After years of family members awkwardly asking me for gift receipts and spying my (well-intentioned) presents in white elephant exchanges years later, I’ve finally found the holiday gift that’s a guaranteed hit: Cookie Mix in a Jar.
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Now that Bath and Body Works gift sets are out of style (sun-ripened raspberry anyone?), I’ve been searching for a go-to present that’s more thoughtful than a gift card, yet guaranteed to please.
The answer: homemade cookie mix in a jar.
- It’s the right size.
- It is perfectly festive (as are these Bourbon Balls).
- It’s budget-friendly but still thoughtful.
- It can be easily customized to fit different taste preferences and dietary needs.
Do you have a famous cookie recipe (ahem, Healthy Oatmeal Cookies) you’d love to pass on to others?
Then, a holiday gift of cookie mix in a jar may be just what you need (and, if you’re feeling extra generous, you could also gift a jar of these scrumptious Honey Roasted Cashews too).
The recipe I’m sharing today calls for a simple, yet delicious, oatmeal cookie base paired with 1 cup of your favorite cookie mix-ins.
However, cookie mix in a jar is adaptable to just about any cookie recipe so, go ahead and deviate from the recipe shared to suit your recipients’ taste preferences and/or dietary needs.
How to Make the Best Cookie Mix in a Jar
Cookie mix in a jar is a gift without rules and without limits—the world is your oyster…cookie so feel free to get creative.
Try making a giftable cookie mix in a jar with these Dark Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, or Granola Cookies.
TIP!
When choosing a recipe, stick to those that don’t require your recipient to track down anything special on their part. Ideally, beyond your thoughtful (and delicious) jar of cookie mix, the other ingredients should be items most people keep on hand in their fridge or pantry (e.g. butter and eggs).
The Ingredients
- Flour. Nothing fancy here. Just a bit of everyday all-purpose flour.
- Oats. Provides excellent texture, chew, and subtle nutty flavor.
- White and Brown Sugar. A 50/50 blend of white and brown sugar for cookies that are sweet, tender, and crisp on the outside.
- Baking Soda + Baking Powder. Act as leaveners for the cookie mix.
- Salt. Essential in any cookie recipe.
- Cookie Mix-ins. Choose any combination of your favorite mix-ins. Just keep the total amount of mix-ins to 1 cup, or you’ll need a second jar.
Cookie Mix-in Ideas
- Dark, Semi-Sweet, or Milk Chocolate Chips
- White Chocolate Chips
- Butterscotch, Peanut Butter, Caramel, or Cinnamon Baking Chips
- Raisins, Dried Cherries, or Dried Cranberries
- Toasted Coconut
- Chopped Walnuts, Pecans, Macadamia Nuts, or Pistachios
The Directions
- In a bowl stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Transfer the flour mixture to a jar.
- Layer with brown sugar, granulated sugar, cookie mix-ins, and oats (in that order).
- Seal with a lid, decorate jar as desired, and attach the recipe as a gift tag (see below for a handy-dandy printable recipe card). ENJOY!
Recommended Tools to Make this Mix
- Jars. Cute jars that are perfect for gifting this mix.
- Mixing Bowl. Easy to store and wash.
- Baking Sheet. The essential tool you need to bake cookies.
With your holiday shopping under control, only one serious cookie mix question remains: exactly how many minutes after the cookie mix is opened must we wait before hinting at “testing” it out?
I think 10 seems socially acceptable, don’t you?
Frequently Asked Questions
A 1-quart mason jar works perfectly for this particular cookie in a jar recipe.
The recipe shown makes a single 1-quart jar of cookie mix that yields approximately 30 cookies when baked. To make multiple jars, simply multiply the recipe by the number of jars you wish to make.
Don’t forget to let your recipients know that their cookie mix in a jar will stay fresh for up 6 months if stored in a cool, dry place.
Cookie Mix in a Jar
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Ingredients
For the Cookie Mix:
- 1 ¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour or a 1:1 GF baking blend or white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup Mix-ins of your choice choose from chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit, or shredded coconut.
For Baking the Cookies:
- ½ cup butter softened (1 stick)
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the mix, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Place the flour mixture in a 1-quart jar.
- Layer the brown sugar, granulated sugar, mix-ins of your choice, and oats in the order listed, pressing firmly after each layer. Seal with lid and decorate with ribbon as desired. Attach recipe printable.
- To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the oven rack in the center position.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, egg, and vanilla until well blended. Add the cookie mix and mix well, breaking up any clumps.
- Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each ball of dough.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown, rotating the pan’s positions halfway through. Remove from the oven, and let cool on a wire rack.
Nutrition
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Hi Erin, Where did you get that jar??? And did it come with the chalkborad label or is that a sticker??? Super cute!!!
Thanks Rhea! I got the jar at World Market. The chalkboard sticker (and the chalkboard marker I used to write on it) are both from Target.
Hello! These look amazing! Does it state what size jar to use and did you pack the powders?!!?!?!? :D i would really love to make these this week!
Hi Desiree! You can find that info in the recipe directions, but for quick reference, it’s a 1 quart jar. I hope you love the recipe!
Can I subsatute flour and rolled oats for what you have in your cubbord?
Hi Bella! The 1:1 baking blend can be substituted with regular all-purpose flour. The oats however, you will need to stick with as the recipe as written. There isn’t really a substitute for those.
Big hit and so pretty! I made a batch to test before gifting— the only modification I made was to add a splash of milk as the dough was looking rather dry and some of the flour wasn’t incorporating. Didn’t need more than about a tablespoon. Cookies were divine! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
LOVE THAT, K! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Just did a test run, since I’d like to give these as gifts this year and wanted to see how they came out. They are fantastic! I used walnuts and chocolate chips as the add-ins.
Yay! So happy to hear, Emilie!
Is it necessary to roll the cookie dough into a ball to hold it together? I found the dough to be too dry even though I weighed my flour to make sure I did not use too much. (150 g…120 g is equal to 1 cup). I ended up adding a second egg, since I noticed my chocolate chip cookie recipe had similar amounts and called for 2 eggs. The dough came together nicely, not too wet. But when I baked the cookies they spread a lot. I made a mix in a jar for a gift and wanted to give the recipe a try first. Should I have mixed the dough longer instead of adding the extra egg? What do you suggest Erin?
Hi Kathy, my suggested would be to not add an extra egg. I didn’t test the recipe that way so I can’t guarantee the results. I would first try to mix it less, this can sometimes cause the dough to be dry. Hope this helps!