Planning ahead, crisscrossing holidays

Planning ahead is kinda one of my things... so in October while we are thinking about Halloween, I'm thinking about Christmas projects for our girls' group at church. And since it's STILL COVID... still... ugh... seems like it'll never end... but anyway I wanted to plan some sort of treat. While a cookie mix in a jar sounds great - jars are hard to come by... because of COVID... of course because of COVID... but guess what aren't hard to come by? Deli containers! They are also cheaper! And this party has happened by the time of this posting... it's not even Halloween at the time of writing this. The deli containers are great, they have a wide opening so layering the ingredients worked out very well, they were also easy to dump the ingredients out when it comes to bake. Bronwyn mixed it all up and dished out the cookies. It's a small recipe so that worked out really well. I'm excited for the girls to put these together at our party and show us pictures of baking with their families this Christmas.

M&M Cookie Mix in a Jar Recipe

Ingredients
For the Cookie Mix
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup M&M Minis/Baking Bits or regular M&Ms
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

For Packaging the Cookie Mix
1 quart size wide mouth mason jar with lid

For Baking the Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions
To Make Jars
Layer all ingredients in the order listed in the quart size wide mouth mason jar. Make sure to gently flatten out each layer with the back of a spoon before adding the next.
Close jar, and then secure the circle of fabric over top of the jar lid with the rubber band. Cover the rubber band with 2-3 wrappings of baker’s twine, and then tie and thread on the instruction tag.

To Bake Cookies
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cookie mix with the melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
Roll into 1 1/2” balls, and place on the prepared baking sheet 2” apart. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly brown along the edges but still very soft in the middle.
Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.