Cooking with soft drinks is pretty common, at least in the South. You can find recipes that use 7-up in cake, Coke in jello salad or Dr. Pepper as the glaze for baked ham and in baked beans. But if your carbonated beverage tastes run more to the neon yellow, you need to know more about Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings. This easy dessert recipe is fun, simple and so, so good.
What Are Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings?
Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings started to show up online around 2008 when Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond posted her version, which she got from her mother, who got it from a friend. It's one of those easy recipes that get shared on Facebook and Pinterest over and over because it's surprisingly tasty and the seven ingredients are all ones you probably have in your pantry or refrigerator.
How to Make Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings
Here's what you need: two cans crescent rolls, two Granny Smith apples, a cup butter, 1 1/2 cup sugar (either white or brown sugar), ground cinnamon, a teaspoon vanilla extract and a can of Mountain Dew soda.
Yes, you read that correctly. There are two sticks of butter and a lot of sugar in this apple dumplings recipe. We said it was good, not healthy.
The prep couldn't be easier. First, core apples, then slice apples (peel the apple before or not, your choice), then roll each apple slice into a crescent roll dough. Put all the rolled-up apple slices into a 9x13 baking dish.
Melt butter in a saucepan and add the sugar and vanilla to the melted butter. Mix it just enough to combine; it doesn't have to be smooth. Then pour the butter and sugar mixture over the crescent rolls in the baking dish.
Now, here's the fun part. Pour eight ounces of the Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. That's right, pour the soda right into the dish.
Drink the rest of the soda in the can. Or not.
Sprinkle the cinnamon over the dish and pop it into a 350F degree oven for a total time of 40 minutes. When the Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings are done, they'll be golden brown on the top.
The Mountain Dew evaporates and all the sugar and butter turns into almost a caramel sauce around the apple wedges. The top of the dumplings are crisp and the bottom turns perfectly soft. Serve this apple dessert with vanilla ice cream and try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting!
