Caramelized Autumn Fruit Stuffing Cups.
Too early for stuffing?
Never.
At least not in this house.
I must admit this was Mr. How Sweet’s idea. See, he loves stuffing. One of his favorite meals is a big “garbage” casserole: a large dish filled with chicken, cream of chicken soup and Stove Top stuffing. The whole wheat Stove Top stuffing, because you know that negates the cream of chicken soup calories. Obviously.
Okay, so it’s not just caramelized fruit.
These is some caramelized butternut squash in there to.
And boy – was it delicious.
Not sugar needed for caramelization here. I just chopped apples, pears and squash into uniformly sized cubes and doused them with sea salt and cinnamon.
Then I let them do their business.
Are you ready for this?
Because this caramelized mixture just may be my new favorite snack.
It’s actually pretty.
And the words “harvest” and “autumn” come to mind just when I peek at it.
My mind has been spinning with the incredible uses for this caramelized fruit and squash – oatmeal, pancakes, quesadillas, omelets, pizza…
But this time, we decided to use some Nature’s Pride whole wheat bread and make individually portioned stuffing cups.
Mr. How Sweet claims that the apple replaces the onion and the pear replaces the celery in traditional stuffing. And the butternut squash? Well, that’s just an added bonus.
A scrumptious added bonus I may add.
And I can’t forget to mention the drizzle of butter and brown sugar on top.
Totally necessary.
Caramelized Autumn Fruit Stuffing Cups
serves 3
1/2 butternut squash, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 apple, chopped (I used honeycrisp)
1 pear, chopped (I used red bartlett)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
3 slices Nature’s Pride whole wheat bread
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat a skillet on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. Once hot, add squash, apples and pears, tossing with cinnamon and salt. Stir a few times to coat and combine. Let caramelize, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes.
While the fruit is caramelizing, toast bread (if it is not stale already). Cut into cubes that are the same size as the fruit.
Once fruit is caramelized, add to a bowl with bread. Mix to combine.
Spoon stuffing evenly into 3 ramekins. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and stir in brown sugar. Spoon butter over stuffing in each ramekin. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
I’m officially ready for Fall. And all the things that come with it… like pumpkin pie, and pecan pie, and apple pie, and caramel apples and…
And apparently a larger pants size, too.
90 Comments on “Caramelized Autumn Fruit Stuffing Cups.”
I didn’t know carmelizing could be so easy! This looks absolutely delicious!
Amazing pictures. So good. I am making your oreo brownies with oreo frosting this week and wanted to know when you say baking squares do you use semi-sweet or what kind? Thanks for your great recipes!
Thank you!
I always use semi-sweet.
Hmmm – this looks absolutely heavenly and perfect for fall.
Where did you get your ramekins? I need to pick some of those up.
They came in a Corningware set that I got for my wedding, but I’ve seen them at Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma, Target, etc.
Ohh my yummy goodness
oh.yum.
Never too early for stuffing :) Heck, it’s spring down here and it’s not too early! By the way I love those ramekins.
This looks so delicious… what a great combo of flavors! And you snuck a veggie in there… good for you :)
What a gorgeous fall recipe!! Love the combo of the apple, pear, and bnut squash, yummmmmm!! :)
now THIS is a stuffing I can get behind! Love it!!
Good LAWD those photos are gorgeous. It just screams FALL. You will have to keep making seasonal food like this so I can drool over it. The thought of anything “warm” or remnant of Thanksgiving-type food happening in my kitchen makes me start sweating (even more than I do just eating breakfast).
These pictures are amazing and the dish is really calling my name!
They are so cute. I love this idea.
Did you serve it with anything else? or did it stand alone?
Yum.
What delicious little cups. Perfect for a fall party.
Yum! That would go great alongside a soup :-) Or at Thanksgiving! What a creative way to make stuffing.
Is that all you put in the “garbage” casserole, or is there more to it besides the stuffing, chicken, and soup? I would love the recipe for this!
Nope – that is it!
Dude- you are so going to come to foodbuzz now :) This recipe is great!
I’ve had so much trouble getting your blog to load. :( That’s sad because I really really loved your photos for this post and the recipe. Fall is the best time of year for sure. I’m excited to see more of your fall foods.
Really?! Has it been happening often?
Nope, just for this post. It took several refreshes and the photos took a long time to load to see all of them. But now it seems to be working fine. Maybe it was just slow because you had lots of people coming to see? Hehe.
You sure are ready for Autumn. These look so good and i love the addition of the butternut squash! Gorgeous!
I can’t tell you how bad I want to eat this NOW! It sounds heavenly!! I saved it and I’m quite sure it will be on the menu soon.
Great idea about pancakes or quesadillas! I put everything on a quesadilla so that would be no surprise! Thanks for a great recipes and tons of ideas!
I can’t wait to try this!!! Looks amazing, my mouth is watering!! lol Thanks for sharing!!
Looks utterly delicious!
Such lovely photos. I am really in the mood for fall and all the eating that will coast us all into winter! :)
Yum! I was just thinking about stuffing the other evening. Love this recipe! I am definitely ready for some stuffing now!
Girl these look so beautiful and delicious, they should be on the cover of a Fall recipe magazine as I go through the checkout!
This looks phenomenal! I’m going to suggest it to my family for Thanksgiving, honestly. We usually do packaged stuffing but this is something we can all feel good eating. Thanks for the lovely photos and recipe! It’s sure to get them drooling. ;)
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YUM! This recipe makes me so happy :)
Can you imagine this paired with a bacon-wrapped pork loin and roast brussels sprouts? It’s times like these I remember why Autumn is my favorite season! Thanks for sharing.
Yum! What a great time of year to be cooking squash! Have you ever tried butternut squash risotto? It’s my fave!
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Do I need to make any adjustments if I want to do this as one large dish?
Dam, I am book marking this!