Name: Cherry-Apple Dressing
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients: 12 cups store-bought cornbread (cut into 3/4-inch cubes); 2 cups dried cherries; 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 12 ounces bulk breakfast sausage; 2 small onions, chopped fine; 3 ribs celery, chopped fine; 1 clove minced garlic; 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage; 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves; 1 teaspoon Table salt; 1 teaspoon Ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated; 1 large egg, beaten

Why This Recipe Works

For a sweet and festive holiday side dish, we spiced up a run-of-the-mill dressing recipe with cherries and apples. Granny Smith apples were the best choice for our Cherry-Apple Dressing recipe, as their tartness brightened up the dish and was tempered by other ingredients like sage, thyme, and garlic.

Before You Begin

If using homemade cornbread, you'll need an 11 by 8-inch pan of cornbread.

Instructions

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 250 degrees. Bake cornbread on 2 baking sheets until dried and crisp, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool completely, then transfer to large bowl.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix cherries and 1/2 cup broth in small bowl. Set aside.

Brown sausage in Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking up clumps, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to plate. Add onions and celery to pot and cook until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl with cornbread. Melt butter in now-empty pot. Add apples and cook until just tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer to bowl with cornbread. Add cherry mixture to cornbread along with remaining 3 1/2 cups broth, egg, and cooked sausage.

Transfer mixture to 3-quart baking dish and bake until top is golden brown and crisp, about 25 minutes. Serve.