2 Cookies in a Jar Recipes

So I figured after being on a few forums I'd go ahead and share a few recipes of my favorite holiday presents and treats.

Cowboy Cookie Mix

(as seen above)

1 c all-purpose flour
1 c uncooked old-fashioned oats
3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c chopped nuts
1/2 c seedless raisins
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

I prefer to mix my baking soda, baking powder and flour together and if I feel there is too much white and I want to separate it out more then I'll mix in my white sugar also. Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart jar in any order I found that packing it wasn't too necessary for this recipe and I tried to push the more colorful items to the sides and then fill the middle with the flour mix so that I didn't have a whole bunch of white showing. Make sure your lid screws down tightly and securely.

Cowboy Cookies

(add these directions to the card)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 jar Cowboy Cookie Mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
2. Beat butter in large bowl  at medium speed approximately 2 minutes until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until blended. (Mixture may appear curdled.)  Add cookie mix to butter mixture; stir until well blended.
3. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Remove cookies to wire racks and let cool.

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Again mix white ingredients together (flour, salt and baking soda with optional sugar) and then layer the ingredients in a 1 quart jar. I have found the flour will need to be compacted pretty tightly to get everything to fit probably because flour likes to fluff up and this has more than the other recipe. What I've found to use is the bulb end of a turkey baster to help pack stuff down. Make sure the lid is secured tightly.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(add these directions to the card)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. In large bowl, cream 1 cup of unsalted butter or margarine until light and fluffy. Beat in 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix in cookie mix. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough, spaced well apart, onto greased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

Decorating the Jar

For any type of cookie jar I find whatever fabric I have around the home and I grab a lid from off the coffee or from my shortening container. Around a 9" diameter is good but it will also depend on if you have normal mason jars or if you have wide mouth jars. Use your best judgement. I took a small strip of hot glue around the outside rim, placed the circle of fabric on top to an estimated center and then pushed down the fabric on the glued side. I found the glue was cooling too fast for me to put a steady strip of glue then to fasten the fabric so I just did it in small sections trying to keep my circle centered since I did not want to put glue on the top lid in case it sealed tightly and then there might be a problem removing the lid later on. The first year we did this we printed the directions out on paper and then glued the paper to construction paper and then glued that directly onto the jar. This year we tied cards on with ribbons. Either way I would suggest putting a ribbon around the top to help give it a more finished look. It doesn't have to be ribbon but could be something like raffia.
-Alternative-
Instead of gluing your fabric on if you have rubber bands you can snap a rubber band on over the fabric and then use your ribbon or raffia to hide the rubber band.