A super flavorful stuffing recipe filled with buttery bread cubes, granny smith apples, salty bacon, fresh herbs and plenty of butter. Perfect for your holiday menu!Easily double the recipe for a larger crowd. Hover over the servings and use the slider to +/- and it will change the ingredient amounts. Baking time will be the same.
Choose one of the two options to make your bread cubes nice and stale.
Overnight– Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes and let it sit on a sheet pan or two, on the counter for 24 hours (overnight). Tossing them occasionally helps dry all sides. Quick Oven Method– Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes and spread on a large sheet pan or two. Dry in a 250 degree oven for 30 minutes, tossing every 5-10 minutes so the cubes don't brown.
Apple Stuffing Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep a 9x9 baking dish by generously greasing with 1 Tbsp. softened butter. Set aside.
1 Tbsp. butter
In a large sauté pan over medium low heat, melt ¾ cup butter. Add the chopped celery and onion and sauté for 15 minutes until the celery starts to soften.
1 large onion, 1 cup celery
Add in the apple and minced garlic and sauté over low heat for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
1 ½ cup Granny Smith apple, 3 large garlic cloves
Off the heat add in the raisins, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, marjoram, sage and parsley and stir to combine.
1 cup golden raisins, 2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, ½ tsp. marjoram, 3 Tbsp. (heaping) fresh sage, ⅓ cup fresh parsley
Add the stale bread cubes and the cooked crumbled bacon to a very large mixing bowl.
24 oz loaf of hearty white bread –, 8 oz bacon
Pour the apple/onion/herb mixture over the bread cubes and toss to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the chicken stock.
2 eggs, 1 ½ cups chicken stock
Slowly add the stock mixture to the bread cubes while tossing to evenly distribute the mixture.
Pour the stuffing mixture into the prepared 9x9 baking dish. Cube the remaining 2 tablespoon butter and dot the top of the stuffing.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.For an extra crispy topping turn the broiler on for a minute or 2 at the end of the cooking time.
Serve immediately! Delish!
Make Ahead
This can be made a day ahead. Simply prepare until it is time to bake. Cover with foil and pop in the fridge.
The next day bake as directed above. You may need to add 5 minutes to the covered baking time when baking straight out of the fridge.
Notes
STALE BREAD CUBES: We like the Pepperidge Farms Hearty White Bread. It is a 24 oz loaf. You can also use Sara Lee Artesano, it isn't quite 24 oz, but it will work. Making your own stale bread cubes allows you to use a quality bread that tastes good, and you can cut nice large 1 inch cubes. Some of the store bought stuffing bread is cubed so small that it crumbles. More Stuffing Recipes: