Besides my husband, the Ladd Family Stuffing Recipe is one of the best things I've inherited along with my new last name. This recipe started with an improvisation (as all good things seem to). One Thanksgiving long ago, before I entered the picture, Mr. Ladd's grandma realized she didn't have the bread to make her usual stuffing. But, she did have on hand a few loaves of Grapenut Bread (a homemade sweet breakfast bread with a lovely texture), so she improvised. The result was a simple, savory/sweet combination and everyone loved it, so her stuffing has been made that way ever since.
I've tweaked the recipe to make it my own, and it's now one of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving feast. The stuffing is a multi-step process I usually start a day or two before Thanksgiving only because you have to first make the Grapenut Bread, and then turn it in to stuffing. But, other than that, it's very straightforward and not at all fussy. Happy Thanksgiving, and If you're in charge of stuffing this year, or want to switch up your usual recipe, give it a whirl and let me know what you think...
Grapenut Bread
(Makes 2 loaves)
- 2 C sour milk (one T lemon juice to one cup milk)
- 1 C Grapenuts cereal
- 1 egg
- 1 C sugar
- 1 t salt
- 4 t baking powder
- 1 t baking soda
- 3 1/2 C flour
Preheat oven to 350. Combine milk, Grapenuts, and lemon juice and let soak for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat egg and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to egg and sugar mixture. Stir in grapenuts and sour milk mixture. Bake in greased loaf pans for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack (especially before turning it into stuffing)
Grapenut Bread Stuffing
(Use 2 loaves of grapenut bread per 20 lb bird)
- 1 C chopped celery
- 1 C chopped onion
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 t salt
- 1 t pepper
- 4 t sage
- 2 t rosemary
- 2 t thyme
Saute onion and celery in butter until celery is softened and onions are translucent. Add seasonings to sauted mixture. Tear the 2 loaves of grapenut bread into pieces and add the saute mixture. Add milk to moisten as necessary to form the stuffing into a ball. Put the ball of stuffing into a bowl and cover with saran wrap to chill in the refrigerator overnight. If stuffing the turkey with it on Thanksgiving morning, both the stuffing and turkey should be cold. I don't actually stuff mine, I cook it in a 13 x 9 pan covered with tin foil at 350 for 30 minutes, and then keep it warm in the slow cooker for the meal.
