Wild Huckleberries – Nature’s Answer to the Mass-Produced Berry

JustinAll Recipes, General 80 Comments

We’ve all had them, those grocery store berries, grown halfway around the world, that look perfect but don’t taste like anything.  How disappointing!  The truth is that in their drive to offer us fresh berries year round, the grocery store industry has had to make some flavor compromises.

Mother nature has no interest in such things.  Wild berries grow when, where, and how they want, and that’s where all of their flavor comes from. (read what is wild food for more info)

Fresh wild huckleberries offer a far more complex flavor (sweet, tart, and musky) than farmed berries, and are sustainably hand-foraged in the Pacific Northwest.  Sure, their availability is tied to a short growing season (though we do offer frozen huckleberries year round), but that just makes enjoying them in the summer that much more sweet, right?

Embrace the seasons by following the ebb and flow of delicious wild food using the wild food season chart!  Just keep in mind that the chart shows average seasons, so you should consider signing up for our wild product notification list to get e-mails as each product becomes available, or checking wild food now in season to see what you can buy now.

Comments 80

  1. I would make huckleberry jam, probably saving some of the berries by freezing them for scones when my kitchen is not too hot to bake in anymore

  2. Some sort of sweet & spicy huckleberry preserves would be good. Also my boyfriend is AMAZING with sauces for meats, I’ll bet huckleberries would go well with pork!

  3. I would definitely make a huckleberry pie. My aunt makes a terrific gooseberry pie, so I think I would use that recipe and try huckleberries instead.

  4. I love wild berries! So exciting! I would make pancakes with them (duh) and then try to find a really special rustic dessert to showcase them. Oh and yes my kids would east them as is of course.

  5. I’d have to go on a Huckleberry Bender for sure. It would be so hard to choose–the possibilities are endless! Huckleberry white chocolate tarte? Huckleberry clafoutis? Huckleberry and cream dessert gyoza?

  6. Wow. Huckleberries. I need to win them. My country cousin refers to my Brooklyn born and raised husband as a huckleberry and I would LOVE my husband (and cousin) to truely know what they taste like! But, what would I do with them? I think I’d make indvidual pavlovas with a huckleberry topping….

  7. Well, if it were two tons I’d go all Scrooge McDuck with them and go for a swim. But as it’s only two lbs, I’m thinking some cookies, muddled in a few cocktails, and quite possibly encased in delicious sausage.

  8. My husband and I had our first huckleberries in the Northwest last August. Love at first sight and taste. I would make a huckleberry cobbler, I’m for sure.

  9. I would use my two pounds of huckleberries for my breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert!!
    One half pound for baking in muffins – breakfast.
    Reserving a few huckleberries to eat with a crisp summer salad for lunch (gotta have the fruit as is!), one half pound would be made into a fantastic sauce to serve with lamb chops for dinner.
    One pound would be divided between a scrumptious huckleberry cobbler served with an equally fantastic huckleberry ice cream – Dessert and dessert! 🙂

  10. I’d use them in a crumb cake or coffee cake. I think a crumb topping would be perfect to offset the tartness of the berries!

  11. WOW! How fun is this?!? I would go with a tall stack of HUCKLEBERRY PANCAKES, some homemade preserves and a few mini-tarts…I would have to come up with a fun cocktail recipe too- because the sweet/tart combo sounds too good to resist!!
    Thanks,
    Beth

  12. I’d probably make a lemon and huckleberry tart, or just a huckleberry tart and some huckleberry sorbet. I’d have to taste them before I knew exactly what I’d make with them.

  13. What fabulous news TWO pounds of Huckleberries ~ my head is spinning at the prospect!

    If I won 2 pounds of Huckleberries, I would make a Huckleberry Buckle (cobbler), Huckleberry Ice Cream, Huckleberry pancakes, and one sweet/savory dish ~ probably grilled chicken, grilled halibut or grilled (perhaps seared) salmon with a lovely Huckleberry sauce… and I would certainly blog about winning your generous contest, and would write about the recipes and your company on my blog.

    Thank you for hosting this contest, and good luck to all! ~m.

