Homemade Christmas Gifts: Gifts in a Jar

This holiday, maybe you would like to make homemade gifts for your friends and loved ones. But you are not sure where to begin. Here are some easy "gift-in-a-jar" projects. Gift-in-a-jar projects can include mixes for cookies, soups, bread, drinks, candy or cakes. There are many books with gift-in-a-jar recipes that can be found at the bookstore or library. You can also use your favorite search engine to find gift-in-a-jar recipes online. These homemade gifts are very cost effective; you have to buy the ingredients anyway, so you might as well make several and have your holiday shopping taken care of.

Here are some gift-in-a-jar recipes for you to try.

Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookie mix

¾ cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 cup Chocolate covered raisins
½ cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate)
1 ¾ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda

Mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Get a one-quart wide-mouth canning jar and then add the sugar, brown sugar, raisins, chocolate chips and flour mixture. Make sure to pack the ingredients down so they will all fit in the jar. Place the lid securely on the jar.

Include the following instructions:

Chocolate covered raisin cookies

What you will need
Contents of jar
1 stick (¼ cup) of butter or margarine, room temp
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1 tsp vanilla

Empty the contents of the jar into a large bowl and mix well. Add butter, egg and vanilla and continue to mix thoroughly. Shape into balls about the size of a walnut and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Keep the cookies about two inches apart. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 13- 15 minutes or until the cookies are a light brown on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes around 30 cookies. You can tie a festive ribbon around the jar and punch a hole in the instruction card and tie it to the ribbon.

Cinnamon and Spice Coffee Creamer

¾ cup non-dairy creamer or dry milk
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Combine the ingredients in a jar and shake to make sure its mixed well. Add 1 or 2 spoons to your coffee for a great holiday taste.

Twice the Chocolate Brownie Mix

2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa (not Dutch)
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Layer the ingredients into a wide mouth canning jar. Include the following instructions:

Twice The Chocolate Brownies

What you will need
Contents of jar
1 cup butter or margarine (soft)
4 eggs

In large bowl cream butter, then add the eggs one at a time mixing well in between each one. Add the contents of the jar and mix well until the batter is smooth. Pour into a greased 9 x 12 pan and place in a preheated oven set at 325 degrees. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out clean.

Christmas Morning Pancake Mix

3 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoon salt

Mix the ingredients and place in jar. Include the following instructions,

Christmas Morning Pancake Mix

¾ cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the milk, egg, and oil. Add 1 1/3 of the pancake mix and stir with a fork until moistened. Cook as you usually would when making pancakes. Makes around 10 pancakes.

These gift-in-a-jar recipes would make wonderful homemade gifts. They do not take long to make up and are a great way to save money on your holiday shopping. Homemade gifts mean more to some because you actually spent your time making the gift instead of just buying one.