Thanksgiving individual stuffing muffins recipe! These easy, vegetarian stuffing cups with apples and cherries have a moist center with crispy edges in every bite.
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Hello, Rhubarbarians! See those muffin looking things up there that also look like Thanksgiving stuffing? Those are individual stuffing muffins!
It's just like it sounds: delicious Thanksgiving stuffing cooked in muffin tins so that you get perfectly sized individual portions. Genius, right?
If you haven't tried the stuffin muffins trend yet, what are you waiting for?
Check out our top ten vegetarian Thanksgiving main dishes!
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Why you'll love these
If you're like me, you think the perfect bite of stuffing is moist and flavorful, but also has some crispy edge piece of bread. Right?
Well, these stuffing muffins have a crispy edge piece in every single bite, while staying moist in the center. Oh yes.
These individual stuffing muffins are also perfectly sized for individual portions and easy to make ahead for Thanksgiving potlucks.
Psssst! You can find all of our vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes here!
Ingredients and equipment
Here's what you need to make this vegetarian stuffing muffins recipe! Full ingredients and instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.
Ingredients:
- Butter. 1 stick for the recipe and more for greasing the pan.
- Onion.
- Celery.
- Bay leaf. Dried.
- Apple. We like fuji or honeycrisp.
- Pecans. Chopped for the recipe and more for topping (optional).
- Dried cherries. We love Fruit Bliss tart dried cherries!
- Dried sage and thyme.
- Eggs.
- Vegetable stock. Our favorite is Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base!
- Dried bread cubes. Store bought or homemade.
Equipment:
- An oven.
- 2 jumbo muffin tins. I like these muffin tins, but you can also use regular sized muffin tins and make 12 smaller stuffing muffins. (See notes)
- Paper towel. I like to use a paper towel to grease the muffin tins with butter. You can use your hands if you'd like.
- A large cooking pot. I'm obsessed with my Lodge dutch oven.
- Measuring cups and spoons.
- Cutting board.
- Chef's knife.
- Stirring utensil. Like a wooden spoon or spoonula.
- Small bowl.
- Small whisk or fork.
- Wire cooling rack.
Have you tried maple roasted butternut squash with cranberries?
Step by step instructions
Let's make these together! Full instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.
- First, you'll need to make sure you have dried bread cubes. Most grocery stores sell pre made dried bread cubes in the bakery section, or you can make your own. (See section on drying your own bread cubes)
- Preheat your oven and grease your muffin tins with butter.
- Melt a whole stick of butter (yep) in a cooking pot.
- Add your aromatics and cook until soft.
- Add your apples, pecans, cherries, and spices, and cook until soft.
- While that's cooking, make a mixture of egg and vegetable broth.
- Combine the cooked mixture, the broth mixture, and your bread cubes together and toss until everything is evenly coated.
- Evenly distribute the mixture among the muffins tins.
- Press the mixture against the bottom and the sides of the muffin tin cups.
- Add pecans to the top for design. (optional)
- Bake.
- Let cool slightly.
- Remove the individual stuffing muffins from the muffin tins and let cool on a wire rack.
How to make dried bread cubes
You can't make a stuffing muffins recipe without dried bread cubes! If you use fresh bread, you will end up with soggy muffin cups. You definitely don't want that!
You can make your own at home. Here's how:
- Cut a loaf of rustic white bread or french bread into ½" cubes.
You can dry the cubes one of two ways:
- Leave the cubes out to dry overnight on the counter.
- Bake the cubes in the oven to try them out. Spread the cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees F.
Pro tip: save time by buying pre made dried bread cubes at the grocery store! Most grocery stores carry these in the bakery section specifically for stuffing around Thanksgiving.
Serving suggestions
These stuffing cups are best served warm and fresh out of the oven with your Thanksgiving feast.
I love the individual portion size, which makes serving them very easy.
After cooling slightly on a wire rack, line a large bowl with a kitchen cloth and stack the stuffing muffins inside. Placed on your Thanksgiving table, guests will be able to grab one muffin each as an individual sized portion. No serving utensils needed! No fighting over the crispy edges!
Recipes I love to eat with stuffing muffins:
- Hearty vegan cranberry portobello pot roast
- Lentil stuffed delicata squash boats
- Homemade cranberry sauce
Make them ahead
Because the stuffing muffins are individually sized, they are perfect for bringing to a Thanksgiving potluck or making ahead for your Thanksgiving dinner.
