I love the flow of the year—the seasons, the holidays, the times in school and the breaks from school—and since I have basically always lived in a temperate environment with four distinct seasons, this flow has been a constant for me. One of my favorite parts of late summer are the opportunities to forage for those sweet-tart gems we call berries. When I was growing up in the Seattle area, those berries were most often the invasive Himalayan blackberries. Now, as a denizen of the Inland Northwest, I find huckleberries.
There is something pretty magical about the huckleberry. It is simultaneously sweet and tart in a wonderful burst of juicy flavor. It has to be sought out and picked one by one. Sometimes it is easy to find and sometimes it is extremely difficult to spot. You can be picking in an area and completely miss a bunch of berries that were hiding under some leaves. Perhaps most astonishing, the huckleberry has not ever been successfully domesticated! So, that $40 per quart price tag is steep but fair, considering the vast amount of work involved in its procurement.
I have had two huckleberry foraging opportunities this summer. The berries have been plump and juicy—some nearly as big as blueberries—and tempting to eat right there on the mountain. I did, however, manage to retain many berries with which to make a special treat. These lemon huckleberry whoopie pies are light, sweet, and tangy. They are a wonderful summer snack!
If you do not live in the neighborhood of huckleberries, you can use frozen wild blueberries, and I am sure that blackberries would work well, too. Let me know if you try a different berry!
Ingredients:
- 4 cups/539 grams all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2/3 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup/192 grams shortening
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Additional sugar for sprinkling
- 2/3 cup huckleberries or wild blueberries
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup softened salted butter
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat together the lemon juice and yogurt until smooth.
Step 2: Cream the shortening with the sugar until it is fully incorporated. Beat in the eggs until the mixture is fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. Beat in ½ of the flour at low speed until it is fully incorporated. Add the yogurt mixture. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined.
Step 3: Line a baking sheet with parchment. Spoon tablespoons onto the parchment about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake the cookies for approximately 10 minutes. You want the edges to be just barely brown.
Step 4: Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, sprinkle the cookies with sugar. Remove from the baking sheet and cool completely on a baking rack.
Step 5: Lightly puree the huckleberries. If you are using a sieve, stir the skins back into the juice. Whisk the powdered sugar into the puree. Whisk in the butter until smooth.
Step 6: When the cookies are cool, sandwich two cookies with about a tablespoon of the huckleberry crème. Enjoy! If there are leftovers, store them in an closed container.
*I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend
