Cranberry Macademia Nut Stuffing {recipe}

I think everyone looks forward to holiday meals and has a favorite dish. My favorite dish has always been and always will be stuffing or dressing whatever you want to call it, it is my absolute favorite part of the holiday meal. In my family we don’t stuff the turkey so I guess we eat dressing and my mother always prepares a special one for me without using the giblets because I don’t eat meat. My mom is an absolute pro at making stuffing, it is nice and moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside. I like it made traditionally, not that crumbly stuff that some people make. The thing is I have NEVER been able to make stuffing like my mom.

However, there was that one year when I made stuffed acorn squash and it was the BOMB but of course, I lost that recipe so I never made it again. Because of my love of stuffing, when Walmart asked me for a favorite holiday recipe I decided to tackle stuffing. And this time, I was determined to get it right. I looked at various recipes and decided on a Cranberry Macadamia Nut stuffing made with King's Hawaiian bread. The idea of a savory and sweet stuffing is appealing to me so I gave it a go.

I purchased all of my ingredients at Walmart and it was actually the only place that I've ever seen King's Hawaiian bread in loaves. 

I love the taste of the stuffing. I actually think I did a pretty good job but in my opinion it still fell short of my high expectations for stuffing. I followed the directions but made some important changes. After cubing the 2 loaves of bread, I put the cubes in the oven to toast them.

I like stuffing from a croton”esque” base and the idea of soggy bread was just not appealing. After toasting I realized that I had way too much bread so I followed the recipe but only utilized one loaf of bread.

When I took it out of the oven the stuffing was nice and moist but was missing the crusty top that I like so I roasted it for about 3 minutes. When I make this again, I plan on adding more vegetable broth for added moisture and I think that will make it perfect. Overall I am extremely pleased with my stuffing, the combination of the macadamia nuts, crasins and the sweetness of the Hawaiian bread is so flavorful! I simply need to raise the recipe to my level of expectation for stuffing! Try it, I am pretty sure you will enjoy this taste sensation!

Crandberry Macadamia Nut Stuffing
(reprinted from King's Hawaiian)

Ingredients

1 cup Chopped celery

1/2 cup Chopped onion

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1 tsp. Dried sage crushed

1/2 tsp. Dried thyme crushed

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/2 cup Macadamia nuts chopped

1/2 cup Dried cranberries

1/2 cup Chicken broth

1-2 tbsp. Additional chicken broth optional

2 Loaves KING'S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Round Bread cubed (approx. 1/2 inch cubes, 6 cups)

Preparation

Step 1
Cook celery and onion in margarine or butter in a small saucepan until tender.

Step 2
Remove from heat. Stir in sage, thyme, and pepper.

Step 3
Place dry bread cubes in a mixing bowl.

Step 4
Add celery mixture, macadamia nuts, and cranberries. Add the 1/2 cup chicken broth, tossing to moisten.

Step 5
Use mixture to stuff one six-to-eight pound turkey. Transfer any remaining stuffing to a casserole dish, adding the 1 to 2 tablespoons chicken broth, if desired, for extra moistness; cover and chill casserole dish until ready to bake.

Step 6
Bake the stuffing, covered, at 325°F during the last 30 to 45 minutes of turkey roasting until stuffing is heated through.