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.
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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
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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!
Angie
Hi! I made these for my sons class as he needed to bring a holiday gift to 23 friends. I also put them in large treat bags I found at the local dollar tree! I mixed all white Ingredients first including the sugar. Then poured it into the bag, using a large spoon. Then added the brown sugar and roped it of with M&M’s (red and green) along with mini chocolate chips for cost reasons. The bags are very Inexpensive and turned out so cute! I included a note to each of my sons classmates! I hope they loved it as much as we did. It was a lot of work but worth it.
Celebrating Sweets
That’s fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Happy holidays!
Shavonne Maye
Happy Holiday! My fiancé and I made these for our family. We did one per household (12) and everyone loved them. It was economical and easy to assemble. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Celebrating Sweets
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Sheila
How long should these last in the cabinet??
Celebrating Sweets
I recommend baking the cookies within a couple weeks. Enjoy!
Kayleigh-Ann Patterson
Sorry what size jar is it?
Allison
One quart.
Fran Ouimette
How many jars does 1 recipe do?
Allison
One
Me
This literally took less than five minutes to put together. I plan on giving these jars as gifts And thank you for the tip on the size of the decor (6” circumference of material) on the top of the mason jar. I used a regular mouth jar and 6” seemed big but it was perfect!
Allison
That’s great to hear! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
I
Love this recipe! Thanks for sharing. Also- could you recommend a good place to get the 6.5 inch (and various size) fabric circles?
Allison
I just cut them myself from a piece of fabric (I purchase fabric at JoAnn’s or Walmart). I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Happy holidays!
emma
i made these with a jar to big and there was left over space so i filled the rest with m&ms and now its probaly gonna be 2 choclatey an i dont want to give it to her but i have to.
Allison
You needed to use a 1-quart mason jar (as listed in the recipe card). Since this is a recipe that will be prepared and baked it needs to be precise.
Mary
Question, exactly how much butter do we put on the recipe? 1 cup totally or 1/2 cup?
Allison
1/2 cup butter
Joe
Can the cookie dough chill over night?
Allison
Sure. The color from the M&M’s might bleed into the dough a little bit.