Stuffing Bread

One of my friends mentioned this delicious sandwich she had at a restaurant that she described as a Thanksgiving sandwich. She described bread that tasted like stuffing as the base of the sandwich. That sparked the desire to create a stuffing bread of my own, so my friend could relive the Thanksgiving sandwich.

After a couple tries, this is the version I settled on for my Stuffing Bread. It smells and tastes like stuffing, complete with the celery, onion and sage flavors!

Stuffing Bread
3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp. shortening
2 tsp. dry yeast
1/4 cup dry milk
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. sage
2 tsp. celery seed
1 cup condensed French onion soup, warmed to between 105ºF and 115ºF
1 egg

Mix 1 1/2 cups flour with shortening, yeast, dry milk, sugar, sage and celery seed. Add onion soup and egg. Slowly add remaining flour, and knead until a smooth dough forms.

Cover, and let stand until doubled, approximately 1 hour. Punch down dough, and shape into prepared bread pans. (Recipe will likely make a 9 x 5-inch loaf and an 8 x 4-inch loaf.) Cover, and let rise and doubled, about 50 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Bake bread for 30 to 35 minutes until done. Brush tops with melted butter while still warm. Cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy bread topped with turkey and cranberry jam for a bit of Thanksgiving any time of the year.