I’ve posted two blogs recently with NO RECIPES, and feel like I need to get something mouthwatering and indulgent on the site quickly.
But I have a slight problem.
Right now my butt is planted firmly on the couch with my left foot propped up on 3 pillows, because in my feverish quest for the elusive mountain huckleberry I managed to sprain my ankle. It would make a better story to say I sprained it when running from a bear, but I’m afraid I just wasn’t watching my step. Any bears in the vicinity, however, learned a few new words.
So, in honor of my adventure I’m stealing a recipe from an old column I wrote and giving it to you with the only photo I have. These luscious muffins are simple to make; I’m sure you don’t need photos of me stirring the batter. Once I’m up and running again I’ll make it up to you, I promise.
Huckleberries inspire me. They’re plump and juicy, and absolutely full of flavor. I add them to my angel food cakes, sprinkle them on pancake batter, toss them in banana breads, and even use them to make a mean margarita. You may, of course, substitute blueberries if you don’t have access to beautiful purple huckleberries, but once you’ve had a mountain huckleberry, blueberries will pale in comparison.
My granddaughter Sophie helped pick berries.
Here’s my recipe for Wild Mountain Huckleberry Muffins. They won a blue ribbon at our county fair, so I’m especially fond of them. Disclaimer: I don’t believe in sweet muffins (except for the topping, of course.) If I did, I would call them “cupcakes“! If you’re addicted to Costco-type muffins, you might want to try a different recipe, or add more sugar.
| Wild Mountain Huckleberry Muffins | Print |
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- ¾ cup small mountain huckleberries, fresh or frozen, divided. (Do not thaw frozen berries)
- 1 well-beaten egg
- ¾ cup milk
- ⅓ cup oil (I use peanut oil)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons flour (if using frozen berries)
- Heat oven to 375 F.
- Mix together all ingredients for streusel topping (see below) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Sift twice.
- Add lemon and ½ cup berries, and toss. If you are using frozen berries, toss them with 2 tablespoons of flour in a small bowl and then add to the dry ingredients. Make a well.
- In a medium bowl, combine the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla and mix well. Add all at once to the dry ingredients, folding gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Divide between 12 lined muffin cups. Press remaining berries gently onto tops of muffins and cover with streusel mixture.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
- When cool, drizzle with icing (see below) if desired.
Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
ICING:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Water if needed to thin.
Mix together well.
Be assured that even though I can’t be up and baking right now, my mind isn’t idle. I’m coming up with some great huckleberry recipes to share over the next few weeks.
Happy huckleberry dreams!
Looking forward to trying this recipe. When will you be sending me a shipment of Huckleberries?
Hope your ankle heals soon. Looking forward to you making all those great ideas rolling around in your brain.
I love you like a sister, Karen, but these huckleberries aren’t going anywhere! They’re like gold.
I will, however, send you a virtual huckleberry cookie as soon as I can get them made! I’ve given my husband the recipe. Let’s see if it happens!
Y’know, I have never had huckleberries before but after seeing this I HAVE to try them!!! OMGOSH! YUMMY!!
They’re so good, Stacy. They have a very distinct flavor. The Man got 4 more pounds of them today, and they were so incredibly sweet. Lots of recipes will be forthcoming 😉
Best muffins ever!! Thanks for sharing your gold medal recipe with us. We just returned from picking and this is a fabulous recipe…like that it is not too sweet!
Thank you for the lovely comment, Pamela! I’m not a fan of sweet muffins either. I like my sugar on the top…with generous amounts of streusel! So glad you liked them. We had a freak storm that wiped out our favorite huckleberry spots. I’m not looking forward to a year without huckleberries in the freezer.
Living in Huckleberry country now, and thanks for the recipe.
Lucky you! Aren’t they the best little berries around? Thanks for coming by 🙂
I live in Western Montana, (Polson to be exact) and we have huckleberries all around in the Mission Mtn range here (part of the Rocky Mountains). This season was a bumper crop too, so had some of this summers crop in the freezer that my cousin gave me. The bears didn’t get them all this year! LOL My 3 1/2 yr old granddaughter has to take snacks to preschool tomorrow so her and I found your yummy recipe to use with our fresh hucks and oh, my, it’s delish! Thank you for the great recipe.
Thank you so much for commenting, Stefanie! I love those muffins too. Actually, I love anything with huckleberries 🙂 Hope the kiddos like them.
I have made these muffins several times now and always get rave reviews on them from everyone who eats one..or two..or three!
That’s wonderful to hear, Missy! Thank you for the comment – it’s always nice to get feedback (especially positive feedback)!
I just discovered that I have huckleberry growing in my back yard here on Anderson Island, Washington! I picked yesterday and have your muffins in the oven now. I made them gluten free and they smell wonderful.
Wonderful! How did the gluten free version turn out?
I will be trying your recipe to use some of the huckleberries our daughter and I picked yesterday. We went to the place for wild blueberries, but there were almost none available. We ended up only getting about 1 – 1/2 lbs. of huckleberries, cause the critters had been munching them! So we’ll get a few batches of muffins, but I’m looking forward to them!
That’s fantastic, Susan! I think you’ll like those muffins.
I just got a couple of quarts off the mountain yesterday, and hope I have time to look for more.
I appreciate your comment – thanks for coming by!
I just found your recipe thanks to reading the book, Calm & Bright by Autumn Macarthur. I would like to try the recipe sometime; would you be opposed to me posting a blog about it and directing followers to your site (if I can find the huckleberries)?
I’d be very pleased to have you blog about them, Stacey! If you can’t find huckleberries, frozen wild blueberries work very well too. Thanks for coming by!
Thank you Lorinda. It may be a while, but I’ll try to let you know when I try your recipe and review it.
I made these muffins last night, omitted the nuts, upped the sugar a little, they are the best tasting berry muffins I have ever had. Everyone really loves them! 10/10
Thank you, Terry – I love getting feedback (especially good feedback of course) from readers. Makes me happy. Enjoy!
I’ve shared the recipe, it’s a keeper. Like you, I cherish my huckleberries!! tastiest berries on earth in my opinion. I look forward to trying some of your other recipes too.
Smiles all around : ))
We’re heading out to pick again this weekend. Found a spot that’s just covered, but they weren’t quite ripe last week. Hopeful for a big haul! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
happy picking!! : ))
Since I live in California I get Huckleberry everything I can when I visit there. What would you recommend as a substitute that would be just as good. Blueberries, raspberries, etc.
Thank you
Sherry, I honestly can’t tell the difference between wild huckleberries and the frozen “Wild Maine Blueberries” they sell at Walmart! We have access to huckleberries here, so that’s usually my berry of choice, but when I run out, I buy the bag at the store.