Coconut & Almond Button Biscuits

Oh Mother's Day. The day every year on which your Mum says "I don't want anything"/"Don't worry about planning anything" and you know what she really means is that she doesn't want anything much but something would still be nice. My Mum does this every year, without fail. And every year we always get her something; one gift from each of us children and something from Dad.

But what to get her? Flowers? Chocolates, maybe? Bath stuff? Something cliché is always an option, but definitely not my style. My style is baking. Baking something homemade, delicious and unique. My Mum taught me everything I know about baking and Mother's Day is the perfect opportunity to use the skills she's given me to give something back to her. She definitely deserves it, and this year I came up with the perfect thing: a ribbon-tied stack of cute-as-a-button (ha ha) biscuits.

These couldn't be just any old biscuits, though. Shortbread would be nice, but not special enough, so after rummaging through my cupboards (this is a common theme in my baking, the cupboards are always a mess...) and finding a pack of desiccated coconut and some leftover ground almonds, I decided I could whip up a real treat.

For little effort, and maximum results, these biscuits could be just perfect for your Mum, too!

INGREDIENTS

125g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
150g desiccated coconut
125g self raising flour
25g ground almonds

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170˚C. Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl, melt the butter. Once fully melted, let cool, then add to dry ingredients and mix together using your hands. Everything will come together to form a dough.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin. Using a round cutter (any size you like! I mixed and matched) cut out the biscuits and place on a tray lined with baking parchment.

Using a skewer, poke 2 to 4 (again, your choice) holes in each biscuit, then place into the oven for 10-12 minutes, turning the tray halfway through if your oven, like mine, doesn't cook very evenly.

Place on a cooling rack until hard, then poke through the holes again with a skewer. The biscuits are delicate, even when cooled, so be careful!

Using a ribbon colour of your choice, pick up a biscuit and thread each end of the ribbon through the holes. If there's 4 holes, thread the ribbon through diagonally opposite holes. Do this with 6 to 8 biscuits until you have a nice stack. When you have this many, pull the ribbon tight and tie a bow.

Voila! A cute and unique Mother's Day gift that looks fantastic. Unwrapping a sweet treat makes it taste all the better in my opinion, and these biscuits are no exception. Packed in a little box or placed next to a cup of tea, I know these can really wow with looks. I've never been given a gift like this but I know I'd love it, especially if I were a hard-working Mum (.. a few years until that, though)!

However, looks aren't everything. These biscuits need to taste good, too, and they certainly do! Coconut is such a wonderful flavour alone and is also one of my all time favourites. I've always loved how it's a little gritty between the teeth and chewy as well. There's nothing quite like it, and you'll never have tasted a biscuit like it either. Combined with the ground almonds, these biscuits are sweet, yet also nutty. You can never go wrong with that, and these biscuits can be a nice change for your Mum from the store brought biscuit collection she might be used to, and you'll both be impressed by how simple they were to make. Paired with a bouquet of Mother's Day flowers, you'll tick off the classic and unique boxes of gift giving.

You can treat your Mum for days off these, as they'll last up to a week in an airtight container. Easy to keep together, too, with a ribbon to tie them back up, they can be unwrapped over and over again, like six (or eight, or ten) presents in one!

You know your Mum has earned multiple treats, especially biscuit-ty ones, so get your baking hat on, the baking tray out and knock that special lady off her feet! I know mine will love the thought, the look and the taste, and I hope yours will too if you give this a go.

Are you doing anything special for your Mum this Sunday?