2 medium Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each
2 cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
12 ounces lemon-lime soda such as Sprite/7-Up, or Mountain Dew
Ice cream and caramel sauce for garnishing optional but recommended
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a 9×13″ rectangular baking pan with cooking spray or butter; set aside.
Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough and gently separate each roll. Roll one apple slice up in the crescent roll, starting from the thickest end of the roll. Place into the pan in a single layer. Repeat with remaining rolls and apples.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Drop in the sugar and vanilla and barely stir the mixture. The sugar mixture should be clumpy and thick. Pour the sugar mixture evenly over the dumplings in the pan. Sprinkle the tops of the dumplings liberally with the ground cinnamon. Lastly, pour the soda into the sides of the pan.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly and the tops of the dumplings are golden brown and crisp with crackly sugar tops. Cool for about 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream and caramel, and spoon some of the sauce over the tops of each dumpling.
