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    You are here: Home / Seasonal / Cozy Winter/Holiday Treats / Christmas Cookies / Giftable: Cookie Mix in a Jar (with Free Printable!)

    Giftable: Cookie Mix in a Jar (with Free Printable!)

    December 4, 2019 Updated March 17, 2021 BySam 72 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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    Cookie mix in a jar with instructional tag

    The sweetest gifts are always homemade! Gift your friends and family with a homemade cookie mix that they can use to quickly and easily make a warm batch of homemade cookies. I’m also including two free printable tags: a holiday version and a non-holiday version.

    Soft and chewy once baked, these are similar to my favorite chocolate chip cookies and make a great holiday gift! Make sure to make yourself a jar, too, for anytime you get a cookie craving!

    Clear mason jar of cookie mix with pretty layers and holiday colored toppings

    A Sweet & Simple Homemade Gift

    Before I jump into today’s post I need to say a huge THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the kind email and comments about Baby Luke’s arrival. I’ve read every single one of them and Zach and I appreciate it so much 💙

    I’m so obsessed with these adorable, gift-able cookie mixes. Hopefully none of my family members are reading this right now because I’ve made so many recently that there’s a good chance everyone I know will be getting one of these this Christmas. And how adorable would these be as a party favor for a baby shower or bridal shower?

    Too cute.

    Making cookie mix in a jar: firmly packing dark brown sugar over flour mixture with a spoon

    How to Assemble Cookie Mix in a Jar

    Sure, you could just mix everything together and toss it in the jar, but what makes this gift so adorable is those pretty layers that you can see through the mason jar. Fortunately, it’s easy to assemble. You will need quart sized mason jars to make this cookie mix. To assemble:

    1. Start with your dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure to stir these together very well! Layer this into the bottom of your mason jar.
    2. Pack it in! Your flour will be all fluffed up, use a spoon to tamp it down until you have a nice, firmly packed even layer.
    3. Top with brown sugar. I actually like to use dark and light brown sugar. It gives us an extra pretty layer and adds to the taste and chewiness of the cookies. First firmly pack down your dark brown sugar, then repeat with the light brown.
    4. And then more sugar! Top your layer of brown sugar off with granulated sugar.
    5. Have fun with mix-ins. You have some options here! I used a blend of Christmas-colored M&Ms, semisweet chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. Festive and delicious. You can use all chocolate chips, all candy, or use your imagination and use something else you know the gift recipient will love. Sprinkles? Toasted nuts? Toffee bits? I do recommend sticking to traditional cookie mix-ins as not all ingredients will necessarily keep well in the jar.

    Mason jar of cookie mixed topped off with chocolate chips and M&Ms

    Don’t forget your tag!

    You can simply write out the instructions for your gift recipient if you’d like, they are included in the recipe below.

    However, I made some cute gift tags that you can print out here (here is a holiday version, and here is a non-holiday version if you’re viewing this post after the holidays). Print them on card stock and then use baker’s twine or ribbon to secure them to your mason jars.

    Holiday gift tags for cookie mix

    So you have your cookie mix… Now what?

    The idea of this cookie mix is to give a gift that makes making homemade cookies easy. As the gift card will tell the recipient, all you will need to make cookies out of this mix is:

    • 12 Tablespoons of melted butter
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

    Melt the butter and let it cool. Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Now add the contents of the jar. Stir really well (make sure to break up any clumps from the brown sugar). Bake on 350F on an ungreased cookie sheet for 9-11 minutes.

    Voila.

    Cookie dough and freshly baked cookies made from cookie mix

    How Long Will This Cookie Mix Keep?

    How long these cookie mixes last will mostly depend on the freshness of the ingredients that you’ve used. For best results, make sure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh and recently purchased. Generally, I recommend using within 3 months of making.

    Jar of cookie mix showing layered ingredients and gift tag

    Enjoy!

    Let’s make this recipe together! Follow me on my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 200 recipe videos that you can watch for free!

    Cookie mix in a jar with instructional tag

    Cookie Mix in a Jar (giftable)

    The sweetest gifts are always homemade! Gift your friends and family with a homemade cookie mix that they can use to quickly and easily make a warm batch of homemade cookies. I'm also including two free printable tags: a holiday version and a non-holiday version.
    Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO below the recipe!
    4.95 from 18 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Cookies, Dessert
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 1 giftable jar (This recipe makes one quart-sized jar of cookie mix. Each jar yields approximately 21 cookies.)
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (265g)
    • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ cup dark brown sugar¹ firmly packed (100g)
    • ½ cup light brown sugar¹ firmly packed (100g)
    • ¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
    • 1-1 ½ cups mix-ins I used a blend of Christmas-colored M&Ms, semisweet chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips.

    To be added by gift recipient:

    • 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Recommended Equipment

    • 1 quart-sized (32 oz) clear mason jar with lid. Make sure to thoroughly clean and dry before using.
    • Baker’s twine (optional)
    • Holiday Themed Gift tags or
    • Non-Holiday Gift Tags
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk until well-combined.
    • Use a large spoon to spoon the flour-mixture into the bottom of your mason jar. Tamp down to pack down the flour as much as possible. Use your spoon to create a straight line of flour directly against the glass (so you have nice, even layers) but don’t worry if some of the flour in the middle is uneven or mounded. If you happened to get a lot of flour on the sides of the jar, you can use a paper towel or pastry brush to wipe down the excess flour.
    • Add dark brown sugar to the jar and use your spoon to firmly pack over the flour. Again, aim for clean straight edges against the glass.
    • Top with light brown sugar and firmly pack over the dark brown
    • Top with granulated sugar.
    • Top sugar with add-ins, filling to the very top/brim of the mason jar. You want all ingredients to be tightly packed in so they don’t shift during any transportation.
    • Top with mason jar lid and seal tightly. Print off printable instruction tag (find link to printable in the "equipment" section at the top of the recipe) and attach to jar with baker’s twine or ribbon.

    Instructions for Gift Recipient:

    • Preheat oven to 350F. Let butter cool until no longer warm to the touch. Stir together cooled butter, large egg, and vanilla extract. Add all ingredients from jar and stir well until completely combined (make sure to break up any clumps).
      Drop by rounded 1 ½ Tbsp-sized scoops onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet and enjoy!

    Notes

    ¹You may use only light or only dark brown sugar, but I think this combination of the two produces cookies with the best flavor and it gives you more attractive layers in your jar!

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Edie Mullins

      November 19, 2022 at 8:10 am

      These were great cookies. Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
      • Sam

        November 19, 2022 at 10:19 pm

        I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Edie! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Judy Openshaw

      December 29, 2021 at 1:16 am

      4 stars
      I made these cookies and they were delicious my family loved then. I did find the mixture a bit dry to make into balls so added a little extra butter and a little water
      . I made up the cookies in a jar and gave them to my family they loved how the jars look and I really enjoyed making up the jars .

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 29, 2021 at 9:50 am

        Hi Judy! Generally this is a result of accidentally over-measuring the flour. Have you seen our post on how to measure flour properly? That should help! 🙂

        Reply
    3. Sanadi

      December 23, 2021 at 9:41 am

      How do you recommend I adjust this for high altitude baking? 5,500 feet.
      Thanks
      Sandi

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 24, 2021 at 3:55 pm

        Hi Sanadi! Unfortunately I do not have much experience with high altitude baking so I wouldn’t be able to give a good recommendation. Maybe someone else can chime in with some assistance. 🙁

        Reply
    4. Diane

      December 17, 2021 at 3:48 pm

      5 stars
      I made these this morning with Memory Care Residents, we all put the item in the Jar and passed to the next, this was easy to follow. And the Senior Residents Loved that there’s a gift when the project is Complete

      Reply
    5. Riki Nut

      December 16, 2021 at 9:33 pm

      Very good recipe which I plan to use as gifts with a baggie of a half dozen baked cookies so friends know how good they are. Thank you

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 17, 2021 at 9:07 am

        That’s a great idea, Riki! We hope your friends love their gifts 😊

        Reply
    6. Debra Crisco

      December 14, 2021 at 5:08 pm

      5 stars
      Very nice gift and so easy to make!! Thank you so much❄️🎄❄️🎄

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 15, 2021 at 11:01 am

        We couldn’t agree more. Thanks so much for commenting, Debra! 😊

        Reply
    7. Olivia

      December 09, 2021 at 3:34 pm

      Hi! I love this idea. So you by chance have a gluten free option for the flour? That would still work with the rest of the recipe ?

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        December 09, 2021 at 4:44 pm

        Hi Olivia! While we haven’t tried it ourselves, you should be able to substitute a 1:1 gluten-free flour and still achieve good results. 😊

        Reply
        • MALIA

          December 20, 2021 at 11:46 am

          I’m an avid at home baker & I love baking! I haven’t had much experience with baking with gluten free flour, but I did try it a couple of times. It is vastly different from baking with all purpose flour. It is not always a 1:1 ratio & it greatly depends on which kind of gluten free flour you will be using & for which purpose. I’ve done some research on this as I wanted to make from scratch gluten free cinnamon rolls. My suggestion is to research which flour to substitute specifically for this type of drop cookies. Or sick with a recipe for gluten free cookies. Just my opinion, hope this helps a bit.

    8. Kiki

      December 07, 2021 at 6:39 pm

      Hi,

      Pls how much flour,sugar, etc must add on every jar??? Tks!

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 07, 2021 at 8:35 pm

        All of the ingredients and directions are in the recipe. 🙂

        Reply
    9. Chanel

      November 29, 2021 at 7:06 pm

      Do u have a recipe for a pint size jar?

      Reply
      • Sam

        November 30, 2021 at 9:27 am

        Hi Chanel! You can just cut all of the ingredients in half. It will make about 10 cookies when baked. 🙂

        Reply
        • Cierra Boyer

          December 02, 2021 at 10:33 pm

          This might be a silly question but does anyone know if this will ship okay?

        • Sam

          December 03, 2021 at 12:42 pm

          Hi Cierra! You shouldn’t have any issues shipping this just make sure it’s padded enough to not break. 🙂

        • Chanel

          December 07, 2021 at 8:19 pm

          Can u make some tags for the pint size jar please.

        • Sam

          December 07, 2021 at 8:47 pm

          I don’t have any plans to at this time but you could always handwrite them on cardstock 🙂

        • Chanel

          December 08, 2021 at 12:46 pm

          I started to make my jars n put all the flour mixture in the jars and noticed when I started to add the brown sugar that this recipe will not fit. I put the sugar in and then I couldn’t even get half of the add ins in.

        • Sam

          December 08, 2021 at 1:01 pm

          Hi Chanel! That is frustrating, I would make sure nothing was mis-measured take a look at the video and see if that helps!

      • Chanel

        November 30, 2021 at 7:36 pm

        Ok. But I can’t split one egg in half. So what would you recommend?

        Reply
        • Sam

          December 01, 2021 at 9:09 am

          I would beat the egg in a small dish and use half of it, just eyeballing it will work. 🙂

      • Claudia

        December 19, 2021 at 7:03 am

        Is there anyway I would be able to halve the recipe? Would it still work? I work at a daycare and would love to make these with my kids but there is alot of them.

        Reply
        • Sam

          December 19, 2021 at 10:09 pm

          It will work just fine! You’ll just need a smaller jar. 🙂

    10. Suzanne Penn

      November 19, 2021 at 6:27 pm

      5 stars
      Hello! I love this idea and recipe, but when I did a couple trials, my batter was really dry and crumbly. I ended up adding another 4 tablespoons of butter to it and that seemed to do the trick. Any ideas why it was turning out so dry? I measured carefully the 2nd time I tried it:) Thank you!

      Reply
      • Sam

        November 20, 2021 at 3:56 pm

        Hi Suzanne! Generally this is a result of accidentally over-measuring the flour. Have you seen my post on how to measure flour properly? That should help! 🙂

        Reply
        • Murelene

          August 04, 2022 at 11:25 pm

          I wondered if you have done any other cookie recipe in a jar, like the s’mores cookies?

        • Sam

          August 09, 2022 at 2:48 pm

          Hi Murelene! I have not but it’s a great idea! 🙂

    11. Jeanine

      January 04, 2021 at 11:18 am

      5 stars
      These are the yummiest, soft and chewy cookies I have ever made! My only recommendation is that the receiver promptly make the cookies after receiving the ingredients in the jar. From the time I received mine, I maybe waited about 1 1/2 weeks. By then, I was doing everything possible to try to pry the brown sugar layer out of the jar. I tried multiple utensils before I could finally get through that layer. Will definitely be making more of these in the future, just not from a jar. 🙂

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 04, 2021 at 9:17 pm

        I’m glad you still enjoyed them, Jeanine! 🙂

        Reply
        • Sibel Bialas

          November 28, 2022 at 10:41 pm

          How far in advance can I make these cookie jars? Can’t wait to try it out as gifts!

        • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

          November 29, 2022 at 9:32 am

          Hi Sibel! We actually cover this in the post 🥰

    12. Emma

      December 18, 2020 at 12:24 am

      5 stars
      Super cute and easy to follow instructions! Making 9 this year as gifts for friends, super excited to see how they turn out. Thank you!

      Reply
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    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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