This Saturday we are exploring one of many ideas for #Sourdough4Thanksgiving. Last year I made this Rustic Cornbread and Sourdough Stuffing, adapted from Taste of the South Magazine. But instead of sourdough cornbread, I made and used sourdough corn muffins.

Below is the recipe for Rustic Cornbread and Sourdough Stuffing, but following that are two more recipes you will need. The first is for the sourdough muffin recipe and the second is for the sourdough bread recipe. You will need both to make this tasty stuffing, but you could skip making the sourdough bread and order our stuffing bread instead.

Rustic Cornbread and Sourdough Stuffing

Instructions

If cooking outside the bird, spray a 3-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside and preheat oven to 350°F.

  1. Either in or out of the bird, combine the sourdough and cornbread in a large bowl.
  2. On medium heat sauté celery, green onion, and jalapeño in bacon fat until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.
  3. Combine the sautéed celery, green onion, and jalapeño mixture into the bread mixture.
  4. Crumble in bacon.
  5. Separately, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs and broth.
  6. Add eggs to the bread mixture, stirring gently to combine. Spoon into prepared dish or stuff the bird with the dressing.
  7. If baking outside the bird, bake until the top is golden brown and the dressing is firm to the touch, approximately 1 hour at 350°F. If used as stuffing, it must be at least 165°F to be safe to eat.

By the way, this recipe will more than fill your turkey, so you may be baking some both ways.

Now let’s get to making the cornbread and sourdough bread you need for this recipe.

Sourdough Cornbread Muffins

Sourdough Cornbread Muffins

These cornbread muffins are delicious with honey and butter—plain, they are great for stuffing

The above recipe calls for four cups of cornbread crumbled, but I like muffins, which should work for stuffing just as well as cornbread does. 

Using a cup of sourdough starter and two cups each whole-grain cornmeal and milk a day ahead will ensure a good ferment. The flavor magic is the two days it takes for the preferment to fully develop. This is the key to a superb corn flavor.

Also, researching this recipe, which I adapted from several sources, I found that all used baking powder and/or soda. I assume that cornmeal is not as active as flour in the fermenting stage, so I have included this as an additional leavening agent as moar other bakers do.

Directions

Activate the Start

  • The night before mix 1/3 cup sourdough starter with one cup of flour and 3/4 cup of tepid water.
  • Set it aside overnight in a warm place to ripen.

Long Firment

  • In the morning (or at least 8 hours before you bake), combine one cup of start with cornmeal, flour, and milk. 
  • Cover and set aside in a warm place 8-24 hours to ferment.

Ready the Oven

  • Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  • If using cast iron, which is always preferred, grease each cup, and place in oven to preheat. Otherwise, ready your muffin tin by greasing each cup as I did (see below).

Mixing the Dough

My batter was too thick, not sure why, so I had to spoon mine into my Silicone Muffin Pan

  • Fry bacon until crisp. Set bacon aside, reserving 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.
  • Mix eggs, maple syrup, crumbled bacon, and bacon drippings (or melted butter). 
  • Stir this into the fermented dough.
  • In a small bowl combine baking powder, salt, and soda; sprinkle this over the dough.
  • Quickly stir all ingredients until well mixed.
  • Pour batter into muffin tin
  • Bake 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Serve warm or allow to cool before breaking into stuffing pieces

* Always reserve a few tablespoons of start and feed it 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Let this stand 4 hours before placing the start in the fridge for the next use.

This recipe was delicious, offering a deep corn flavor that usually does not develop in quick cornbread. Sadly, two of the twelve muffins are already gone, (who can blame us for trying them out). So I have had to hide them away in the freezer until Thanksgiving so there will be enough on hand.

Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Saturday: Sourdough and Cornbread Stuffing

This bread has an amazing flavor and bakes great in most 10″ deep dutch ovens. Shown here baked outdoors, your indoor cookware makes a great loaf every time too.

Instructions

Activate the Starter

  1. The night before mix 1/3 cup sourdough starter with one cup of flour and 3/4 cup of tepid water.
  2. Stir until all the four has been combined
  3. Set it aside overnight in a warm place to ripen.

Long Firment

  1. Measure a cup of active starter into a mixing bowl
  2. Stir in two cups of room temperature water. Stir to dissolve.
  3. Mix in 4 cups of flour until it is well combined and sticky.
  4. Set this mixture aside for 30 minutes. Then and 1/2 tablespoon of salt and two Tbls additional water.  Stretch-and-fold the dough with wet hands by digging into one side and pulling the dough over itself in a fold. Turn the bowl and repeat three times.
  5. Pester dough every 30 minutes for a total of three more times.
  6. Set the dough aside, covered, for 8–12 hours until doubled in bulk (overnight is great)

Tensioning and Shaping the Dough

  1. When doubled, dump the dough onto a floured surface to rest 30 more minutes.
  2. Flour your hands and shape the dough ( It is best to use as little flour at this point as possible).
  3. To shape the dough grab one end fold it up in half. Then, use both hands to fold it over again three more times, with a quarter rotation every time. 
  4. Then gather the dough, turning it seam down on your work surface. Using both hands spin and shape the dough. 
  5. Turn it seam down in a bowl with a cover for the final rise, which may take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.

Ready the Oven

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. If using cast iron, which is always preferred, preheat the pot in the oven.
  3. When it is doubled, score the top with a sharp knife and place into a hot (450° F) preheated oven. Cover and bake for 30 min.
  4. When golden brown, remove from heat but leave bread in dutch-oven to cool for 2 hours.
  5. Then slice and cube into 1-inch squares for stuffing.* Always reserve a few tablespoons of start and fed it 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Let this stand 4 hours before placing the start in the fridge for the next use.

Let us know how your sourdough and cornbread stuffing turned out. Was it baked in or out of the bird? Tell us about your Halloween in the comment section below