What's Better than a Stuffin Muffin?

I know most of my posts this month have featured healthy recipes, but I still pine for hearty comfort food too. I love a good stick to your ribs, make you feel warm, or take you back to Mom's house kind of meal.

For me, that kind of meal almost always comes out of an oven. It almost always involves roasted veggies and hopefully some of kind of baked bread, bun, or bread pudding. Some of you might choose to serve a roast chicken with your meal and I think that today's recipe would go perfectly with one.

Today's recipe is a Stuffin. They are muffins made out of stuffing. I don't want to pretend that I made them up, I thought I might have but I looked up a stuffin on the Internet and found out that they sadly already existed, but the recipe I came up with is pretty darn delicious. They're quicker to make than a big casserole of dressing so they feel a little less thanksgiving and a little more weekend comfort food.

Read on for the recipe!

Stuffins - makes 12

1 leek, minced (white and light green parts only)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 carrots, grated 

2 stalks of celery, minced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3 cups of bread, cubed or torn into small pieces 

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup veggie stock 

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Sauté leek, garlic, carrots, and celery in the olive oil until softened. Remove from the heat. 

3. In a large bowl, toss together the sautéed veggies, bread, eggs, stock, cranberries, and seasonings. Mix until all of bread is moist and the liquid is absorbed. 

4. Divide bread mixture evenly among all 12 holes in a muffin tin. Pack it in well to ensure that the Stuffins stay together when baking. 

5. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the Stuffins bounce back when lightly touched. 

6. Gently scoop out of the muffin tin with a spoon and enjoy.