Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare crescent roll dough, use two sheets of dough per apple. Place peeled, cored apple in the center of the dough square. Top with 1 tbsp salted butter. Divide brown sugar between apples, covering the base of each apple.

Fold one corner of the pie dough square over the top of your apple. Then take the opposite corner and overlap the first, moisten your finger with water and lightly dampen the pastry to encourage the dough to stick together. Repeat with opposite corners. Repeat until all the apples have been covered in pastry. Spray 9×13 baking dish with non-stick oil. Carefully transfer the dumplings to dish. 

For syrup, prepare by combining granulated sugar, water, 3 tbsp butter, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon in a medium-sized saucepan. Stir well and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, remove from heat and set aside. Pour syrup into the baking sheet with apples.

Transfer apple dumplings to oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Top with a bit of the syrup from the pan, serve and enjoy!

Optional: Serve with vanilla ice cream.