Gluten Free Thanksgiving Stuffing

 

Gluten Free Cornbread Stuffing in the Tradition of Brownberry Bread Cubes

If you loved the Brownberry bread cubes back in your gluten days then you will really enjoy this stuffing recipe.  It creates stuffing that contains bread cubes that are moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Servings: This recipe makes enough to fill a 9 x 13 glass pan. Hungry eaters will get about 9 generous servings.  Less hungry eaters will get about 12 servings.  Feel free to double or triple this recipe as you wish.

This recipe has three aspects that make it truly delicious:

1. You add sage to the cornbread so you have that awesome sage flavor everywhere in your stuffing!
2. You bake half of the bread cubes on their own, before adding them to the stuffing to add that crispiness that lasts even when they are drenched with gravy.
3. You use the turkey giblets in the stuffing as well as a simple stock made with the giblets. They both infuse a flavor that can’t be replicated by chicken stock, milk or eggs.

There are a number of steps for this recipe and they are worth it.  Your stuffing will be 100% homemade and you and your loved ones will taste that effort and deliciousness!

A potential timeline for you to make the stuffing might be:

Wednesday Night before Thanksgiving:

• Bake the cornbread and cut it up into small cubes and let them start to dry.
• Make the giblet stock and refrigerate for later use.

Thursday Morning of Thanksgiving:

• Toss the cubes to continue drying on all sides.
• Dice the onion, celery, giblets and refrigerate for use later.
• Toast half of the bread cubes.

Thursday, 90 Minutes Before your Thanksgiving Meal: 

Make the stuffing and bake!

Bake the Cornbread

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl add:

• 272 grams of white corn meal (The guaranteed gluten free version I use is Palmetto Farms which can be ordered on Amazon and is delivered quickly.)
• 160 grams of sweet white rice flour
• 3 teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 tablespoons dried, ground or rubbed sage
• 2 teaspoons of salt

Mix up the ingredients with a large spoon until your dry ingredients look like one color.

Then, add to the dry ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup of canola oil
• 2 cups of milk

Mix together with the large spoon until all of the ingredients are combined.

Line two 9x9 pans or two 9” cakes pans with nonstick foil. Pour half of the batter into each pan and smooth out the batter so it is a uniform height. 

Bake for 20 minutes and cool the pans on racks.

This part is important – when the bread is cool, please remove it from the pans and cut it up into small cubes.  Place the cubes on a flat surface and let them dry overnight.  In the morning, toss them with your hands and let them dry again until you are ready to use them.

Cook the Giblets and Make the Stock

Take the giblets out of the turkey or buy them separately from the meat counter if you don’t buy a whole turkey.

Throw out the liver.  Then, take the heart, neck and gizzard (aka stomach) and put them in a medium sauce pan and fill the pan with tap water and leave 2 inches of space from the top of the pan to give room for the water to simmer.

Simmer the giblets for one hour. If your liquid becomes low, add more water so you can have at least three cups of stock. Heat the new liquid until it is simmering as well.

Remove the giblets and put them in a container and refrigerate.

Save the giblet stock in the pan or in a container and refrigerate.

Toast the Bread Cubes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

Take half of the cubes and place them in a 9x13 pan that is lined with nonstick foil.  Spray the cubes lightly with a canola oil spray and toss them with your hands so all of the sides of the bread cubes are covered with oil.

Put the pan in the oven and let the cubes brown for 20 minutes. You don’t need to stir the cubes.  Just let them happily toast.  Remove the pan, place on a rack and let cool. Keep the cubes in the pan until you make the stuffing as you will use that pan for baking the stuffing.

Make the Stuffing!

If you are cooking your turkey in the same oven as your stuffing, you are likely cooking your turkey at 325 degrees or 350 degrees.  Your stuffing will love this temperature.

In a large pan on your stove top, add:

• ½ stick of butter
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped into thin slices
• 1 onion diced

Cook for 15 minutes on medium heat until the veggies are soft.

Add to the pan:

• The cooked giblets, chopped into a small dice
• 3 medium tart apples, diced
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon sage
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ cups of giblet stock

Cook for 5 minutes while the mixture simmers.

Put the non toasted bread cubes in the 9x13 pan with the toasted cubes. Add the mixture from the stove top pan into the 9x13 pan. Stir the ingredients until everything is mixed together.

Cover the stuffing with foil over it and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the stuffing in the middle of the pan is hot.

Moistness of stuffing is a personal preference. I am starting you with a low amount of liquid because you can always add more, but can’t remove it if you put in too much.  Halfway through the stuffing baking in the oven, grab some stuffing from the edge of the pan and taste it. If you want more moisture, add more giblet stock.

Speaking of the stock, your gravy will taste great if you use your leftover giblet stock in it.

You are welcome to stuff your bird with the stuffing. I don’t because 1) I don’t want to mess with the possible bacteria issues that can come with stuffing in a turkey and 2) I always have too much stuffing to put it all in the turkey and since I am already using a pan for some of the stuffing, I figure I might as well put all of the stuffing in the pan and save myself the step of stuffing the turkey. Could I have used the root word “stuff” more in this paragraph?? 😊 😊

Final Thoughts:

Got questions? Write me at Maureen@WickedlyWholesome.com.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!  I am grateful for you and for traveling this gluten free journey with you!