Who knew that crescent rolls, cinnamon sugar apples, brown sugar, butter and sprite could make the best easy apple dumplings with Sprite ever!
Creating This Apple Dumpling Recipe
Ditch your old apple dumplings recipe. Do it. Ditch it. These easy apple dumplings have a couple of very minor changes that make a HUGE difference and I’m totally not kidding. I’ll never make another apple dumplings recipe again.
This recipe reminds me so much of my grandma’s apple rolls recipe just because that sugar liquid is so deceiving. You pour it all around the rolls and it almost puts you into a panic attack seeing all of that liquid around the dough, like is this really going to work?! Are they going to be a soggy mess?!
And then those golden, crisp, pillows of dough come out and you’re a real life hero to the whole family.
This is seriously the craziest apple dessert recipe. Most apple desserts seem to be inspired largely from the way apple pie is made. Think about it: apple crisp, apple pull-apart bread, and apple pie scones are all takes on the classic apple pie.
This apple dumpling recipe is similar, but as I’ve been making recipes from others over the years I felt like there was always something missing. Sure, it is a good recipe and one that your guests will love you for, but couldn’t it be taken up a notch without changing the whole recipe?
We started experimenting, a lot. Too much. I could hardly stand to look at another apple dumpling recipe, let alone the apple dumpling itself.
And then it hit me, when you’re trying to do something awesome and it’s not coming together, go back to the original recipe.
So I did. And do you know what I discovered? The apples were not like an apple pie, they were completely plain. No, no, no! Apples need a little cinnamon sugar action to really drive home that fall smell and flavor!
Well don’t stop there, I thought. We need a little cinnamon action in the butter mixture as well. Too many recipes called for just butter and brown sugar. No. We need more. We added vanilla and cinnamon. Let’s get this party started!
Apple Dumplings with Sprite?
Yes, you read right, we want to use a lemon lime soda around the dumplings, but never over the dumplings. If you pour the lemon lime soda over the dumplings, the brown sugar butter sauce won’t have a chance to crisp up the topping and we aren’t looking for soggy dumplings.
But then I changed that too.
Everyone said to use 1 1/2 cups of Sprite with the apple dumplings, but I just found that to be too much. We lowered it to 1 cup so the Sprite for sure wouldn’t go over the top but you’d still end up with a caramel sauce underneath.
Apple Dumplings Ingredients
For these easy apple dumplings, you’ll need just a handful of ingredients. To make this apple dessert, we used salted butter, apples, cinnamon sugar, all-purpose flour, pre-made crescent roll dough, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and Sprite.
Making crescent rolls from scratch is a bit of a process compared to just buying them, but you also know that we ADORE homemade bread. If you’d like to crescent rolls from scratch, then use this recipe for Homemade Crescent Rolls from Brown Eyed Baker.
What Are the Best Apples for Apple Dumplings?
You can use pretty much any cooking apple you’d like in this apple dumpling recipe. Personally, we prefer using either Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples, but it’s really just a matter of preference. Granny Smith are more tart than Honeycrisp, and both release a minimal amount of juice and pack in lots of fresh apple flavor.
Is There a Sprite Substitute I Can Use?
Everyone always asks about the soda used for apple dumplings. If you don’t have any Sprite on hand, you can use other sodas as well. The three sodas you can use to make homemade apple dumplings include:
- Sprite for Apple Dumplings
- 7 Up for Apple Dumplings
- Mtn Dew for apple dumplings
How to Make Crescent Roll Apple Dumplings
Apple dumplings are much easier to make than you’d think! Here’s the basic rundown of how to make apple dumplings at home:
- Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples.
- Toss the sliced apples with the cinnamon sugar and flour.
- Roll the cinnamon sugar apples inside the crescent rolls and place into a buttered 9×13-inch pan.
- Top the dumplings with a mixture of melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Pour the Sprite in between and around the dumplings (not directly on top of them!).
- Bake until golden brown.
How to Reheat Apple Dumplings
To reheat apple dumplings, stick them in a pan with tinfoil over the top and place in a preheated 350ºF oven for 10 minutes. Or you can use the microwave for about 15 seconds.
How Long Are Apple Dumplings Good For?
Apple dumplings can be kept for up to two days at room temperature. You’ll want to cover them lightly and refrigerate for up to an additional 2-3 days.
Can You Make Apple Dumplings Ahead of Time?
You can make apple dumplings up to a day ahead of time. Once the dumplings have been prepped, place them on wax paper and refrigerate until ready to bake. Make sure to remove them from the wax paper prior to baking them, as wax paper isn’t oven-safe.
Can You Freeze Apple Dumplings?
Once baked, place the apple dumplings on a sheet pan and freeze for one hour. After an hour, place the dumplings in a seal-able freezer bag and freeze for up to six months. (Note that if you freeze the dumplings in a freezer bag right away, they’ll get squished and won’t hold their shape).
Tips for Making Crescent Roll Apple Dumplings
When prepping the apples, it’s important that you slice them quite thinly. If the apple slices are too thick, they won’t bake fully in the oven and your dumplings won’t have that classic apple pie-esque filling.
