I’m always on the lookout for a good recipe to use up some of my garden’s treats.  I found this recipe yesterday at Tasty Kitchen, but the original was from Smitten Kitchen.  It looked so good, and I decided I had to make it today.  I’ve had a great season this year and my raspberries are doing soooo good.   This recipe found me on the perfect day.  I had just picked an ice cream bucket full of those red jewels, and I wanted to use them in something.  It is a harmonious combination of my all time favorite Coconut Macaroon and a fresh Bear Lake Raspberry Shake!!!  Heck Yes!!  For those of you who aren’t familiar with a fresh Bear Lake Raspberry Shake, let me fill you in.  There’s a beautiful little valley on the East side of the  Utah/Idaho border.  There is an enormous lake there that has the most beautiful blue water you have ever seen.  It is glorious in the summer.  The one thing that the Bear Lake area is most famous for is their raspberries.

Can you believe the blue.  Bear Lake is just one of those places full of fun, cousins, and amazing memories!

I remember as a kid going there every summer, and usually on one of the days we were there, a mom or two would spend the afternoon picking raspberries.  As you dropped down the mountain into Garden City, there were fields and fields of self pick berry patches.  My mom would then turn those raspberries into jam, and we’d eat bowls full of the fresh berries and milk.   Now days those same famous raspberries are going for around $40 a flat!  It’s usually a fight to get some of those berries though:)

My garden full of life.  The sunflowers are still amazing, even when they’re on their way out.

I planted a raspberry patch probably 9 years ago, and I have loved the harvest I get every year.  Seriously!  There is no other jam in the world that compares to homemade Raspberry Freezer Jam.   So now besides jam, and bowls of raspberries and cream I will be making these Macaroons.  This is one of those recipes that just turned out way better than I expected.  You could always dip the cookies into some dark chocolate, but I think next time, I’m adding mini semi sweet chips right to the cookie.  I can only imagine how delish they would be.

Her middle name should have been Berry.  She is my best picking partner:)

The recipe is an adaptation from Smitten Kitchen, but I used the Macaroon recipe I found years ago.  I’ve tried many over the years, and this recipe just works.  There’s no puddling of egg whites or sweetened condensed milk.  It’s just perfect.  I’ll leave a link to the original Smitten Kitchen recipe, but I’ll give the recipe I used as well.  I hope you love them:)