Cookie Mix in a Jar – A Mason jar filled with pre-measured dry ingredients for M&M cookies. Give the jar as a gift, and all the recipient has to do is add the wet ingredients and bake.
We’re in the thick of the holiday baking and gift giving season. I always think that sweets are the way to go when gifting something edible. This Cookie Mix in a Jar is the perfect way to give someone a shortcut to homemade cookies. And who doesn’t love freshly baked cookies?
My Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies are one of my most popular recipes, so I decided to make a few adjustments to turn them into this delicious and festive holiday gift.
How to Make Cookies in a Jar
To assemble the jars, all you do is measure the dry ingredients and layer them in a jar. It couldn’t be simpler!
Flour, Sugars, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt and M&M’s – that’s it! Feel free to swap out some of the M&M’s for chocolate chips.
Don’t have M&M’s? Just use chocolate chips instead!
Tips for Making Cookie Mix in a Jar
It is important that your ingredients are layered into the jars carefully so that the layers don’t mix too much; this makes for a prettier presentation.
- Roll up a paper plate to use as a funnel to cleanly add the bottom layer into the jar.
- Use a spoon to carefully place the M&M’s on top of the flour. Don’t dump them in too quickly or they’ll sink into the flour.
- Make sure you have a nice even base of brown sugar (lightly packed in) so that the granulated sugar doesn’t sink down into it.
- The cookie mix will be a couple inches shy of the top of the jar. You can increase the M&M’s by 1/4 cup or add some tissue paper to the very top if you want the mix to reach all the way. Note: If you’re decorating with fabric (like I did) it will cover the top of the jar.
- Decorate the jar with fabric and/or ribbon. I use a 6.5 inch circle of fabric.
Be sure to include instructions on how to turn the contents of the jar into a batch of cookies (see my recipe for details). The recipient will love having this jar on hand to whip up a batch of homemade M&M cookies with minimal effort.
More holiday treats:
Pecan Praline Graham Cracker Toffee
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M&M Cookie Mix In A Jar
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Holiday M&M's or chocolate chips see note
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1-quart Mason jar
Instructions
Assembling jars:
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Pour into the bottom of a 1-quart mason jar (I rolled up a paper plate to use as a funnel). Top the flour mixture with M&M's, dropping them in lightly, so that they don't sink into the flour. Top the M&M's with brown sugar, and then granulated sugar (use a spoon to carefully scoop the sugars into the jar). Seal with the lid and decorate with ribbon and fabric (see note).
Recipe to include with the jar:
- Pour the contents of the jar into a large bowl and stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup of barely melted (not hot) unsalted butter, 1 beaten egg, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Stir until combined. Chill for 30 minutes.
Make golf ball sized portions of dough and place the dough balls onto lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, until the centers of the cookies are just barely set.
Recipe Notes
I used a 6.5 inch circle of fabric to decorate each Mason jar.
This cookie mix comes just short of reaching the top of a 1-quart Mason jar. I decorate the top of the jar with fabric which covers the inch of open space at the top of the jar. If you would prefer to fill the jar all the way, you can increase the amount of M&M's to 1 1/4 cup.
Ooooo I love Cookie mixes in a jar especially when I’m on the receiving end!!
Thus sugars flowed down into the M & Ms showing onto the jar so it looked messy. Is there at trick to keeping that from happening? Thanks!
Hi Kim. It’s important that the brown sugar is below the granulated sugar, since the granulated sugar is finer. The brown sugar will go down into the M&M’s a little bit, there’s no avoiding it. You can try delicately spooning the brown sugar onto the M&M’s, being careful not to “drop” it in from the top of jar. The consistency of your brown sugar might be a factor too, some brown sugar is finer than others. Sorry it didn’t work for you the first time. Good luck!
Thanks for replying so quickly. I think I’m going to try putting the M&Ms on top since the contents of the jar gets dumped out together anyway.
Hi what size mason jar do I need for these??
Hi, Sarah. It’s a 1-quart jar.
Thanks. I separate the M&M’s into a sandwich bag and place that on top and amend the instructions to include taking out the M&M’s and placing them on top of the cookies while they are cooling.
They are a big hit. Thanks for the recipe
Perfect! Thanks for sharing your adaptations. Happy holidays!
Is this a quart size mason jar i assume?
Just kidding i just read the instructions in more detail. 🙂
Ha! No problem. 🙂
I have made these cookies following the instructions to a tee three times now and my cookies are coming out flat as flat can be.
All my ingredients are fresh and measured properly……any suggestions?
Hi Richard. Sorry about that, how frustrating. My first suggestion is to make sure you remembered the baking soda and baking powder (I’m assuming so since you mentioned that your ingredients are measured properly). Usually if cookies come out flat it is because the butter is too soft. You might have melted your butter to a higher temperature that I normally do. I would suggest chilling the dough longer and moving the dough to the back of your fridge where it stays cold. You could even pop it in the freezer for a bit to firm it up. Good luck!