You’re welcome to play around with the amount of spices in this easy apple dumpling recipe. If you prefer your dumplings more cinnamon-y, add more cinnamon. You might even be able to add other warming spices like pumpkin pie spice, ground ginger, or nutmeg. If you try out a different spice combination, leave us a comment letting us know how you like it!
Finally, we highly suggest eating these apple dumplings with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. The warm dumplings paired with the creamy, cold ice cream is an unbeatable combo! If you have extra time on your hands, you could even whip up a batch of homemade caramel sauce to drizzle over these dumplings.
More Easy Apple Desserts:
- Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting
- Apple Brown Betty
- Apple Pie Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
- Mini Dutch Apple Cheesecakes
- Apple Cheesecake Bars
- Apple Pie Bombs al la Mode
- Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls
- Apple Pie Pull-Apart Bread
- Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce
- Best Apple Crisp
- Apple Cider Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting
- Apple Pie Fried Ice Cream
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Easy Apple Dumplings with Sprite
Description
Ingredients
- 2 sticks Butter, (1 cup) salted, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 Apples, Granny Smith or Honey-crisp, peeled and sliced thin*
- 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Flour
- 2 cans Roll Dough, refrigerated crescent
- 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup Soda pop, Sprite or 7 Up, we prefer Sprite
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350 F.
- Take one stick of the butter, and grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
- Place remaining butter and the other stick of butter in a microwave safe bowl.
- Peel and core apples, then cut apples into 16 thin slices.
- Toss the apples in a large bowl with the cinnamon sugar and flour.
- Pat out each crescent triangle a little bigger.
- Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll and place in a buttered dish.
- Melt the butter
- Stir in brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
- Pour over the tops of all the dumplings.
- Pour the soda in the middle and along the edges of a pan(not over the rolls!!)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until they become golden brown.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or alone.
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
Theresa H
I made your version of this dumpling recipe using fresh peaches, and it was fabulous! I will have to try the apples next time. I have more fresh peaches right now that I can’t finish and was thinking of freezing the dumplings. However, the peach recipe doesn’t mention freezing the finished dumplings as the apple recipe does. In your opinion, would it work?
Sweet Basil
Hi Theresa! Yes, it will work the same as the apples. Just make sure the peaches don’t get too juicy before you freeze them. If they do, just pat them dry with a paper towel.
Cheryl Foster
I often buy Sprite Zero to drink. Would that work as well as regular Sprite? I want to try these!
Sweet Basil
The diet sodas don’t work great for this. I’m not sure it what it is, but it really needs the full sugar soda. Enjoy!
Pat Rickman
I love these. I have used pears also and they are delicious.
Sweet Basil
Thanks, Pat! I’ll have to try it with pears next time!
Annie
I used sweet Hawaiian crescent rolls and wow these are awesome
Sweet Basil
Great idea!! I’ll have to try that next time! Thanks for the tip!
Ro
Hello, i really want to make this dish ahead – would it work to prep it all and freeze before the cooking stage? Then defrost and Cook? Im just wondering if its ok with the sprite? Please let me know what you think? Thanks
Sweet Basil
Hello! There is a section in the post about making this ahead of time and also a section about freezing it. It works better to bake it completely and then freeze it. Then you can reheat it in the oven and serve. I hope this helps! Let me know if I can answer any other questions!
Mary
I cut the two apples into 16 slices. You can taste the apple.
Sweet Basil
Perfect!
Shirley Humes
I have made a family favorite for years. I use Pillsburt biscuits pressed into an oiled or sprayed cupcake tin. The apple cinnamon combination is about the same but without the soda. After filling is in just fold over excess dough and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Bake @ 400 for about 15 mins. Serve with ice cram.
Sweet Basil
So easy! Sounds delicious!
Judy
THEN (not than) cut each apple.
And if you have 2 apples and cut EACH into 16 pieces, you have 32 apple slices. The instructions say to roll ONE apple slice in a crescent dough . . . but there are only 16 crescent rolls and 32 pieces of apple . . .
I’ll cut the apples into EIGHT pieces each but if I think they are too thick, I’ll go thinner and have some left over. I like this recipe because of the cinnamon sugar–not sure I’ve seen that before although I have made this but its been quite awhile so I don’t remember how thick to make the apples.
Sweet Basil
Hi Judy! Thank you for the typo correction! For rest, I will check the instructions. Sorry about the confusion. You want the apple slices quite thin so they cook through completely.
Sweet Basil
Ok, I’ve updated the instructions. You want to cut each apple into 8 slices, so that you have 16 total. Thank you for bringing that to our attention!
Linda Weimer
Perhaps I’m missing something. 2 cans of crescent rolls will be 16 rolls. 2 apples, each sliced into 16 slices, will yield 32 apple slices. The directions say to place 1 apple slice on each roll. That leaves 16 apple slices, or 1 apple, and no rolls. 1 thin slice of apple per crescent roll doesn’t seem very proportionate.
Marilee Hird
Can you clarify the temp for me? The recipe says 350, but in the tips section above it, you say 400. Which is correct?
Beth
These sound and look so good. However do we bake them at 400 or 350? Your blog description says a hot 400 degree oven but the recipe says 350, so which do I use to make them?
I love most of your recipes. I tried your Carolina Pulled Pork and we loved it. It makes a lot so I have the uneaten portions in the freezer for quick dinners. Yum!