I’m back with another fun idea for Mother’s Day. On Monday I shared the garden rose blankets and FREE Printable gift tags I made for my mom. Now, I’ve got to have a fun gift for the other mother in my life, my mother in law. Mom’s need a little pampering, that’s for sure. So serving them a little afternoon tea with pretty Lemon Thyme Shortbead Cookies on a floral tray seems like a great idea.

When we were in Washington DC for Spring Break, one morning we went the Rose’s Luxury’s (probably the best food I’ve ever had) new coffee shop – Pineapple and Pearls. Oh my, if you can be smitten by a coffee shop, I was. They have the yummiest sticky buns in unusual flavors like Mexican Chocolate, Pineapple and Brisket and Horseradish. I also had an adorable latte with a panda on it.  My mother in law order a Lemon Thyme Shortbread, and it was soooo yummy. So, I decided I needed recreate this cookie for a little Mother’s Day treat.

Lemon Thyme Shortbread
1 cup butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp. freshly thyme chopped
zest of one lemon
1 tsp. vanilla
small sprigs of thyme for the tops of each cookie

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and thyme.  Add the flour and mix until the dough comes together.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 mins.

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.  Roll out the dough to a little less then 1/4″ on a well floured surface. This is a very soft dough, that’s what makes them so tender when they are done.  Keep the dough cold and work with flour on your hands and on the surface.  Cut out desired shapes and top with a sprig of thyme.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets.  Chill the cut cookies for at least 20 mins. before baking (this helps the cookies keep their shape and not spread on the cookie sheet).  Bake the cookies for about 12 mins. or until the edges are just barely brown. Cool on wire racks.

These cookies freeze well in an air tight container.

Trays are one of those home decor accessories that you just can’t have too many of. Not only are they perfect for serving food on, but they are great on dressers and bedside tables for keeping all your little things organized. I have trays on my coffee table, dining table, and beside my kitchen sink.

I took a few more of my garden rose images and had them put on sleek lucite trays with Shutterfly. Shutterfly has beautiful, waterproof, durable lucite trays that you can customize. It’s really kind of hard for my to pick a favorite. They all turned out really pretty.

And once again, I’m sharing these images with you if you’d like to make a tray for yourself or for your mom. Here’s the links to download the images:

• Close-up Rose
• Black and White Roses
• White Garden Roses
• Pink Rose

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly, thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible.