Cookie Mix Jars

On our crafting day last Thursday, Tish and I decided to make cookie mixes in recycled mason jars. There are lots of recipes floating around online for these and we improvised, using some recipes for guidance and creating a veganized recipe that we hope you’ll like. We used 24 oz spaghetti sauce jars. The recipe here is for ‘Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies’. Variations on this recipe could be any number of things. Dried cherries instead of cranberries would be one I would suggest, if you’re not crazy about cranberries. Adding nuts would be a good addition too, if nutty cookies are your thing. Basically, the idea is that you want the jar’s contents to be packed tightly all the way to the top so that the ingredients stay layered and don’t shift around in the jar. Tish and I were at Costco on Thursday picking up a few things, and saw a case of individual 1/2 cup servings of applesauce. We opted to buy the applesauce and include it in lieu of a lid. If you’re mailing these, you’ll probably want to use a lid instead of the applesauce as a top. You can always include the applesauce separately. Our idea with these jars was to make a vegan recipe that people wouldn’t immediately think of as ‘vegan’. We both have people in our lives who would turn up their noses at vegan cookies, but by including applesauce (as an egg replacer) and recommending vegetable shortening in the recipe, we were thinking people could try out vegan cookies without using any unusual ingredients.

For the labels, Tish used her handy skills in Microsoft Word to create the labels, and we used clear shipping labels from Office Max in the printer. You can use whatever scraps of cotton fabric you have lying around.

THE RECIPE

For one jar mix

Supplies:

1 24-oz mason jar

1 5-inch piece of elastic cord

1 9×9 square (or circle) of lightweight cotton fabric

label of your choosing

Cookie Mix

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup oats

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup vegan white sugar

1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries

1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

one 1/2 cup package of applesauce (optional)

Sift together the flour and the baking soda. You may want to use a wide-mouthed funnel or a rolled up sheet of paper as a funnel to avoid making a huge mess when filling the jars. Add the ingredients in the following order:

1/2 the flour/baking soda mixture

oats

rest of flour/baking soda

brown sugar

white sugar

cranberries

chocolate chips

Before each new addition, make sure each layer is packed down firmly. This will help prevent the layers from mixing together in the jar. You may want to push the ingredients out to the edges slightly to make sure each layer is visible from the outside.

When you get to the top, depending on how tightly the ingredients were packed, there may be a little extra space. You can either toss in some chopped nuts, or add some extra dried fruit and chocolate chips to reach the top of the jar. I never think it’s a bad idea to add more chocolate chips to cookies. In fact, the dough is usually just a vehicle for the melty chocolate, in my opinion. Top with either the applesauce, or a lid.

 

Make your label, either on the computer/printer, or you can hand-write a decorative label on fun paper and stick it to the jar with double-sided tape. The directions on the label should be as follows:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened vegetable shortening or margarine, 1 pkg apple sauce and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Add the entire jar of ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. 3. Bake for 8 to 10 mins, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

Stick the label on the side of the jar, and you’re almost done!

Drape the fabric over the top of the jar/applesauce. Knot the elastic cord tightly around the neck of the jar to secure the fabric. Give to someone you like and let them enjoy the fun of baking some delicious vegan cookies!

Any ideas for other add-ins or alternate recipes for the cookie jar mix?