Apples baked in flaky pastry with cinnamon sugar...Doesn't get any better than that! Using frozen puff-pastry sheets makes this impressive dessert so simple and Vanilla Ice Cream served alongside the dumplings makes them irresistible.

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 frozen puff-pastry sheets, thawed
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 Gala, Fuji or Braeburn apples, peeled and cored
• (check out the selections of Fall Apples at Bristol Farms Stores!)

Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and set it aside.

On a floured surface, roll out one of the puff-pastry sheets to a 13-by-13-inch square. Cut the square in half and cut each half into a 9-by-6-inch rectangle. Lightly brush 1 inch along the edges of each of the rectangles with the beaten egg. Put one of the apples, upside down, in the middle of a rectangle of puff pastry and pour enough of the cinnamon sugar into the center cavity to reach the top. Gather the four corners of the pastry and pinch them together. Pinch the edges together to seal. With scissors, trim any excess pastry from where the edges meet. Repeat with the remaining pastry, apples, and cinnamon sugar.

Chill the dumplings for at least 15 minutes before baking or up to 3 hours, draped with plastic wrap. Place the wrapped apples on a baking sheet and lightly brush them with the remaining beaten egg. Bake the dumplings for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 400°F and continue baking until the pastry is golden, about 20 minutes longer.

Makes 4 Apple Dumplings