It’s the most wonderful time of the year: fireplaces blazing, cuddling under blankets, bulky sweaters, and comfort food. Fall is beautiful here in Canada, but winter is my favourite season.
The colder temperatures bring with them Thanksgiving and Christmas of course, but ooh, the comfort food (drooling). It’s time for casseroles, gravies, crockpots filled with stews and chili’s, apple crisp, everything pumpkin, and of course, stuffing. What are the holidays without stuffing??
Given our Canadian Thanksgiving is during apple season, my holiday stuffing always includes apple. I did try making it without the apple one year, but everyone complained it just wasn’t the same, so this is our traditional recipe now both for Thanksgiving, and for Christmas.
I’ve used both a homemade gluten-free stuffing bread for this recipe in the past, and just a regular loaf of grocery store bread. I like both for different reasons. Making it at home means I can slice the loaf to whatever thickness I like, but a store bought loaf of bread is easy and convenient. You can use either.
The one thing I find with gluten-free stuffing, is that it’s always better when I cook it in a crockpot. This way I’m in control of how much broth or juices to add to get it to just the right texture.
I use a homemade maple butter on my turkey when I cook it, and it could just be that the juices from the turkey, plus the length of time it takes to cook the turkey, leaves the gluten-free stuffing too wet for my liking if I cook it in the bird. I much prefer to cook it in the crockpot and baste it with the drippings from the turkey to get it to the consistency I like along with the added maple/turkey flavour. Again, this is preference. As with a standard stuffing, you can do it whichever way you like.
Enjoy, and stay warm!
Holiday Apple Stuffing (Gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups bread crumbs, gluten-free about 1/2 loaf of bread
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1.5 cups chicken broth
- 1 Red Delicious apple, chopped leave skin on for colour
Instructions
- Melt the first amount of butter in a large skillet. Add onion and celery and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
- Place breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl. Add parsley, rosemary and sage. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the second amount of butter and chicken broth. Warm over medium heat until butter melts.
- Add onion and celery mixture to breadcrumbs. Slowly add chicken broth, stirring gently to combine.
- Add chopped apple and toss.
- If baking, transfer to a baking dish and cook at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Alternatively, you can place in crockpot on low heat and cook for 4-6 hours, stirring halfway through process. You can add more broth or turkey drippings if you find it too dry.