Just make them the same as the dumplings you put in stews and put them around the the joint in the roasting pan in the meat fat and juices. They will be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
I made a stew in my slow cooker, Lofty, and bought vegetable suet too. The idea of beef fat puts me off, somehow!
It's nice to know the veggie one is just as good though, as I was a bit worried!
Anyway, now I can't even do them, because I only have plain flour and no baking soda. :O(
In the 1950s, on coming home from school / work, Mum used to grumble that the dumplings 'sunk' if the lid of a stew was lifted up to se what was cooking for dinner. Is this true or was it just a ruse to keep us from snooping?