I don't mean to freak you out, but the countdown to Christmas is here. Are you still looking for hostess gifts and gift ideas for friends and teachers? I've got a solution for you: Mason jar gifts, aka soup or cookie mixes in a jar! These inexpensive, beautiful and useful gifts are simple to make on a large scale and always a welcome sight--all you need are some jars, raw materials and tags or recipe cards (
check out our free printables here).
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Cowboy Cookies in a jar![/caption]
Principles of Mason Jar Gifts
I have a few rules of thumb when it comes to Mason jar gift mixes:
- The ingredients should make pretty layers. Think a cookie that includes chocolate chips, nuts and other add-ins, rather than plain sugar cookies.
- The mix should require few (and inexpensive) outside ingredients to complete. For example, a stick of butter and two eggs for a cookie mix, or a can of tomatoes for a soup mix.
- Make sure it's functional. Case in point: one year I made these gorgeous layered cocoa mixes: dry milk, cocoa powder, marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, the works. But then I realized that unless someone was going to use it all at once, they'd actually need to dump the mix into a bowl, stir it together, and then pour it back into the jar. Whoops.
- Anything that needs to be added to a recipe separately (like spices or bouillon cubes) should be wrapped up and placed at the very top of the jar, to make it easier to remove!
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I gift basket I made a few years ago with jar mixes . . . and Sweet Valley High books. Of course![/caption]
How to Layer a Mason Jar Mix
Overall, you don't need any specialized equipment to create a pretty layered Mason jar mix, but I do recommend one item in particular: a
canning funnel. This is a wide-mouthed funnel used for canning and makes it easy to pour things into jars mess-free. I also recommend wide-mouthed jars, for obvious reasons. Here's how to get started:
- Determine what size jar you need. If you're using a recipe specific to jar mixes it should tell you; otherwise, calculate the volume of your recipe and proceed accordingly.
- Get out all of your ingredients and plan your layers. You'll want them to be aesthetically pleasing!
- Pour in your ingredients one at a time, tapping the bottom of the jar against your countertop gently yet firmly with each layer to level and compact it.
- Screw on your lid tightly.
- Add labels, gift tags and recipe cards as needed. Check out our free printables here!
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Look at those beautiful beans![/caption]
Confetti Soup Jar Mix
This is a special adaptation of my previous
Confetti Soup Mix that showcases the glorious dried beans we offer here at Bob's Red Mill! Bean soup mixes are a classic for a reason: they're nonperishable, inexpensive (by my calculations, the cost for this mix with the jars minus any labels or tags is just over $4 per jar), nourishing and delicious!
Ingredients (Makes 16 Jars):
- 16 wide-mouth pint Canning Jars with Lids and Rings
- 1 bag each of the following Bob's Red Mill Dried Beans (or select your favorites):
- 16 Bouillon Cubes (I used chicken and veggie)
- 16 Bay Leaves
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A sweet little jar of bean soup love![/caption]
Instructions
1. Wash and dry canning jars.
2. Layer beans in jars: add 1/4 cup of each type of bean to the jars, one at a time.Layer according to your personal preference!
3. Place abouillon cube and abay leaf on top of the beans in each jar.
4. Screw on your lids.
5. Add a label, if you like!
Recipe for Confetti Bean Soup
Ingredients
- Confetti Soup Jar Mix
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 large Yellow Onion, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 6 cups Broth or Water
- 1 Tbsp each dried Oregano and Basil (optional)
- 14 oz can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Open the soup mix and remove and set aside the bay leaf and bouillon cube. Soak the beans in salted water overnight, or bring beans to a boil and let sit for one hour. Drain the beans.
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Saute, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the drained beans, bay leaf, bouillon cube, broth or water, and dried herbs, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about 2 hours.
Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
Yields 4 servings.
Cookie Jar Mixes
We have an excellent cookie jar mix on our site: our
Cowboy Cookies come complete with assembly instructions. Featuring our
Shredded Coconut, walnuts, chocolate chips and cranberries, it makes beautiful layers (as well as a very tasty cookie). It can also easily be made gluten and dairy free with our
Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and non dairy butter and chocolate chips. Check out the great video we made for this recipe!
You can use this recipe as a blueprint to reverse-engineer many of the cookie recipes on our site into jar recipes (remember, only layer the dry ingredients!). My recommendations:
Paleo Cookies: The recipe specifies chocolate chips, but you can add other goodies!
Monster Cookies: These monster-rific cookies include
Regular Rolled Oats, M&Ms and chocolate chips.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies: Gluten free and delicious!
Sunflower Butterscotch Cookies: The butterscotch chips,
Premium Shelled Sunflower Seeds and
Regular Rolled Oatscreate monochromatic yet visually appealing layers.
Oatmeal Cranberry Lemon Cookies: Layers of dried cranberries,
Gluten Free Rolled Oats,
Flaxseed Mealand lemon zest create a beautiful jar.
Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies: Wrap the large flake sea salt in a square of wax paper and place at the top of the jar.
Loaded Christmas Cowboy Cookies: These take our regular Cowboy Cookies up a notch with the addition of red and green baking chips, white chocolate chips and pecans.
Chocolate Marshmallow Holiday Skillet Cookie: What's more fun than making cookies? Making one big skillet cookie! Put the M&Ms and mini marshmallows at the top.
BabyCakes NYC Chocolate Chip Cookies: Even gluten free friends can enjoy a chocolate chip cookie mix!
Buttery Walnut Potato Chip Cookies: Um, potato chips in cookies?!? It totally works.
White Chocolate Cranberry Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies: These gluten free beauties use our
Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour,
Shredded Coconut, macadamia nuts, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
Once you get into the groove, you may turn more and more of your favorite family recipes into jar gifts! Your friends and family will thank you.
Are you a Mason jar gift expert? What are your favorite mixes? Post them below!