This Cookie Mix in a Jar is the perfect way to give someone a shortcut to homemade cookies. A delicious and festive gift!
Simply fill a jar with pre-measured dry ingredients and give the jar as a gift along with instructions for baking. Choose from M&M cookies or chocolate chip cookies.
Jump to:
Why make cookie mix in a jar
This is a thoughtful and affordable gift that is perfect any time of year. Who doesn’t love freshly baked cookies? These jars are made with pantry staples, making them cost a fraction of what you’d pay for store bought cookie jars.
I especially love this gift for kids! Kids can assemble them and give them as gifts, or you can gift them to kids and they can make homemade cookies with minimal effort.
Ingredients needed
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- M&M’s and/or chocolate chips
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!
You can layer them in any order you choose. I like the flour, leavening, and salt on the bottom. I put some chocolate chips/M&M’s in the middle and some on top.
Assembly tips
- 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 add the M&M’s and chocolate chips. Don’t dump them in too quickly or they’ll sink.
- Use fresh ingredients to ensure the best quality cookies.
- Attach the printable recipe card with the jar for easy baking.
- Decorate the jar with fabric and/or ribbon. I use a 6.5 inch circle of fabric.
Prefer to bake cookies?
Skip the jars and make our M&M Cookies or Chocolate Chip Cookies.
More holiday treats
SUBSCRIBE to our free NEWSLETTER – Follow on INSTAGRAM
Recipe
Cookie Mix In A Jar
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups all purpose flour, spooned into the measuring cup and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1⅓ cups M&M's and/or chocolate chips, see note
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ 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 roll up a paper plate to use as a funnel). After this you can layer the remaining ingredients however you'd like. I usually top the flour mixture with granulated sugar, followed by 1 cup of M&M's/chocolate chips, brown sugar, and remaining ⅓ cup M&M's/chocolate chips. Be sure to spoon the ingredients in gently so they stay layered. Seal with the lid and decorate with ribbon and/or fabric (see note).
Recipe to include with the jar (printable version in notes):
- In a large bowl, whisk ½ cup of melted and cooled unsalted butter, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Add the contents of the jar and gently stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough. Place the dough balls onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers of the cookies are slightly underdone. Place baking sheets on racks and cool completely. Tip: For prettier cookies, use the back of a spoon to shape the edges of the cookies when they come out of the oven.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Shannon
To fill my quart jars, I used 1 1/2 times the recipe, since there was A LOT of room at the top when using just one. I am shipping the jars, so I wanted them to be packed tight. However that means it would call for 1 1/2 eggs (Didn’t realize this before I added the extra dry ingredients). Since some people are complaining about the dryness of the mix do you think saying to use 2 eggs would be a colossal disaster? Maybe leave the butter at 1/2 cup and use two eggs? I’m just trying to make the directions as simple as possible for the kids I am giving this to. Thanks!
Celebrating Sweets
Hi Shannon. I would recommend that you stick with 1 1/2 of the wet ingredients: 3/4 cup butter, 3 teaspoons vanilla and for the egg, I recommend 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk (I find that’s the easiest way to get 1 1/2 eggs). Yes, the dough is dry (as others have commented), but the final baked cookie comes out thick and soft with the portions of the ingredients I have written. Increasing the liquid to get a moe “wet” dough will lead to a cookie that spreads really thin (I’ve tried it). I hope they come out well. Happy holidays!
Jess
Hi there,
This is such a great idea 🙂 My jars only held half the dry ingredients. What would you suggest for the egg instruction as saying half a large egg sounds tricky. Would one small egg be okay?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes, you can suggest one small egg. The final product might be slightly different than my original recipe, but it should taste fine.
Barbara
Hello,
this is a really cool idea! I am a middle school student from New Zealand that is doing these jars for a fundraiser.
I was wondering where i could find these jars in bulk, these can be quite expensive when buying in bulk plus adding the cost of postage to NZ.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Barbara. I typically buy them at craft stores (like Michaels in the US) or at Target or Walmart. I’m not sure what the equivalent would be in New Zealand. You could try Amazon, too.
Jocelyn
How far in advance can you make these or how long is there shelf life?
Celebrating Sweets
I would guess that you could make them a couple weeks in advance. My main concern would be the brown sugar staying moist and soft, so I wouldn’t recommend longer than a couple weeks. Enjoy!
Catherine
Amazing. I made these in school and wanted to find a recipe.
Celebrating Sweets
Thanks! Enjoy!
Keisha
Awesome! Love the recipe. I made 36 of these for my workplace and they were a hit. Thank you!
Celebrating Sweets
You’re welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Catherine
I think that this recipe is amazing. Instead of using a paper plate for the flour I used a wide mouth funnel. I also used my hand to gently put the M&Ms instead of a spoon because even in the wide mouth it was hard to but M&Ms in. I padded down the brown sugar to measure it and then loosened it to put it in the jar. Beware! this is messy! Otherwise, this recipe is great! I made these in school and wanted to make it for my other teachers and friends. ???
Chloe
How long is the shelf life for this? I want to include this on the recipe card for the person I’m gifting it to as I feel this is important information.
Celebrating Sweets
I would recommend using it within 2 months (assuming all ingredients are fresh). I have not stored it for longer than that, so I can’t say for sure. Enjoy!
Leah
What size Mason jars did you use? Would 500ml be right?
Celebrating Sweets
I used a 1-quart Mason jar.
Lindsey Lindsay
Could I use a 24 ounce jar instead of 32 ounce? Would it be packed in tightly then? I have not made them yet but plan on doing it this weekend. Hoping someone has tried that:)
Celebrating Sweets
I haven’t tried it. Definitely don’t reduce the amount of flour, sugars, or leavening, because those quantities are needed for the cookies to come out right. If necessary you can reduce the amount of M&M’s or chocolate chips.