Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:
1 recipe pastry for a double-crust pie; made into dough
4 large Granny Smith apples; peeled and cored (Don't core all of the way through the apple,
6 tablespoons butter; divided into 4 single tablespoons and an additional 2-tablespoo
1/2 cup Light brown sugar
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
vanilla; ice cream or whipped topping

Instructions:


Butter a deep dish pie plate (or other appropriate baking dish) and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry dough into a large 16-inch by 16-inch square. Cut the large square into four 8-inch by 8-inch squares. Place a prepared (partially cored) apple at the center of each pastry square with the cored opening facing upward. Place 1 tablespoon of butter in the opening of each apple. Divide brown sugar among apples, placing some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples, until the measured amounts have been used. With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of the pastry square up to the top of the apple, and then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners and seal, using water to make the pastry stick. Repeat with the remaining apples and place in prepared baking dish. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water, 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and the remaining cube of butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, until you have a nice syrup. Ladle syrup over apple dumplings in baking dish. Place in an oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees, and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Cool slightly, and then place each dumpling in a serving bowl, spooning some sauce over the top. You may like this with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping, but it is delicious by itself! Enjoy!!!