  14. In Bubba Gump format – Huckleberry BBQ sauce, Huckleberry filled Postickers, Huckleberry Jam/jelly/preserves, Huckleberry-Milk Chocolate 7-layer cake, Huckleberry-Almond cupcakes, Spicy Huckleberry glazed Chicken, Huckleberry glazed popcorn, Huckleberry-Picadillo turnovers, Huckleberry White Chocolate Truffle Tarts, Huckleberry-Fig Crostata, Old-Fashioned Huckleberry Pie with a twist (secret, unless I win..lol), Huckleberry-Peach Danish twists, Huckleberry infused chocolate ganache, ad infinitum..!! Trust me, I could go on and on and on 🙂

  15. I have never had a huckleberry and that should be reason enough for me to win!

    I think if I was to win, I wouldn’t mess with them too much. In oatmeal, on ice cream, just plain as a snack. If they are going to be my first huckleberries, they should be eaten plain.

  16. I’d make blueberry pie and preserves! My son loves blueberry preserves on his morning waffles!

  17. I love the idea of huckleberry sorbet, but would probably also use it in a pound cake recipe I have that normally uses cherries.

  18. I’ve never tried huckleberries. I enjoy making fruit and berry tarts and pies so I’d use the huckleberries that way and show the result on my blog.

    Thanks for entering me into your contest!

  19. I recently discovered how to make jam, so I would definitely make some huckleberry jam! I would also make a tart or pie so I can enjoy the fruit. I’ve never had huckleberry before.

  20. I would have my friends and I sit in a circle around the bowl of huckleberries and name each one of them. EVERY SINGLE BERRY WOULD HAVE A NAME. Then we’d probably make a pie, tart, or crisp, and some huckleberries with some miscellaneous alcohol.

  21. I would love to make a huckleberry pie and some ice cream as well. Can you imagine how good that would be together????

  22. I’m going to use these to make buttermilk pancakes for my boyfriend. Perhaps with a little bit of zest and a hint of almond extract. If I have extra, I’ll sprinkle the rest into my new favorite buttermilk berry cake recipe. I’m intrigued by the taste!

  23. I think huckleberry wine would be mighty fine…

    But I will probably have huckleberry over baked brie en croute.

  24. I love making tart frozen yogurt that actually tastes as tart as plain yogurt and adding in different fruits. A swirl of huckleberry would be a great touch!

  25. Hmm, so many choices. Cinnamon rolls, zweiback with berries, bread pudding, huckleberry oatmeal and alaskan rhubarb. The choices are endless!

  26. I would give them to my mom who is making something special for my sister and her fiance for their wedding. His family is from the east coast and we would love to give them a chance to taste these wonderful treats that mother nature gives us.

  27. I would use some of them to make huckleberry mojito’s for my husband and I. I would use the rest of them for christmas presents in which I will make a Huckleberry infused vodka. Have used other berries in the past but never had enough Huckleberries.

  28. I’d love to win! I have a food blog and would love to experiment with some new recipes featuring huckleberries so I can post my tasty finds! Thanks!
    Heidi

  29. Hmm… I would multitask these berries. Mash some up with sugar, strain then reduce to a syrup for pancakes, ice cream and adding a bit of flavor to gin and tonic.

    The rest? Not sure yet, maybe huckleberry scones. Huckleberry Buttermilk Ice Cream. Maybe some kind of cupcake… Never been lucky enough to taste one, I just have an understanding that they’re kinda like blueberries. 😉

  30. I have to say we’d probably eat the first pound straight out of the box. Tossed in a salad would be lovely too. The last bit would go into muffins or pancakes.

    It’s been a while since I had huckleberries. I’d want to savor their pure flavor.

  31. We picked about 10+ pounds of huckleberries in Oregon one summer and had a field day making stuff! I would say either ice cream or jam in order to enjoy the fruits of summer in NYC slushy/depressing winter.

  32. I’d make huckleberry pie, huckleberry & pomegranate ice cream…I’d make a huckleberry buckle, huckleberry reduction to pour over ice cream, pancakes, biscuits, my ice for my mixed “adult beverages”….oh the possibilities!

  33. I’d invite my friends over for a dinner and poker night and make huckleberry and lemon frushi (sushi) and huckleberry/gooseberry martinis!

  34. I would make y our Ginger Huckleberry Sorbet Recipe! In these 90+ degree days, it sounds so cool and refreshing! Thanks for the opportunity to win some!

  35. Wow! To start I would use them in my whole wheat and cornmeal pancakes. Then at 5 o’clock (or thereabouts) I would try Emily’s huckleberry mojitos! I’m sure some huckleberries would make it into a pie, a crumble or Brown Betty. I bet they would taste good paired with peaches, which are in season in the North East!

  36. I would have to use these for multiple recipes! Of course I would have to incorporate them into cupcakes first and then I would use them in a pastry, maybe a mini tart or creme brulee. yumm!

