This time of the year arrived again. My birthday. Not very special, you may say, everyone has one, but my 29th birthday felt a little different than last year. This year it didn't feel as intimidating as it felt last year, although it set the time until 30 to only one year. Perhaps it was because I was in a better state in my life since last year, I was done with my thesis and lucky enough to get an internship. Or perhaps it was the love I got from the friends I invited over for some food and drinks. Who knows? Whatever it was, it felt good to celebrate my birthday and hope for an equal or even more celebratory 30th birthday.
A friend of mine prepared an amazing gift, with two boxes containing gems inside. She had it all wrapped together with small details everywhere. I was in shock and utter happiness! For me, opening a present is half or even more of the total excitement. I felt like a kid again, savouring every item and every detail I discovered. My friend (I will not say her name) has a talent for artistic things and I have to say I'm very grateful to call her my friend!
Talking about presents and feeling loved, there is one person out there who probably deserves our love more than anyone else. Our mother, mom, mommy or whatever you call her. She is the person who will never stop loving us, who will drive us mad sometimes and who will in the end be right about most things. I'm not suggesting that our dads don't deserve our love or they did less of a hard work of bringing us up! But I feel that a child will always have a special relationship with their mother, an intimate connection.
For this special person, a special gift is needed. I believe in handmade gifts for someone you really care for. So, for your amazing mum I have created a recipe for peanut butter cookies. But not just any peanut butter cookies! I know your mum must be elegant (and not a child), so I added some orange zest in the recipe to make it more adult appropriate.
You can be creative in the packaging of your gift as well. I used a beautiful ribbon that was part of the gift made me (which I mentioned above) and was perfect for wrapping together the cookies and making a small and cute bow. Pick something in a colour your mom would like, maybe get a plastic wrapping as well and give it to her. I'm sure she will feel happy and blessed!
Peanut Butter Cookies with Orange Zest
ingredients (for 12 cookies)
1/2 cup creamy pure peanut butter (100% peanuts)
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
zest from one medium orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
How do I make it?
1. In a bowl put together your dry ingredients, such as flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Pour and mix together in another bowl all of your wet ingredients: peanut butter, tahini, honey, olive oil and vanilla extract. Once you get a good mixture pour inside the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spatula. At some point the mixing may not be so easy and you will need to use your hands. The mixture might be a little crumbly.
2. Preheat your oven to 170C and prepare a pan with a baking sheet. Then, start shaping your cookies! Take some dough with a spoon and slightly kneed it in your hands, flattening it out on the top and shaping it round. Place it on the prepared pan and using a fork start making a cross by putting some pressure on the top surface of the dough. I did it with the tip of the fork and made small tip prints until I shaped a cross. Repeat the same ritual for all the resting dough.
3. Once you have your cookies ready, bake them for 10 minutes. You don't want to exceed this time as they will get too hard. We want them a bit soft.
4. Let the cookies cool completely before touching them as they will probably fall into pieces. Once they are cool, you can make your wrapping or transfer them anywhere.
5. Give your mum a kiss and the cookies!
Happy Mother's Day
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