Berry Chocolate Muffins

On April 5, 2024April 4, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, quick breadsLeave a comment

As much as I enjoy baked goods, I don’t really have a sweet tooth. My favorite pastries minimize the sugar and boost the flavor, so I incorporate some unexpected ingredients into my recipes. One of those ingredients appears in the recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I make Berry Chocolate Muffins with the whey left from draining Homemade Yogurt to thicken it. Not only does it add nutrients and tanginess to the muffins, but I avoid pouring the whey down the drain, a practice that can lead to environmental problems when dumped on a commercial scale.

My next choice for the liquid in these muffins is Cultured Buttermilk, the tastier and thicker version of an artificially thickened store-bought buttermilk or the milk you hastily spike with lemon juice to hint at the soured flavor. Once you start baking with these liquids, you’ll find a place for them in everything from biscuits to cake.
Learn to make Berry Chocolate Muffins

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

Huckleberry and Cheese Crepes

On August 11, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grains2 Comments

My social media feeds are increasingly featuring photos of huckleberry harvests and the creations made from them. The season is on. As I note this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, huckleberry season is short but sweet, so I always enjoy some now but save a few for the freezer. I tend to savor mine at breakfast—although I do go big when I pile any fruit on one bowl of homemade granola and fresh yogurt. I’ve taken sourdough starter into the backcountry so that I can dot pancakes with berries harvested at the campsite. Wild berries like huckleberries and blackberries are also delicious paired with homemade cheese and rolled into crepes.
Learn to make Huckleberry and Cheese Crepes