Stuffing bread croutons


I love baking this bread every year.  It's a special bread that I only make this month but it smells so good while kneading and baking, I'd be happy to make an exception now and then.  Turkey stuffing bread makes the most awesome croutons for dressing and I hear it makes great sammies too.  The dough whips up fairly quick in the bread machine or kitchen aid and rises quickly too.  The shorter kneading time is to prevent the onions from breaking down and making the dough too moist.  Once it is baked up, the bread can be used for savory sandwiches or left out a day and turned into the most awesome croutons ever.  They hold together wonderfully and make fabulous stuffing and dressing.  


I make two loaves for enough croutons to stuff a turkey and fill a large casserole or two with dressing.  I use a combination of almond flour and millet to simulate the taste and texture of cornmeal, but feel free to use some organic cornmeal or granular semolina instead if you don't have those things on hand.  These croutons will not turn to mush when making dressing.  I think we put a least a full quart of broth, a couple eggs and tons of mushrooms, onions, celery, butter and giblets in there!  Maybe some rice too.  ☺


Use whatever types of flour you prefer.  This year I used spelt, white whole wheat and sprouted wheat flour, which yields a darker loaf.  The previous loaf was a 50% mix of white whole wheat and all purpose which gives a nice light colored loaf as you see the in stuffing pictures above.


Turkey Stuffing Bread
makes 1 loaf

1 cup lukewarm water
1 egg
3 tbsp butter, softened
½ small onion, diced (about 1/3 cup)
2 tsp granular coconut sugar or light brown muscovado sugar
1½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
½ tsp rubbed sage 
1 tsp celery seeds
¾ tsp poultry seasoning
1/3 cup millet flour or ground millet
1/3 cup almond flour
1½ cup all purpose flour
1¼ cup white whole wheat flour
1½ tsp instant yeast

Combine all ingredients in a bread machine or mixer.  Knead with machine or dough hook for 7 or 8 minutes.  Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes to an hour until double.  Shape dough into a loaf and place in a buttered loaf pan.  Allow to rise until cresting the pan by an inch, not quite double.  This should take 20-40 minutes depending on the temperature of your kitchen.  Bake at 375ºF for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and done.  (Internal temp of about 200º).  Cool completely or overnight.

To make croutons, cube the bread and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake at 225º for about 1-2 hours, turning occasionally, until completely dry and just barely golden.  Another easy way is to place on a wire rack on the baking sheet to facilitate drying without having to turn.  Store croutons in an airtight container until ready to use.  I have made mine up to two weeks in advance, just make sure they are bone dry.


Adapted from Bread Machine Cookbook III

Comments

  1. Hello, new follower here and I’d like to invite you to join me at my weekly Clever Chicks Blog Hop: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/clever-chicks-blog-hop-15-vetericyn.html



    I hope you can make it!



    Cheers,

    Kathy Shea Mormino

    The Chicken Chick

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for commenting, I love hearing from you! If you have any questions I will do my level best to answer them for you.