Festive Bread Stuffing

I grew up on cornbread stuffing . . . and I love it. But truth be told, I'd never even tried bread stuffing. I stumbled across Aimee's recipe (from Simple Bites) and was drawn in by the pretty pictures. Who knew stuffing could be so vibrant? Since I don't dare mess with a good thing on Thanksgiving Day (my mother is making the stuffing anyway), I decided to make this just for fun. 

The bright colors of the apples, celery, parsley, and dried cranberries make this such a pretty dish for the holidays!

 Cook the onions and the celery in lots of butter.

 While they're softening, chop up the apples and parsley. 

 Mix them in, along with thyme, freshly ground pepper, and salt. 

 The bread. I cut it up the night before. My largest bowl was overflowing! I should have followed Aimee's recipe more carefully and only used one loaf of bread. Lesson learned. Croutons made from the extras are in my future. 

 Mix it all together. 

 Put it in a large greased baking pan. I assembled it to this point, refrigerated it, and baked it the following day. 

Baked and served. Yum!

Festive Bread Stuffing
Recipe adapted slightly from Simple Bites
Serves 8

1 cup celery, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 large loaf of crusty Italian-style bread, cubed (about 8 cups)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
2 apples, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Plump cranberries in hot water for about ten minutes. Drain and reserve. Grease a large (at least 9x13 inch) baking pan.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add onions and celery. Stirring often, sweat them for about five minutes.

Add thyme, salt, and pepper and continue to cook until vegetables are tender. Add chopped apples and cook for about 2 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and toss with bread cubes. Add cranberries and parsley and mix well.

Pour chicken stock over stuffing and mix well to combine. Lightly pack stuffing into the prepared baking pan. (At this point, you may refrigerate the stuffing, well wrapped,  for up to a day before proceeding.)

Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.