Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

Present preparation’s done with jars of cookie-baking joy

Most any kind of cookie can be packaged as a mix in a Mason jar. These Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies make a pretty presentation with several layers of ingredients.

MCt file photo

The layers are easily seen because of the contrast of colors. Try to avoid layering the white sugar on top of the flour because one will get lost.

Lisa Sokolowski photos/The Times Leader

Add some holiday fabric to dress up the jars. And don’t forget the recipe card.

For a minute, I was glad I live alone.
I had just spilled flour onto the carpet in my living room and had no desire to get the vacuum right away. I was in the middle of a project anyway, so I’d probably spill more flour before the night was over.
The kitchen counter isn’t a comfortable work space, and my dining-room table is much too small to accommodate the Mason-jar assembly line I was planning on constructing. That’s how I ended up on the floor.
Let me explain.
My Christmas list is quite extensive, or so it seems. I have 59 people on my “Cards I Have To Send Out” list and a few others penciled in on the off chance I feel like buying more stamps. My gift list is considerably shorter but does keep me in the mall nearly every day from Black Friday to Christmas Eve.
This year I wanted to give my feet (and my wallet) a break, so I decided to put together a collection of Mason jars, the kind filled with all the dry ingredients a recipient would need to bake a treat, in this case, a batch of chocolate-chip cookies.
I bought the one-quart jars and ribbon (so the jars look nice, of course) at A.C. Moore, then went next door to Wal-mart to buy the flour, brown and white sugar and holiday fabric. Then I went home, washed and dried the jars and set up shop on the floor.
I got ready for the first jar, putting the flour on the bottom and packing it in tightly. I turned the jar upside down to make sure it was stuck. I did the same with the brown sugar, then put the white sugar on top, but when I flipped the jar over, it moved around. White sugar is too grainy to pack, I guess.
So I carefully took off each layer, then reversed them, putting the white sugar at the bottom, the brown on top, then the flour. It worked like a charm. I topped the jar with green and red M&Ms and began sliding other jars down my assembly line with impressive speed.
Let’s talk materials for a minute. A one-quart jar can hold four cups, and the chocolate-chip cookie recipe I used (which is my foolproof one) has two cups of flour, a cup of brown sugar, a half cup of white sugar and a minimum of one cup of chocolate chips (I usually put closer to two cups, but I figured I was giving these gifts to people who may not be as chocolate obsessed as I am). It adds up to more than four cups, yes, but when you pack it down, the ingredients become denser, so it will fit.
But you don’t just have to make chocolate-chip cookies. You can put the ingredients for any recipe in your Mason jars. This year, my friend made a baker’s dozen using a brownie recipe for her gifts (however, she didn’t try the recipe out beforehand, so good luck to those lucky recipients). You can fill your own jars with anything from soup recipes to pancake mix, as long as there are multiple ingredients for layering. Filling it with everything mixed together works too, but the result isn’t as aesthetically pleasing.
They’re quick to make if you’re looking for a last-minute gift. In a few hours, I made 10 jars – and that’s because I spent most of the time chatting on the phone, only partially paying attention to what I was doing. It’s not like baking, which requires more of your attention, but it is still giving out a holiday treat.
The most important part is to remember to attach a recipe card. You’re only giving the recipient dry ingredients, so you’ll need to mention the wet ingredients and directions.
Well, that’s your most important part. Mine was getting the flour out of the carpet.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE JAR

1 quart Mason jar

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or substitute 2 tablespoons oats for a little texture)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup minimum chocolate chips

Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Begin to layer the ingredients in the Mason jar in the following order – white sugar, brown sugar, flour mixture — packing each layer down tightly. Use the chocolate chips as the last layer.

Attach a recipe card with the following:

You will need: a stick and a half (6 ounces) of butter, 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoons vanilla and an extra 1 cup of chocolate chips (optional). Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Empty the contents of the jar into a large bowl with your extra chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, combine butter, eggs and vanilla. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake about 14 minutes in a conventional oven (about 11 in an electric oven). Subsequent trays need to be baked a little less.