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Whole Wheat Bread, Apple and Cranberry Dressing

5.0(74)

Having grown up with Pepperidge Farm stuffing, I will always have a weakness for bread stuffing seasoned with sage and thyme, with plenty of chopped onion and celery. I prefer to use 100 percent whole wheat bread, one that isn’t at all sweet. A mixed grains bread would also work. The apple and cranberries contribute sweetness, tartness and texture to the classic dressing. I bake this in a gratin dish; you can double the recipe if you want to use it for a stuffing as well, and put half inside the bird. But, moistened with a well seasoned vegetable stock, the dressing makes a great vegetarian side dish. Just be sure to use plenty of stock to moisten, as the problem with most stuffings that are baked outside the bird is that they are dry. Tender apples like McIntosh, Gala, Macoun and Cortland work well in this dish.

by Martha Rose Shulman·published 2014-11-17

Open original recipe

AmericanDinner, Stuffing And Dressing, Side Dish

Servings

(4–6)

Total time

1h 30m

prep 15 min

Calories / serving

286 kcal

Ingredients (13)

serves

8 to 9 ounces whole wheat bread (with crusts), cut into 3/4 to 1-inch cubes (4 to 5 cups)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oilextra-virgin-olive-oil
1 medium or large onion, finely choppedonion
2 stalks celery, dicedcelery
Salt and freshly ground pepper to tastesalt-and-pepper
1 large apple, peeled and dicedapple
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsleyparsley
2 teaspoons minced fresh thymethyme
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage or 1 teaspoon rubbed dried sagesage
1/2 cup dried cranberriescranberry
1 eggegg
1 cup chicken or vegetable stockchicken
1 tablespoon unsalted butterbutter

Instructions (4 steps)

01Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter a 2-quart baking dish. Place cubed bread in a large bowl.
02Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring, until onion is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and scrape into bowl with the bread. Add remaining olive oil to bowl and all of the other ingredients except egg and stock. Season generously with salt and pepper and toss well.