  37. I’ve never had huckleberries before in my whole life. They sound delicious. I’m thinking about trying some of the suggestions you shared (ice cream, mojitos) if I get my hands on some of these berries. Or, maybe I’ll just pop them in my tub and wallow like a bear in the berry goodness. No matter what’s done with the huckleberries, it’s a win-win situation all around.

  38. What would I do with huckleberries? Jam, scones – oh……lemon huckleberry scones!, I like the idea of the infused vodka, and I have been on an ice cream kick so I would make some awesome vanilla and do a huckleberry swirl!

  39. What a coincidence, I was just chatting with someone who was extolling the virtues of these little berries, but I had never had them before! I’d love to finally try them… I’m not sure what I would make first, but there would definitely be muffins, perhaps some pates de fruits, maybe a parfait…

  40. I love huckleberries, they have a unique intensely flavored.
    I would make financier huckleberries with some lime zest and brown sugar, accompanied with creme fraiche sorbet or white chocolate mint ice-cream.
    In my opinion, huckleberries pair beautifully with creme fraiche or white chocolate, lime zest and brown sugar take the combination even further.

  41. Pie, Ice Cream, Smoothie, Parfait, Custard Tart, Yogurt, Muffins, Cake, Jam, Puree, Sauce… oh a Huckleberry Salmon Sauce!

  42. It’s hard to choose what I would do with them. It would be a toss up between muffins, coffee cake and just drying them to dole out slowly through the winter. Of course that would leave out desert sauce, jelly and buckle.

  43. Oooh! I don’t know that I have ever had huckleberries before, but I would love to try them. I think I would make a huckleberry crisp, or bread with them. Possibly I would dry them and save them for the Christmas season. I would love to try a huckleberry lemon tart.. that sounds delicious!

  44. I have never had a huckleberry, but I would definitely go to town on them if I won! I think a lemon-huckleberry tart sounds delicious. Maybe some muffins!

    Thank you for the opportunity!

    😉 amy

  45. I would love some fresh huckleberries! I could come up with some fabulous recipes using these unique and delightfull berries…yum…haven’t had some in so long!!!!

  46. I have never even seen a Huckleberry in my life, so I would be making all sorts of fun things, such as Muffins, Pancakes and Scones!

  47. I haven’t ever tasted huckleberries, so this would be a real treat to win. I think I’d have to make a huckleberry pie with them!

  48. Hmm, I’ve never had a huckleberry! But I would definitely try a pie, since pie is my favorite thing to bake! Hope I get a chance to taste these!

  49. Ooh! We’ve only had huckleberries once, while we were out in Montana we bought a jar of jam and we just loved it. We’d make a big batch of huckleberry jam, and huckleberry pancakes and huckleberry cake and maybe a rustic tart? Yum!!! Thanks for the invite! Enjoy the huckleberry season. I wish we had them here in Michigan. 🙂

  50. I’m all for berries this season.I usually make preserves with berries ,goes great with any baked goodies ,like the Almond berry oat bars,also love’em in chilled smoothies,slathered on toasts,drizzled over ice creams and also with my bowl of oat meal 😀

  51. I’ve never had a huckleberry until recently. My aunt went away to Idaho and brought back huckleberry jam just for me. The flavor is basic combination of raspberry and blueberry in my opinion, leaving the mind open for inspiration. I tend to enjoy fruit by themselves in their natural state like in cereal or on top of waffles. But, to experiment and with this vast amount, however, I was thinking of a root vegetable casserole spotted with huckleberries, or even a zesty sweet and sour chutney as an accompaniment for curries.

  52. I’ve never had a huckleberry before, so if I had 2 pounds to play with, I would probably eat a few raw with yogurt, bake some into a tart, and infuse a bottle of vodka for fun summer cocktails.

  53. I, like many others have never tried Huckleberries before. If Bonobo Cakes won the 2 lbs, well we would have to make a Huckleberry French Yule Log. Perfect for a nice summer evening, this frozen chocolate Huckleberry dessert would win anyone over!

    Thanks Matthew for the invite— BC

  54. I used to pick huckleberries in the woods with my parents when I was a child. I love them and havent had any in years. I think I would share some with my parents and then make jam with what was left over. Yum, Delicious.

  55. I live in the mountains of Montana and just came home this weekend from picking 3 gals of big fat delicious hucklberries. Since we had such a wet spring and summer the berries are amazing this year. Some as big as blueberries!
    I am making wonderful Hucklberry turnovers.come on over and bring a fork…….

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