Sorry……when you said melted butter in your instructions naturally I microwaved it. I have batched 24 of these jars before I perfected my skill. I will give more detailed instructions on my label for friends as thick as I am.
Thankyou for your guidance!
I’ll add more detail to the recipe instructions. I’m sure this could be a problem for others as well. Sorry for any trouble. Hope they come out well from here out!
Also make sure to chill the dough before making them.. if you don’t cookies flatten out during the baking process… just a suggestion
Yes! It’s important that the butter isn’t too soft (just barely melted) or the cookies will spread. A bit of time in the fridge will help, just as you suggested. Thanks for stopping by.
I use shortening instead of butter
Do you have any printable label to download ?
Hi! No, I don’t. Sorry! Happy holidays!
Are the jars supposed to be full?
The ingredients should reach close to the top (see photo). I used a 1 quart mason jar, if you use a different size jar yours might not look the same.
We received these cookies in a jar as a gift- my 13 year old son made them and they were DELICIOUS! So good in fact, we sought out the recipe.
Yum!
Fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and share your experience. I’m SO glad that you enjoyed them. Happy Holidays!
I accidentally put half cup of brown sugar. Should I not give them out? I’m giving them as gifts. 😭
Uh-oh! It will probably be OK. The difference (between 1/2 and 1/3) is a couple of tablespoons so they should still come out.
Hi,
Is there a way to make more than one mason jar’s worth at a time? I guess I can just make it one time and measure the first set of dry ingredients and go from there? But wanted to see if you had any tips. I wanted to make like a dozen of these.
Thanks!
Hi Shauna! I would recommend setting up an assembly line and filling all the jars at the same time. Place the flour and leavening in in all the jars, then M & M’s in all the jars, then sugar in all the jars etc. I can’t think of any easier way to do it. Just make sure your measurements are correct so that the recipients cookies come out properly. 🙂 Enjoy! -Allison
How far in advance can I make these? I’m giving them as gifts and would like to give myself time to make them but I also don’t want them to go bad sitting and waiting. Also how soon should the person I gift it to use it.
Hi! I would say you could make them up to a couple weeks in advance. The recipient should use within a couple of weeks of receiving for best results. The jars could possibly store a little longer but I can’t say for sure as I’ve never kept them longer than a couple weeks. Here’s a useful link I found. http://www.thekitchn.com/good-questions-37-104584
I’m currently making these and the dough is very dry and crummy, and will not come together- not dough like at all. I know I measured the ingredients accurately, so i’m not sure what to do here.
You added 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 egg and vanilla? If so, it should come together. If you squish the dough with your hands it should absolutely hold its shape. Use your hands to mix the dough if you’re having trouble. I have made this recipe several times, as recent as this week, so I’m sure that the ingredients listed are correct. Best of luck!
Immediately after my comment, I realized I melted a half a cup of butter, and never measured again once it was melted to be sure it was the same amount. Slowly added melted butter and it came together! Thanks!
hi what size mason jar do you use i got one and it was to big went to a smaller one and it to small.
I use a 1-quart mason jar. It’s in step 1 of the assembly instructions. Thanks for stopping by!
I used the 1 quart mason jar and it is too big it is probably about a and inch and half from the top. Fabric may cover it but the ingredients in the jar has lots of move to room should they fall over or something. Am I doing something wrong???
The ingredients won’t reach all the way to the top, they’ll be just shy. I find that this quantity of ingredients makes the best cookies. Do not add more flour or sugar as that will affect the texture of the baked cookies. You can add some extra M&M’s or chocolate chips to the very top if you’re worried about the ingredients moving around. When I’ve made these as gifts I take care when transporting the jars and I’ve never had the ingredients get mixed up. Thanks for stopping by.
how many cookies does this make? I want to include this on the instructions. I changed the m&ms to the top of the jar to stop the sugar mixing and put tissue paper in the top of the jar to hold the ingredients firm, I used red tissue paper and it looks lovely!
I love the idea of adding tissue paper, brilliant! It makes 15-20 cookies (depending on the size). Thanks for stopping by. Happy holidays!
Did you use some sort of template to print your instructions on? I’m looking to include a cute tag to print out along with the jars.
I did not. I just hand wrote it on a blank card and attached it with Christmas ribbon.
I made them, and I had made a recipe card and then downloaded a cute Santa.
I gave the jar to my Granddaughter so she could make these for Santa.
So It read:
Cookies for Santa
She is only 4 but was so excited that she could make these just for Santa
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing.
Can I use 100s and 1000s instead of M&M?
I’m sort of confused what you mean by “barely melted butter”? Does it need to be liquefied or is a softened room temperature stick what you mean? Sorry, just want the cookies to come out ok!
It should be almost all the way melted. If it’s completely melted (and hot) there is a risk of cooking the egg as soon as it’s mixed in. If you melt the butter until it’s completely liquefied, just cool it slightly before mixing up the cookies.
Hi- could you use any kind of candy in place of mm’s
Any chocolate candy or chocolate chip (butterscotch chip, peanut butter chip, etc) can be used. Enjoy!