Cornbread Stuffing Muffins with Apple and Pancetta
Every dish is better when served in cute individual portions. Cornbread Stuffing Muffins with Apple and Pancetta are no different. They are easy to pick up and crispy around the edges. Who doesn’t love that?
I’ve been making Stuffing Muffins at Thanksgiving for years. What started out as a solution to my lack of 9 X 13 baking dishes has become a house-hold sensation. Not only does each person get a perfect portion of stuffing, but every single serving has the toasted edges that provide crunchy contrast to an otherwise soft dish.
Plus they are cute, and cuteness matters.
You can make stuffing muffins with any variety of stuffing, yet I’m sharing MY favorite stuffing recipe. This mix of cornbread, white bread, fresh herbs, crispy pancetta, toasty pecans, and sweet apples is a stuffing-lovers dream. BIG bold flavors enveloped in a moist buttery texture… Mmmmmmm. It goes perfect with the Apple Cider Turkey Gravy I made earlier this week.
Make stuffing as you normally would, then simply pack it into well buttered muffin tins and bake. To remove the muffins, run a butter knife around the edges and pop them out.
Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Stuffing Muffins with Apple and Pancetta
Ingredients:
7 cups ¾ inch cubes Cornbread (store-bought is fine)
7 cups ¾ inch cubes crustless firm white sandwich bread
½ cup (1 stick) butter, divided
6 oz. diced pancetta
1 large onion, chopped
1 large crisp apple, peeled and chopped
1 cup pecan pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs, beaten
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
Directions:
Cut and lay bread cubes out the day before to dry. (Or dry them out in the oven for 5 minutes before starting.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Put the bread cubes in a large bowl.
Melt 4 Tb. butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sauté until brown. Then add the onions and cook to soften—2-3 minutes. Add the apples and soften another 3-5 minutes. Finally add the herbs and pecans. Toss and remove from heat.
Add 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper; stir to blend. Add vegetable mixture to bread and toss.
Whisk the eggs and broth together and pour over the bread mixture. Toss and let it stand 5 minutes.
Generously butter twelve nonstick muffin cups. Spoon ½ cup of stuffing mixture into each muffin cup. Press to compact. Mound another ½ cup of remaining stuffing mixture over stuffing in each muffin cup, pressing to hold shape. Bake muffins until golden, about 22-25 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Using small knife, loosen muffins and pop out of pan.
* Can be made 1 day ahead. Rewarm uncovered in microwave in 30-second intervals, or covered loosely with foil in 350°F oven, about 15 minutes. Loosen from muffin pan with a butter knife.
By the way, Thanksgiving is TOMORROW… if you happened to forget.
If you’ll be running to the market later this evening to gather all your ingredients, here are a few recipes that could really help a last-minute cook:
Roasted Cornish Game Hens (Ahem, you don’t have time to thaw a turkey. *wink*)
Pomagranate Apple Cranberry Relish (Have you picked up on my apple theme?)
Bourbon Hazelnut Sweet Potatoes
Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting
More Thanksgiving Recipes from the Web:
Wild Rice Stuffing with Cranberries Bacon and Pecans ~ TidyMom
Perfect Mashed Potatoes ~ The Little Kitchen
Crispy Lemon Brussels Sprouts ~ What’s Gaby Cooking
Balsamic Glazed Roasted Squash ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
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22 Responses to “Cornbread Stuffing Muffins with Apple and Pancetta”
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These look perfect…what a great combination. I love making stuffing in muffin form because I love my stuffing crispy. Yum!
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This is amazing! Little muffins. Perfect for my mouth.
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Oh I agree these look amazing! I love the crunchy part around dressing so these will be great to fix. Thanks for the recipe. I am new to your blog and am so glad that I found it!!
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Love the crunchy edges of our stuffing, great idea!!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving !!
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I have never made a savory muffin. What a great addition to the Thanksgiving plate.
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I do love the idea of stuffing muffins, makes it more fun to eat – everyone gets lots of crust and great way to control portion size.
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I’m thoroughly impressed with your website and on the look out for creative posts to feature a snippet of on my creativity website so my readers can visit people, like you, who can really cook. If you’re ever interested, stop by.
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A lovely combination of flavours.
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i’m with you, it’s cuter served individually. sounds like a good savory muffin.
Happy thanksgiving!
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omg Great idea!! Happy holidays!!
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Wonderful Idea! I love this idea and the combination of flavors sounds wonderful.
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I just love muffins. Fullstop. This is just fab. I’ll have to cook this soon.
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What a wonderful idea to stuff muffins…and individual portions do look good besides satisfying the ego of having the cake and eating it too
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I could seriously do Thanksgiving all over again with these
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A magical pairing! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!
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Individually sized. Clever. GREG
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Yes! I’m all about individual portions too. This looks delicious, as always, and your words make me smile, yet again. I hope you have a blessed week and a wonderful season of joy and food and fun.
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