8 Homemade Treats for Mother’s Day

We believe the best gifts are the ones you make by hand with love—and we bet many mothers out there do, too. This Mother’s Day, surprise the mothers in your life with a homemade gift baked in your own kitchen and filled with beloved flavors. We have delicious treats that can be wrapped up as gifts, plus ones to end a meal you share together. Read on for the recipes.

To Give

These sweet treats are easily wrapped up into beautiful packages to give any special someone on Mother’s Day.

Brown Butter Pound Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote Nutty, toasted brown butter dramatically deepens the flavor of a classic pound cake. For a well-thought-out gift, present it in a Le Creuset heritage stoneware loaf pan with a jar of tart rhubarb compote on the side.

Buckwheat Linzer Cookies These crumbly, textured cookies are the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. Make the gift personal by filling them with her favorite flavored jam (kids will love to help assemble them!).

Classic Lemon Madeleines If you grew up with an appreciation of elegant European pastry, why not bake her some of Chuck Williams’ favorites: classic lemon madeleines? If she’s a baker herself, she’ll truly appreciate the gesture—and might even want to know how you made them. Be a step ahead and gift her a pan along with a copy of the recipe.

Honeyed Biscotti with Almonds and Dates Biscotti take some time and effort to make from scratch, but these are well worth it, and Mom will thank you. They keep well, so they make especially good gifts; arrange them in a beautiful cookie tin that she’ll reuse again and again. If you really want to blow things out, throw in a collection of three Equator coffee blends for her to enjoy alongside the biscotti.

To Share

A celebratory Mother’s Day meal deserves a memorable finale, and these desserts are sure to make her smile.

Lemon Chiffon Pie A homemade pie always feels special on a family holiday. This one, with its tangy homemade lemon curd and simple whipped cream topping, makes for a bright finish to any Mother’s Day meal.

Strawberry Millefeuille A traditional millefeuille features layers of puff pastry and whipped cream, but our version showcases fresh spring strawberries, too. It’s as elegant as it is delicious.

Puff Pastry Apple Galette While frozen puff pastry makes this apple galette fast and easy, the from-scratch pistachio frangipane makes it unusual and special. Serve it with homemade or store-bought salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream for a showstopping finish.

Chocolate Pear Tartlets These dainty little tartlets are the creation of mother-daughter duo Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith Franchini, who founded The Cook’s Atelier, a cooking school, epicurean center and wine shop in Beaune, France.