From Amish Cooking compiled by a Committee of Amish Women
Contributor: Christina Riehman-Murphy
Recipe
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup shortening
- ½ cup milk
- 6 apples, peeled and halved
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Combine the first 5 ingredients to make a dough. Roll it out and cut it into squares, then place ½ apple on each square. Wet the edges of the dough and press it around the apple to form a ball. Set these dumplings in a pan.
Combine the rest of the ingredients to make the sauce. Pour it over the dumplings and bake them at 350° until the apples are soft and the dough is golden brown.
Notes for a Modern Kitchen
Serves 6, but this is easy to scale up.
You can substitute ⅔ cup softened butter for ⅔ cup shortening.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until the apples are easily pierced with a fork.
Background
From the introduction:
Amish Cooking did not originate from any one Amish person or Amish region, though many of the recipes came from an Amish settlement in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. The Amish emigrated to Pennsylvana from Switzerland and Alsace-Lorraine. Today’s Amish are descendant sects of Anabaptists, who were early promoters of a free church and freedom of religion. Home cooked meals are the center of each Amish family’s day and many of these recipes have been passed down for generations.
This cookbook is part of the Chris Gaines Memorial Library Collection which consists of manuscript and published materials documenting Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite, and other Communal Societies in Pennsylvania. It includes articles, booklets, brochures, calendars, coloring books, family genealogies, photographs, correspondence, newsletters, meeting minutes, maps, diaries, and other materials.
