Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Gifts In A Jar

When I visited San Diego, California in September, I was fortunate to meet two fellow bloggers, Cori of Gingerbread Crumbs and Company and Joanne of My Little Cottage In The Making. Cori gave Joanne and myself a sweet gift of Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookie mix in a jar, and I recently made the cookies to serve on a day when I had friends over for coffee.

Unfortunately the mix in the jar, and the pretty bag it was presented in, got a little disheveled from being packed in my suitcase, but you can see from the photo above that Cori had a pretty piece of fabric decorating the lid, and a pretty recipe tag with both the directions on how to make the cookies and also how to fill another jar with the cookies ingredients as a future gift.

The cookies were absolutely delicious! They were soft and chewy and filled with chocolaty flavor!
Now that the holidays are fast approaching I thought it would be fun to share this wonderful treat, after getting Cori's permission of course, as it makes a wonderful gift to give a friend, co-worker, neighbor, etc.

This would also make a nice activity for you to do together with older children, or grandchildren, for them to give as gifts to their teachers, babysitters, bus drivers, etc.

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookie Jar Ingredients:


To one clean quart canning jar add:

Layer one: 1 1/2 cups uncooked old fashioned Oats

Layer two: 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Layer three: 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Layer four: 1 cup packed light brown sugar

Layer 5 ( mix together before placing in the jar):

1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda


Now the jar is completed and it can be presented with these instructions on how to make the cookies:

To Prepare Cookies:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

One jar of Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip cookies mix

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease cookies sheets.
2. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg until blended. (Mix may appear curdled) Add cookie mix to butter mixture; stir until well blended.
3. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 8 - 10 minutes, or until edges are brown. Let cookies cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes, Remove cookies to a wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

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There are many wonderful "Gifts In A Jar" recipe web sites with many other ideas of how to layer ingredients for a pretty presentation, that will make cookies, soups, brownies, bath salts, etc.

Here are a few links to web site that have "Gift In A Jar" ideas that I thought were good:

Organized Christmas

All Free Crafts

Craft Bits

Heart 4 Home

Budget 101 -- has decorating ideas for the jars


Do you prepare homemade gifts for family and friends? What are you making?

24 comments:

Bo said...

Thanks so much for sharing this great idea...what could be better than a homemade gift for friends!
Love it... ;-) Bo

Unknown said...

Hi Pat,
What a great gift idea. Everyone would like these, and there would be no returns! Shopping made easy! LOL

Lisa's RetroStyle said...

Those cookies look tasty and do make thoughtful gifts!

Just A Girl said...

HI Pat,
How are things in your world? I still have your email that I need to respond to...I am so sorry. The last two weeks of my life have been insane.
Your cookies look yummy! I hope you enjoyed them.
xo Cori

Baby Vagabond said...

That is a great gift idea! I know a young mother would love to just reach for a pretty jar of ingredients on those days when the baby is teething!!

((hugs)) Rosie

Vee said...

Love these sorts of gifts and will be resorting to them this Christmas more than ever. I'm making rosemary vinegar per La Tea Dah's suggestion at Gracious Hospitality.

The Quintessential Magpie said...

These look so good, and this is a wonderful idea, Pat. Appreciate you sharing.

XO,

Sheila

Unknown said...

wow..another yummy post, would like a bite too :D

Melissa Miller said...

Love this idea! They look delicious.

Michele said...

I love love love this idea! Thanks so much for posting this. I think it will be a wonderful gift for friends and coworkers who I don't actually purchase a gift for but want to give them something affordable and thoughtful. This is perfect!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Pat!

These look delicious!

Great gift idea, mixes in a jar.

Missy Wertz said...

Pat, this is a great recipe and gift idea. Thanks for sharing and stopping by my blog.

Barb said...

Hi Pat,

I am catching up a bit today. Your post on ground zero made me a little weepy. it is still hard to comprehend.

I like to make gifts. I'm not sure if the recipients are happy that I like to make gifts-hehe.

The cookies looked delish. What a thoughtful, yummy gift that would make.

hugs,
Barb

Gina said...

What a fabulous idea Pat..this would make a lovely gift from my girls to their friends too! They certainly look delicious!!
We usually make shortbread stars, xmas trees etc and decorate with grandparents, uncle's intials for Christmas day also make all our own Christmas cards and gift tags...also crackers/bon bons for the table, personalised with initials. :D

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

What a wonderful gift idea. And those cookies look soooo good!

Edie Marie's Attic said...

Hi Pat!
Oh they sound sooo good! That's a great gift idea for the holiday! I think I need to make some up!!
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Hugs,Sherry

Theresa @ Take A Sentimental Journey said...

Hi Pat, I could look forever on the gift in a jar sites. And I want to make them all LOL . Thanks for sharing .
Thank you for stopping by,come again soon.

Alexandra MacVean said...

I love getting recipes! How cool! :) I've seen some do hot cocoa in a jar, too!

Thank you for stopping by last night and for your sweet comment on my new layout. I really appreciate the time you take to stop. It means so much to me. It really does!

**big hugs**

Fifi Flowers said...

Handmade is best... usually treasured items as opposed to bought... although if my hubby wants to bring me home a little blue box with a white ribbon... that's ok too. BUT... homemade is SPECIAL!

Nola said...

How cool is that; I am hungry just reading the recipe!

Joanne Kennedy said...

Oh thanks for the reminder. After I ate my cookies I decided to make these for my family.

This year we agreed to not buy gifts but to make them or give coupons for gifts of time.

These cookies in a jar is one thing I wanted to give.

I better start my hunt for the jars. Sometimes it's hard to find the bigger jars around here.

Hugs,
Joanne

Willow said...

I'm planning some knitted goodies, mostly. I think I will bake and decorate sugar cookies for the 3 teachers I work with. Your cookies in a jar is a good consumable idea for friends. I like to give people 'useable' gifts, ones that will get used up.

CatHerder said...

Hi Pat! I have done the cookies in a jar in the past...i also used to make pasta baskets when i used to can my own spaghetti sauce when we lived in the country...the past few years i have been making Limoncello for everyone...its been a HUGE HIT, so i will be making it again this year...although it should be put in pretty bottles..i put it in canning jars, but make sure to put plastic wrap over the top . I have also made another version with blackberries that was great!

aliceinparis said...

I love "gifts in a jar" They are fun to receive and fun to give.
Hi PAt! I have joined you here on blogger! A new blog :))I figured that is is a bit more user friendly than the others.
Cheers, Shelagh