Tangy Rhubarb Muffins

On April 24, 2025April 24, 2025 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, quick breadsLeave a comment

When I want to bake muffins, I reach for whichever homemade dairy product happens to be in my fridge that day: cultured buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, each has a different texture and flavor but can be used interchangeably in many baked goods.

Cultured buttermilk tends to be just slightly thicker than heavy cream, and it adds flavor not just to sweet rhubarb muffins but also to savory Corn Kernel Muffins with Sage. My favorite substitute for it is the whey from Homemade Small-Batch Yogurt: Drain the yogurt through a fine-mesh strainer and capture the tangy liquid in a measuring cup. If the whey seems too thin, stir in a couple of tablespoons of the yogurt before using it in Berry Chocolate Muffins.
Learn to make Tangy Rhubarb Muffins

Rhubarb–Vanilla Syrup

On May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, refrigeratedLeave a comment

We tend to buy fruity sparkling waters and hard seltzers in cans, but bottles of fruit syrup concentrate are easy to make and stash in your fridge, or freeze in ice trays, for homemade spritzers and cocktails. You can also play with flavors you’re unlikely to find on the store shelf, like the tart–sweet rhubarb syrup I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

The technique for making fruit syrups that you plan to use in beverages is simple. I make them from spring to fall with fresh fruit, cycling through flavors as they ripen. In winter, you can make them with fruit from the freezer in the same way you make Frozen Strawberry Syrup to pour over pancakes or waffles—just don’t let it cook as long to keep it fully pourable.
Learn to make Rhubarb–Vanilla Syrup

Huckleberry–Rhubarb Galette

On July 20, 2023November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn baked, Column4 Comments

Huckleberries are the flavor of summer in Montana, whether you venture into the woods to find your own or not. Pickers horde them to enjoy all year, reliving memories of summer days with each burst of the sweet, intense fruit. As I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, once I’ve left a mountainside with purple-stained fingers and tongue and a bellyful—perhaps too full—of huckleberries, I use my haul judiciously to stretch out the berry season.

This week’s recipe, pairing huckleberries and rhubarb in a freeform tart, does just that. If you freeze hucks on a tray and then bag them for the freezer, and if you chop and bag rhubarb to freeze, you can make this tart off-season too. Blueberries can stand in for huckleberries if you don’t harvest the wild fruit, and tart apples can stand in for the rhubarb if you don’t grow and freeze the stalks.
Learn to make Huckleberry–Rhubarb Galette

Rhubarb–Rosemary Sorbet

On July 21, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, frozen2 Comments

For my money, the best way to beat the heat is sorbet. And I do mean money: homemade sorbet can be made with affordable ingredients like in-season fruit, herbs, honey or sugar, and water. You can also make it with tools you likely already have in your kitchen, as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

A few tricks help you smooth out sorbet and counteract the ice crystals that can form so quickly when you try to make frozen, nondairy desserts. Ice cream makers and gelato machines may speed up the process, so you can use one if you already own one, but there’s no need to buy a new appliance if you want to enjoy dairy-free sorbets.
Learn to make Rhubarb–Rosemary Sorbet and other flavors

Rhubarb–Apple Crisp

On May 26, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn baked, Column2 Comments

To me, nothing says spring like fresh rhubarb. I share the history of my fourth-generation rhubarb plants and my love for their ruby-red stalks this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. But what I’m really saying is that you couldn’t eat as much rhubarb as I have, and from such a young age, without becoming hooked on its tart fruit.

My pie-making grandmother baked plenty of those stalks between layers of her flaky crusts, but my mom was the master of rhubarb crisps. My column features a hybrid version of her recipe, mixed with apples and sweetened with a little honey, but you can find a pure rhubarb version here on the blog.
Learn to make Rhubarb–Apple Crisp