The Unexpected Soda That's Key To Perfect (& Effortless) Apple Dumplings

Apple dumplings are a classic Northeastern dish, hailing originally from England in the 18th century before becoming an icon of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. Served as either a dessert or, if you're really lucky, a breakfast treat, the dish has naturally undergone changes and evolutions over the years. One of those changes that will kick-start this recipe into a new dimension may come as a surprise, but it's a shockingly effective ingredient: Mountain Dew.

The magic here comes when the soda interacts with the sauce made from butter, sugar, and cinnamon. You can add the Mountain Dew into the pot with those other ingredients, or first cover the dumplings in the sweet buttery mixture and then pour the soda into the baking pan. Either way, the citrusy notes help balance some of the heavy, autumnal flavors while the carbonation makes the dough extra-fluffy. You'll be shocked by how well the soda caramelizes in the oven.

While this might seem like an unusual suggestion, there's a long and storied history of cooking with soda. Mountain Dew can be used to make incredibly flavorful, crispy potatoes baked in the oven, and the acidity from any number of sodas is an incredible marinade addition to take your grilling to the next level. You can even use Coca-Cola and red wine vinegar to deglaze your pan in a similar manner as a wine-based sauce if you don't want to cook with booze.

Apple dumplings are special not in spite of, but because of the simplicity of their ingredients. Taking a bite truly feels like biting into another time. The rise of canned crescent rolls has only made the preparation easier, as you can quickly assemble smaller versions of these classics.

Start with choosing the perfect Granny Smith apples — remember, checking the stem is key to choosing the perfect fruit. Look for brown stems that show that the apples are ripe for eating. Peel and core the apples and slice them into eight wedges. Put an apple slice in each dough triangle, roll the dough around it, and fill a baking dish with the eight rolls. Then cover them in your mixture of butter, sugar, cinnamon, and Mountain Dew, and bake for 15 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you want to go more traditional and use full, cored apples, you can make a dough by hand or use a 14-ounce double-crust pie pastry. Divide it into six sections and put a peeled, cored apple in each. Then add a wedge of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the hole in the middle of each apple and wrap them. Put them in the baking tray, cover in your syrupy sauce, and bake for an hour at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want to try a version without Mountain Dew, substitute water; it will still be delicious, if slightly less flavorful. Some home cooks also recommend waiting until halfway through the cooking process to pour the syrup in.