Breakfast Sausage and Kale Cornbread Muffins

Think of these as a breakfast casserole in muffin form. Breakfast Sausage and Kale Cornbread Muffins are jumbo sized (thanks to my generous 6-cup muffin tin) and mostly savory with just a touch of sweet. They’re hearty and make a great heat-and-go breakfast!

These muffins are a true testament to my inability to throw anything out. I’m pretty hardcore when it comes to throwing food out and I just don’t do it. I hate to see anything go to waste and am all about repurposing leftovers into something new. Mostly this is a good thing and while sometimes it’s a total flop, it doesn’t keep me from doing it anyway. I’m truly proud to say that hardly any of the food I buy or make (which is a lot at times) goes in the trash or down the disposal. Any leftovers that I do end up having either make their way to one of the neighbors, my parents fridge or are used for tomorrows dinner. Or in this case, breakfast.

These muffins went something like this (a conversation by myself):
Me: I should really use those cornbread muffins….they’ve been in the freezer for over a month now.
Me: I have SO many eggs right now, how did that happen?
Me: That kale is on it’s last leg…if you don’t use it today it’s going to have to be tossed….
Me: Maybe I should make a breakfast casserole. I have some breakfast sausage in the fridge.
Me: Yes, great idea…but how about in muffin form?
Me: Girl, you’re a genius. Look at you using up this and that.
Me: Booyah.

I swear this is how my days go. So much of my time is spent thinking about food: for the blog, what our next meal is going to be, how to use up what’s in the fridge, packing well rounded lunches for the kids, preparing after school snacks, making a grocery list… I swear it’s never ending. And I can’t help but laugh as I think how far a cry (like SO FAR) I things are from former life before being a mama and now blogger. There were times when my fridge was empty, I didn’t eat all day (does beer count?) and the last thing I ever thought I’d be doing was make a living peddling home cooked meals and shutting kids around. But alas, I’m here. Doing my Mountain Mama thing and digging every minute of it.

These muffins are truly like a breakfast casserole but convenient and portable because they’re in muffin form. The cornbread and touch of maple syrup make these savory breakfast casserole muffins just a touch sweet. You could easily make these in a standard 12-cup muffin tin if that’s all you have on hand. Either way, they’re delicious and a pretty genius way to use up leftovers if you ask me!

Breakfast Sausage and Kale Cornbread Muffins

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• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 jumbo muffins or 12 standard 1x

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Ingredients

• 8 oz breakfast sausage
• 1/3 cup diced white or yellow onion
• 1 packed cup, coarsely shredded kale
• 3 cups crumbled cornbread
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Grease the insides of a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin or a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
3. In a large saute pan, brown sausage over medium heat about 7-8 minutes. Add onion and cook just until soft about 3-4 minutes more. Add shredded kale and cook 1-2 minutes just so it softens up a bit. Remove mixture from heat.
4. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl and add sausage/kale mixture.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, half and half, salt, pepper, ground mustard and maple syrup. Pour the egg mixture into the corbread/kale mixture and stir until cornbread and sausage mixture is evenly moist. Stir in cheddar cheese.
6. Divide the mixture between the 6 muffin tins. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through and slightly brown on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

These freeze beautifully. Simply gently reheat in the microwave.