Great food mothers day gifts come from the heart and are tailored to Mom's tastes... and often the best foods are those that you make at home with simple ingredients and deliver on her special day. When it comes to making food gifts for Mothers Day, personal touches are something most moms always enjoy. And when you do it yourself, you can control any elements Mom likes or doesn't like, such as spiciness, sweetness, salt content, etc. Not to mention, you can show how much you appreciate her by the effort you put into this gesture.

The recipes and ideas for food-themed Mothers Day gifts below are great! But you'll find more ideas for Mothers Day at:

• Mothers Day Dessert Recipes
• Mothers Day Brunch Recipes
• Craft Gift Ideas for Mothers Day

Full-of-Food Mothers Day Gift Baskets

If making food at home is not practical or you are not handy in the kitchen, then consider giving a food basket. Baskets of food can be purchased already put together or you can assemble them from specialty items Mom likes.

Prepared or homemade Mothers Day gift baskets can have a variety of foods including:

• Seasonal Fruit Baskets
• Specialty breads or bread mixes
• Chocolate and gourmet candies
• Spiced nuts and dried fruits
• Cheese and/or Cheesecake Gift Baskets
• Cured Meats
• Wine
• Gourmet Coffees and Teas
• Cakes, Muffins (see a great recipe below!) and Cookies
• Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
• Chocolate-Covered Pretzels and other snacks
• Personalized Mothers Day M&M's (I love this idea!)
• Spice Mixes

Sometimes a food basket will provide all the spices for a new style of cooking or even a special pan for a regional dish.

Non-Food Mothers Day Gift Baskets

While food Mothers Day gifts are great, you can also think about adding non-food items to her foodie gift basket, or making up/buying a theme gift basket of exclusively non-food items. Some ideas for non-food Mothers Day gift baskets are:

• Spa Gift Baskets (bath and beauty items)
• Gardening Gift Baskets
• Aromatherapy Gift Baskets
• Beach Gift Baskets
• Sewing or Crafting Gift Baskets
• Pet Gift Baskets
• Cooking Gift Baskets
• Wine Accessory Gift Baskets

You can also take elements from these theme gift basket ideas and add them to a food gift basket, such as cooking utensils, candles, books, wine openers, etc.

Mothers Day Food Gift Recipes

Looking to make your own food Mothers day gifts, or put together a basket of homemade goodies? The recipes below are perfect for Mom, and are great food gifts for Mothers Day all on their own, or combined with other homemade/purchased items to make a fantastic homemade Mothers Day food gift basket.

Dilly Dip Mix in a Jar Recipe

If you are creating foods for a basket, this easy and flavorful dip mix is a lot of fun. It comes together easily, looks pretty and festive in a mason jar, and is something Mom can whip up anytime she wants.

For the best effect, print out the instructions on pretty paper in a nice font, and attach them to the jar with a ribbon. Or buy printable stickers and make a nice label for the jar!

Recipe make a jar-full, which can make 15 batches of dip. Nice!

• Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 C. dill, dried
1/2 C. parsley, dried
1/2 C. onion flakes
1/4 C. green onions, freeze dried flakes
1 tbsp. garlic salt
1 tbsp. celery salt
1 tbsp. onion powder

Instructions: 1. Mix all ingredients together and store in a decorative air-tight container.

Label and Mixing Instructions: When gifting, include the following directions: "Thoroughly combine 1 cup low-fat mayonnaise, 1 cup low-fat yogurt and 2 tablespoons Dilly Dip Mix. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving with raw vegetables and chips or over baked potatoes."

Orange and Mint Honey Food Gift Recipe

This is one of those fabulous food Mothers Day gifts that looks a lot more impressive than then the amount of work that goes into it. This homemade flavored honey recipe looks so pretty shining in a jar, and tastes wonderful drizzled over buttered toast, added to tea, drizzled over cakes and sponge cakes, etc.

Really wonderful and special, this recipe is just for those moments when Mom takes time off. Make up a pretty label for it with suggestions on how to use it.

• Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup honey
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

Instructions: 1. Pour honey, water and orange juice into a small pan. Heat slowly and stir. Mixture will reduce some.

2. Remove pan from heat and toss in fresh mint. Store in an air tight container. Serve this sweet treat drizzled over just about anything or stirred into tea.

Coconut Cranberry Muffins Recipe for Mom

Older Moms don't necessarily have the sweet tooth they did when they were younger (mine certainly doesn't!) You might try giving her food Mothers Day gifts that are sweet, but not overpoweringly so.

These wonderful little muffins for Mothers Day are made slightly sweet and very rich and soft because of the coconut milk. Any dried fruit can be substituted for the cranberries.

These muffins are delicious with the Orange and Mint Honey (recipe above!) drizzled over the top. One of those food Mothers Day gifts that will disappear from the basket.

• Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups flour, all-purpose
2/3 cup and 2 teaspoons white sugar, separated
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Spray release for baking

Instructions: 1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups with spray release (or grease and flour them) and set aside.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and 2/3 cup of sugar. Add the cranberries (or other dried fruit) and stir.

3. In a separate bowl combine the coconut milk, butter, lemon rind, vanilla extract and egg using a whisk.

4. Add coconut milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until just barely moist.

5. Divide evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle muffins with remaining sugar and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

More Ideas for Food Gifts for Mothers Day

Not everything tasty must arrive in a basket, or be totally traditional. Some other creative food gifts for Mothers Day are:

Get it Delivered

Sometimes the best food Mothers Day gifts are those that save Mom extra work in the kitchen. You can order entire meals either online or by phone that are prepared and delivered to her any day of the year. Many gourmet businesses offer a monthly club that can deliver small samples of her favorite spices, cheeses, tea or meats throughout the year.

Make it Ahead

For a personal touch when giving food gifts for Mother's Day, you can prepare and freeze one or two of Mom's favorite meals for those days when she is rushed and hungry. Pop them in the freezer in reheatable containers or casserole dishes, and add a label with instructions on how to re-heat. A practical and thoughtful gift for Mothers Day!

Thoughtful food Mothers Day gifts like these are a great way to let Mom know how much you appreciate her hard work. This is a special day to celebrate Mom... and Mom deserves a break!