To make them ahead, cook them following the instructions in the recipe card and remove them from the muffin tins. Store the cooked muffins in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
You can bring them to room temperature before serving or reheat them in the oven before serving (suggested). To reheat, cook them in a 350 degree F oven for about 10-15 minutes.
Recipe tips and substitutions
- Make sure you are using dried bread cubes and not fresh bread. Fresh bread will become soggy. (See the section about making your own dried bread cubes)
- I like the serving size that the jumbo muffin tins make, but you can use regular sized muffin tins as well. The recipe will make 24 small stuffing muffins rather than 12 large. The cook time will vary and will cook more quickly.
- Don't skip pressing the stuffing mixture against the sides and bottoms of the muffin tin cups before baking. The stuffing muffins won't hold their shape and may fall apart if you do!
- Make the stuffing muffins vegan by swapping the butter for vegan butter and replacing the egg with a vegan egg replacement. You can either use chia seeds or flax meal. Whisk 3 teaspoons of either one into the vegetable broth just like you would the egg. For vegan egg substitute, I prefer flax, as chia seeds can get a bit gluey.
- If you can't find dried cherries, go ahead and substitute dried cranberries.
Check out this November seasonal produce and recipes guide!
Storing and freezing
Storing:
Store leftover individual stuffing muffins in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can bring them to room temperature before serving or reheat them in the oven before serving (suggested). To reheat, cook them in a 350 degree F oven for about 10-15 minutes.
Freezing:
Wrap each stuffing muffin in foil and the place the stuffing muffins in an air tight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen or defrost in the refrigerator first.
FAQs
Yep! I like the serving size that the jumbo muffin tins make, but you can use regular sized muffin tins as well. The recipe will make 24 small stuffing muffins rather than 12 large. The cook time will vary and will cook more quickly.
Make the dried bread cubes with your favorite gluten free white bread!
Yep! Wrap each stuffing muffin in foil and the place the stuffing muffins in an air tight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen or defrost in the refrigerator first.
Have a question? Ask me in the comments at the bottom of this article and I will get back to you as soon as possible!
More Thanksgiving recipes to try:
- Warm brussels sprout salad with apples and pecans
- Easy vegan cocktail meatballs with cranberry glaze
- Easy cream cheese cranberry crescent rolls
Did you make this recipe? Leave us a review and star rating in the comments below! We read every single review and appreciate your feedback.
Recipe
Individual stuffing muffins with apples and cherries
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons salted butter + more for greasing pans 1 stick of butter
- 3 cups finely diced yellow onion about 1 medium onion
- 1 ½ cups finely diced celery about 4 medium stalks
- 1 whole dried bay leaf
- 2 cups finely diced fuji or honeycrisp apple, peeled and cored about 1 ½ medium apples
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
- 4 ounces tart dried cherries
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 10 cups dried bread cubes
- whole pecans for top of muffins (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Generously grease 2 jumbo muffin tins with butter.
- Melt the 8 Tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and bay leaf and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the apple, chopped pecans, cherries, sage, and thyme. Stir to combine and saute until everything is soft and the cherries have plumped just a bit, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaf from the mixture. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and then whisk the broth into the eggs.
- Add the bread cubes and the egg mixture to the cooked onion mixture. Toss until everything is evenly coated and the bread cubes soak up the liquid.
- Fill each of the 12 jumbo muffin tin cups with ¾ cup of the mixture. If any is leftover, just divide it evenly amongst the 12 muffins.
- Using your fingers, gently press the stuffing mixture against the bottom and the sides of the muffin tin cups to make sure the stuffing mixture is compact. This will hold the muffins together and give you those crispy edges!
- Optional: add 3 whole pecans to the top of each muffin in a "flower" design as seen above.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the muffins are browned on the top. Remove from the oven and let sit in the muffin tins for 10 minutes. Then remove and transfer to a wire rack.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure you are using dried bread cubes and not fresh bread. Fresh bread will become soggy. (See the section about making your own dried bread cubes)
- I like the serving size that the jumbo muffin tins make, but you can use regular sized muffin tins as well. The recipe will make 24 small stuffing muffins rather than 12 large. The cook time will vary and will cook more quickly.
- Don't skip pressing the stuffing mixture against the sides and bottoms of the muffin tin cups before baking. The stuffing muffins won't hold their shape and may fall apart if you do!
- Make the stuffing muffins vegan by swapping the butter for vegan butter and replacing the egg with a vegan egg replacement. You can either use
Nutrition
Thank you Fruit Bliss for sponsoring this post!
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