Holiday Dressing Muffins

On Thanksgiving, my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, made these stuffing muffins as a side for turkey. My husband really liked them, so tonight I am making them with pork chops. One thing to know about this recipe is that you do need to start it the night before. It would be a great thing to do if you meal prep on Sundays.

The recipe is from Alton Brown. I used to watch his shows when he was on the Food Network.

What You Need:

• 20 ounces bread-ciabatta, French bread, or a mixture, torn into 1-inch pieces (I used Italian bread from Publix.)
• 1 stick room temperature unsalted butter, divided
• 8 ounces bulk breakfast sausage (I used regular Jimmy Dean.)
• 2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 2 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1 1/4 cups chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped celery leaves
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock

What To Do:

• Evenly grease the cups of a 12-inch muffin tin with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. According to the original recipe, this is to help make the sides of the muffins crispy.
• Heat your oven to 250℉. Arrange the bread pieces between the two half sheet pans and bake on the middle and lower third racks for 1 hour, switching the top pan to the lower rack and vice versa, after 30 minutes. The bread should be crisp and dried without browning. Transfer to your largest mixing bowl and set aside.
• Cook the sausage in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up any chunks with the back of a wooden spoon and cook until the fat has rendered out, and the sausage is browned, about 6 minutes.
• Melt the remaining butter in the skillet then add the onion, celery, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, dry mustard, and rosemary and cook for 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Kill the heat, stir in the parsley and celery leaves and deposit the mixture into the bowl with the bread and mix well. Cool for 5 minutes.
• Combine the eggs and stock in a large measuring cup or bowl, then add to the bread bowl in two installments, allowing the first to be absorbed before adding the second.
• Retrieve the buttered muffin tin from the fridge and using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop about 5 1/2 ounces into your hand. Gently squeeze and shape into a ball shape and park in a muffin cup. Repeat with the remaining dressing until you’ve filled all the cups. If you have any leftover, evenly distribute among the cups and shape roughly into mounds.
• Tear a piece of aluminum foil 24-inches long and spray the dull side with no-stick spray. Cover the muffins tightly with the foil (lubed side down of course), and refrigerate overnight, or up to two days.
• When ready to bake, crank your oven to 350℉. When it reaches temp, remove the muffin tin from the fridge and place directly onto the middle rack of the oven, and bake for 20 minutes. Then, carefully remove the foil and bake 35 more minutes, until the dressing is deeply browned and crisp.
• Remove and cool for at least 15 minutes on a trivet or stove top. To release, loosen the edges of the muffins with a small offset spatula or butter knife until the muffins release from the pan.

*I love Alton Brown’s conversational steps for this recipe.

Note from Me:

There are no notations in the recipe about freezing, but I am going to freeze the leftovers individually wrapped and in a zip top bag. These will make quick and easy sides for us over the next couple of months.