Trail Mix Thanksgiving Stuffing

I've now developed the most delicious Thanksgiving stuffing. It starts with my Thanksgiving Sourdough Stuffing base, and then for the customizable ingredients, I choose ingredients in a trail mix like cranberries, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. 

My other secret is I now cook my Epically Fast & Delicious Roasted Turkey directly on top of the stuffing. It's not good to stuff a whole turkey with stuffing because the middle of the turkey can't come to a safe temperature. But if you break down the turkey and cook it on top, you'll get all those delicious juices to flow into the stuffing but the stuffing can come to the proper temp since it is directly exposed to the oven heat.

This was bar far the hit dish of this year's Thanksgiving and I will now be making it this way from here on out (that is until inspiration strikes again).

Ingredients

• Sourdough bread - 8-10 slices of large sandwich style (about 8 cups cubed)
• 2 tbsp butter or oil
• 1.5 cups diced onion - red, yellow, or white are all fine
• 1 cup diced celery (about 3 celery ribs)
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1/4 cup pepitas (optional)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2.5-3.5 cups turkey stock
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions if making it on its own. If you want to cook with the turkey, follow directions in my Epically Fast & Delicious Roasted Turkey recipe.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
• To estimate the right amount of bread, for me I grab my 11x17 baking sheet and lay out enough bread to fit one tray plus another half tray.
• Toast the bread slices ideally 4-24 hours in advance. I do this in the oven on a baking sheet using the low broiler setting for 3-5 minutes per side. 
• Once toasted leave on a rack or baking sheet to dry out. Be sure to flip them at 3 hours so the underside can dry out too. If you forget to do this ahead, no worries, just toast the bread and proceed.
• Cut the bread into 1/2 inch cubes. 
• In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and celery until soft and translucent (about 6-8 minutes). You can season them with some of the salt and pepper while they cook. 
• Add the garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Don't let the garlic burn.
• While the vegetables cook, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and add 2.5 cups of stock and seasonings. 
• Add the cubed bread to the mixing bowl and stir to hydrate. The bread should absorb all the liquid and be very saturated until you just start to see some residue liquid not getting absorbed at the bottom. If too dry, add more stock.
• Scrape the vegetable mixture into the mixing bowl.
• Add the remaining trail mix ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir until combined.
• Pour the stuffing into the casserole dish and cook for 60 minutes.