Ingredients

Step One: Baking Homemade Croutons
• 10 cups homemade bread croutons, cut 3/4x3/4-inch in size
• (approximately 1 to 1 1/2 loaves of your favorite bread; sandwich-style breads work best)
Step Two: Preparing Stuffing
• 3/4 cup finely diced organic celery
• 3/4 cup finely diced organic carrot
• 3/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 5 tbsp butter (if DF, omit butter & increase olive oil to 1/3 cup)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp dried poultry seasoning
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 heaping tbsp minced fresh sage
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup raw whole milk (or unsweetened almond milk)

Instructions

Step One: Baking Homemade Croutons
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Using large chef knife, stack the bread two to three slices high and cut into 3/4-inch cubes. (You want at least 10 heaping cups of bread cubes.)
2. Arrange the bread cubes evenly on an ungreased baking sheet so they are not overlapping. Repeat process with remaining bread cubes. (You may not be able to fit all the bread cubes onto one baking sheet. So if you don’t have a second baking sheet, you will need to bake in batches.)
3. Bake bread cubes for approximately 1-2 hours (or more), making sure to check them every 20-30 minutes, until they are dried out and firm (like a salad crouton).
4. Once they are dry, remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Then proceed with making the stuffing. (See time and money saving tips below in the notes.)
Step Two: Preparing Stuffing
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Finely dice the celery, carrot and onion and set aside in medium bowl.
6. Pluck leaves only from fresh sage and mince, set aside two heaping tablespoons (freeze the rest for future use).
7. Preheat large skillet to medium-high; add butter and olive oil. Immediately add celery, carrot and onion. Sauté until onion is translucent and carrot begins to soften (about 5 minutes).
8. Add poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, sage, cranberries and broth; bring to a slight simmer. Cook about 3-5 minutes, just until cranberries begin to plump. Turn off heat and remove skillet to a cool area of stovetop.
9. In a small bowl, add milk and eggs and whisk to combine. Slowly pour a half cup of the hot veggie-broth mixture into the milk-egg mixture while rapidly whisking (this is done to temper the milk-egg mixture, so you don’t get scrambled egg pieces). Then, slowly add the milk-egg mixture to the veggie-broth mixture while rapidly stirring.
10. In a large bowl, add your homemade croutons (dried bread cubes) and slowly pour the veggie mixture over them. Using a rubber spatula or your hands, gently combine until bread cubes are moistened. If still dry, you can add a bit more milk or chicken stock to moisten.
11. Add mixture to a well-oiled 9x13-inch baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until completely heated through.
12. Remove foil and bake another 8-10 minutes, until stuffing begins to turn slightly brown on edges. Enjoy!

Notes