Dessert: United States – Buckeye Balls

Serving Size: 8

Approximate Time

Prep 15 min

Cook 40 min

Additional 10 min

Total 1 hr 5 min

Ingredients

2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 (8 oz / 225 g) can refrigerated crescent roll dough (8 triangles)
1 / 2 cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter
3 / 4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1 / 4 cup (50 g) packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 / 8 tsp fine salt
3 / 4 cup (180 ml) lemon-lime soda (such as Sprite or 7UP)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter or spray a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Prepare apples: Peel and core the apples, then cut into 8 wedges total (quarter each apple so you end up with 8 pieces).
Wrap the apples: Unroll the crescent dough and separate into 8 triangles. Place one apple wedge on the wide end of each triangle, roll up snugly, and arrange seam-side down in the prepared baking dish.
Make the cinnamon butter syrup: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Cook, stirring, just until the mixture is glossy and combined (do not boil).
Assemble: Pour the warm cinnamon butter syrup evenly over the dumplings. Gently pour the lemon-lime soda around the edges and in the gaps between dumplings, avoiding pouring directly over the tops so they bake up nicely golden.
Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the dumplings are deeply golden and the sauce is bubbling and syrupy.
Cool and serve: Let rest 10 minutes so the sauce thickens slightly. Serve warm, spooning some syrup over each dumpling. Add vanilla ice cream if desired.