we have plenty of other recipes where they would work beautifully, like our apple crisp or baked apple oatmeal. I hope that helps.
Wonderful!
Joanie, I’m wondering if I could bake this in my air fryer? I love apple dumplings, my mom used to make them all the time when I was a kid. These look wonderful and I’ll be trying this recipe ASAP!
I’m so glad you’re excited to try the apple dumpling and that it brings back such special memories! I don’t use an air fryer, so I’m not sure how it would turn out in one, but your air fryer’s owner’s manual might have some helpful guidelines for baking desserts like this. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it works. Either way, I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Joanie, I love this recipe. I have your cookbook and have made many recipes from it also.
Thanks,
Lotte
Thank you so much!
Great recipe.
Thank you!