Recipe: How to Make Boxcar Children Cherry Dumplings

The Boxcar Children books are a perennial favorite among young readers. When I was in elementary school, our class loved the books so much that we had a Boxcar Children themed picnic, complete with all the tasty goodies mentioned in the books. The highlight of the event was the scrumptious homemade cherry dumplings, like the ones the Boxcar children ate in the first book. They are surprisingly easy to make and delicious.

If you have children who are Boxcar children fans, here is an easy recipe to make Boxcar Children themed cherry dumplings.

Boxcar Children Themed Cherry Dumplings

Ingredients:

Can of croissant dough (such as Pillsbury brand crescent dinner rolls dough)

Cherry pie filling

1. Take the croissant dough and break it into pieces (based on how big you want the cherry dumplings to be). If you are using Pillsbury brand crescents, and you want to make fairly large cherry dumplings, then roll two crescent triangles into a large ball of dough for each dumpling.

2. Take the lump of dough and flatten it into a circle, either using your hands or with a rolling pin.

3. Spoon a generous amount of cherry pie filling into the center. The amount of pie filling you use will depend on how much dough you are using.

4. Fold the dough over the filling, forming a half-circle dumpling. Using your fingertips, press the edges of the dough together to securely enclose the pie filling.

5. Using your fingertips or a fork, you can press designs into the edge of the dumplings to decorate.

6. Place the dumplings on an ungreased baking sheet and place in a preheated oven. For the oven temperature, use whatever settings are included on the croissant dough container.

7. Bake until golden brown.

8. Serve and enjoy!

One reason I like this recipe is that it uses ready-made croissant dough, which saves you the trouble of making your own dough from scratch. Croissant dough also turns out flaky and buttery, a perfect complement for the warm pie filling.

I remember this recipe being a huge hit with all the kids, so much so that we began bringing cherry dumplings to lots of school events, even non-Boxcar themed potlucks. Cherries in sugary syrup and warm, soft, buttery dough is a perfect combination for kids (although not the healthiest, of course! Use in moderation )

For a full Boxcar dinner, you could also make some beef stew with young spring vegetables (the Boxcar children had used discarded vegetables thinned from the vegetable garden). Also make sure to have fresh bread and cold milk (remember? The Boxcar children made a "refrigerator" from a bend in a nearby stream) and some cookies. If you want to go out, consult "The Boxcar Children Cookbook" by Diane Blain, which has other recipes.

But best of all, serve warm cherry dumplings! These tasty goodies will be the perfect ending for a Boxcar picnic. They are fun to eat (no utensils required) and easy enough to make that you can have your kids help you out.