Simple apple and herb stuffing muffins

Bake these sweet-and-savory apple and herb stuffing muffins in tins for cute individual portions with lots of toasty edges. A healthy, easy holiday recipe!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I hope you haven't finalized your menu. Because I've got a new ADORBS take on stuffing for you. Or dressing, if you call it that. I've never understood the big debate over stuffing versus dressing: potato potahto, oyster erster, whatevs.

Now, I suppose these stuffing muffins aren't so new to everyone. I believe they were a big Rachel Ray-Ray thing a few years back (I can just hear her saying "stuffin' muffin" because it's rhyme-y). But they're new to me so I'm excited to talk about them.

Every year for Thanksgiving, my menu is made up of some old favorites that will likely never change (deep-fried turkey, a healthy-ish sweet potato casserole) but I also like to include at least one new dish, just so it doesn't get too predictable and boring.

This year, it's stuffing muffins. I mean, come on, how could I not want these on my table? They are just too freakin' adorable, with their individual-sized crunchy little selves.

If you're like me and you like the crunchy edges of the stuffing the best, you're going to go cray-cray for these stuffing muffins because they are all about the crunchy edges. The whole darned thing is practically one big crunchy edge!


Plus, these stuffing muffins are chock full of apples and celery, which add some crunchiness and sweetness to the savory goodness. And, as an added bonus, they're easy to make and lean a bit to the healthy side, coming originally from the talented folks at Cooking Light. And we could all stand a few more healthy-ish, easy recipes for the holidays.

As I'm writing this, I just had another thought: I want to make these again and add in some cooked sausage to make it a little Muffin Meal. How adorbs would THAT be?!!!

So, stuffing or dressing? And what's new on your Thanksgiving menu this year? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Apple and Herb Stuffing Muffins

(barely adapted from Cooking Light)
Note: The stuffing muffins hold together best when baked in larger-sized muffin tins or mini loaf tins.

Ingredients:
1 12-14 ounce loaf of sourdough bread, cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups diced apple
1 small onion, diced
3/4 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast (about 20 minutes), stirring once. Transfer the toasted cubes to a large bowl. Keep the oven on.

Heat the butter in a large pan. Add the apple, onion, celery, sage, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes or until everything begins to soften slightly. Add this mixture and the parsley to the bowl of bread and stir to combine. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk the eggs and broth together, then add to the bread mixture. Stir to combine again.

Spoon the mixture into prepared cups of a muffin tin. Bake for about 20-23 minutes or until the bread cubes are browned on the edges.

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