Cookie (in a) Jar

I love, love, LOVE Christmas. (Think—a female version of Will Ferrell in Elf, and you’ll have my level of Christmas spirit). As a result, Hubby and I have A LOT of people that we exchange gifts with throughout the holiday season. With extended family, friends, teachers, coworkers, etc., it hovers in the range of 65-75 people. And honestly, it can get a bit overwhelming and EXPENSIVE.

Cookie Mixes in a Jar

So how do we spread the Christmas joy without breaking the bank? Homemade gifts. Each year, we make oatmeal cookie mixes in mason jars to give to everyone. It’s easy, it’s fun, and we don’t go entirely broke by January.

I make these in batches of 12 (mostly because the wide-mouth mason jars come in 12-packs) and the kids usually help me gather all the materials, stir the dry ingredients and fill the jars. They have a blast, and it makes them feel special when they can give out the jars to their teachers knowing that they made it themselves. Here is my recipe for 12 Oatmeal Cookie (in a) Jar Mixes.

Oatmeal Cookies in a Jar

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Prep Time 30 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 jars

Equipment

• 12 widemouth 1-quart glass mason jars with lids
• canning funnel
• large bowl
• whisk

Ingredients

  

• 12 cups all purpose flour (1 entire 5lb bag of flour)
• 4 TB baking soda
• 4 TB cinnamon
• 2 TB nutmeg
• 1 TB salt
• 12 cups coconut sugar
• 12 cups rolled oats
• 12 scant cups raisins, chocolate chips, dried cranberries or other goodies

Instructions

 

• Wash and thoroughly dry the mason jars and lids.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Use a whisk to thoroughly mix the ingredients.
• Using a funnel, divide the flour mix equally amongst the 12 jars. If you do the math, technically, it should come to about 1 cup and a scant 1TB in each jar. It doesn't. Because of the whisking, the ingredients expand a bit. Typically, I end up putting 1 cup and 2-3TB of the flour mix in each jar.
• Using the funnel, add 1 cup of coconut sugar to each jar.
• Using the funnel, add 1 cup of oatmeal to each jar.
• Using the funnel, add 1 scant cup of goodies to each jar.
• Put the lids on the jars and seal.

Notes

Personally, I love to use raisins, dried cranberries or mini chocolate chips. But this part of the recipe is completely customizable—you could do white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, sun drops, chopped apricots, walnuts, or a mix of any or all of the above.

Don’t forget to add a label with directions on how to bake the cookies. This is what I always include on my label:

Mix: 1 stick butter, 2TB milk, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees F for 9-11 minutes.

Enjoy!

Keyword homemade gifts, mason jar mixes, oatmeal cookies, refined-sugar-free

I’ve tried making these without using a canning funnel. It’s a hassle. Do yourself a favor and buy yourself a cheap canning funnel like this one by Victorio on Amazon. They’re less than $5 and will save you a lot of clean up and frustration.

There are lots of options for the labels. Over the years, I’ve tried different variations. I’ve printed off labels on card stock and attached it with ribbon or twine. I’ve hand-written labels (never my best option—my handwriting is appalling). But the option I like the best is to buy Avery 22818 labels (they are 2.5″ round labels in Kraft Brown and come in packages of 90), and go onto Avery’s site to design and print the labels. That way, with very little hassle, you can add the directions, who it’s from, and a little pizzazz in the form of some design elements.

These Oatmeal Cookie (in a ) Jar mixes also make great hostess gifts and stocking stuffers! Merry Christmas and enjoy!