Cookie Jars – Cookie Mix in a Jar (Easy Edible Gift)

Cookie Jars are a super low effort but fabulous present which are perfect as birthday or Christmas gifts for kids and adults alike. They’re low cost, easy to scale up and always loved! Plus this cookie mix in a jar is long lasting so you can make them in advance with the topping of your choice. My free printable labels with baking instructions included will make this perfect gift even easier to make and super cute too!

Making a cookie jar mix is so much easier than you would think. Especially as I have done all the hard work for you and worked out what you need and how much of what you need to achieve these beautiful cookie jars.

I was inspired to make these cookie mix jars after watching a Mrs Hinch video over on Instagram. They were so easy to make and looked gorgeous.

The cookies are simple oat and flour based cookies with a hint of spice. You can be creative and add almost any mix in – nuts, chocolates, chocolate chips etc. My favourite is to add smarties – the UK ones, not the American smarties which are totally different! They are bright and colourful in the jar and kids and big kids love them too.

Making the cookies from the jar mix is simple too. All you need to do is stir in some melted butter and an egg then dollop the mix onto a baking tray and bake. There is no need for chilling the dough or rolling out on a floured surface so clean up is a breeze. Most kids can even make them on their own with minimal supervision.

The one thing you need to remember is to tell whoever you are gifting the jars to how to make the cookies! I’ve made this really easy for you by creating some printable labels which you can download. Simply fill in the form below and you’ll receive a link to the pdf by email.



cookie mix jar next to the finished cookies on a white plate

Cookie Mix In A Jar – The Perfect Edible Gift!

The jars only take about 5 minutes to make and if you are doing a few jars at a time you can make a few pretty quickly. Nothing in the jars has a short expiration date so they’re both great for you to make in advance and they are a no pressure gift for the recipient.

We all know that sometimes there is simply too much food to eat, especially around Christmas so a gift that doesn’t need to be used immediately is usually very welcome. Not to mention they do look beautiful with their lovely layers.

You don’t’ have to gift the cookie mix in glass jars but I think they make a nice long lasting part of the gift too. The jars I use are glass so they’re recyclable and reusable which is always an eco friendly bonus. The person you’re making the gift for can use them again and again.

You can also tailor the contents to the person you’re giving them too. If you know that person loves raisin cookies, You can add dried fruit. If they’re a chocolate lover you can add chips or chunks. And if they are a nut lover, you can add them too. I’ve given some more ideas for mix-ins/toppings further down so keep scrolling for more ideas.

Close up of the Smarties in the cooked cookies from my cookie mix jar gift

Batch making DIY cookie jar Cookie mix

Cookie Jars are almost as easy to make 10 at a time as they are 1 at a time.

To make multiple jars I would recommend lining up your jars and adding each ingredient to all the jars before moving onto the next ingredient. This way you won’t get confused and forget what you have put in what jar. You will have them done in no time!

Don’t forget that when you get to the toppings layer, you can make each jar different or the same depending on what you prefer.

What Jars Are Best For Making Cookie Mix Jars?

This recipe is written to fill a 0.5L (1 pint) sized jar. I mostly use classic Kilner Jars with a screw top lid. The wide mouth openings are super easy to fill and pour the ingredients out of. Ball are another great brand and Ikea also sell inexpensive jars.

You can scale the recipe up or down to fill smaller or larger jars. But I do find that the half litre jars are really the perfect size. Much smaller and you simply don’t get many cookies from the batch. And larger can become unwieldy and hard to handle – better to gift two half litre jars.

Golden baked oatmeal cookie with Smarties and chocolate chips

Topping Ideas for Edible Cookie Jars

There are so many ways you can switch up the cookie jars with different toppings. You can see from the pictures how much I love using smarties. I’ve already mentioned that the bright colours look amazing in the jar and bog and little kids all love them.

You can switch the smarties for any of your favourite chocolates or candies as well as nuts or dried fruits. Some mixes are really great too. These are some of my favourite mix-in ideas:

  • Chocolate chips or chunks – milk, dark, white or a mix.
  • Nuts – walnuts, cashews, pistachios, peanuts, chestnuts, etc.
  • Dried fruit – raisins, sultanas, cranberries, goji berries.
  • Candies – fudge pieces, mixed peel, crystallised ginger.
  • Chocolates – M&Ms, rolos, chocolate caramel buttons, etc.

Mixes are great too. Why not try:

  • Cranberry and white chocolate.
  • Dark chocolate and crystallised ginger.
  • Milk chocolate and peanut.
  • Mixed nuts and sesame seeds.

It’s find to experiment and make different options. The one thing you do have to remember is that whatever you add in cannot be wet. Any liquid will seep into the rest of the ingredients and could ruin the whole batch if not used straight away.

How to make Cookie Jars – Step By Step

Here is my step by step process of making and putting the cookie mix in a jar together. I love how the jars have their layers. They look so good done like this.

But if you don’t want to do layers you don’t have to of course. Mix it all together and press it in that way.

Keep scrolling for the full instructions, ingredient quantities and printable recipe card.

  • Wash and dry a 0.5 litre / 1 pint glass jar.
  • Add salt, baking powder and plain flour to the jar.
  • Push down to compact the ingredients. Use the back of a spoon, a coffee tamper or the end of a rolling pin.

Top tip – Using a coffee tamper is a perfect way to compact the ingredients down to make beautiful defined layers.

  • Add the light brown soft sugar, cinnamon and ginger then compact it down again.
  • Add the caster sugar and compact it down.
  • Add your chosen topping(s) – I used UK Smarties.
  • Top up the jar with the oats compacting as you go to get them to fit.
  • Add the lid.
  • Print and attach your gift labels and your jars are ready!
cookie jars how to make guide with layered jam jar filled with cookie mix

Cookie Jar Baking Instructions

When you gift a jar of cookie mix, you’ll need to tell that person how to make the cookies. The fun way to do this is to make a gift tag and attach it. You can make these by hand which is a really lovely and personal thing to do.

Or you can download the easy printable labels that i’ve created for you. Fill in the form below then when you’ve confirmed your email, all you need to do is print the pdf (one page contains 4 labels). Then simply cut on the dotted line, fold the labels in half and attach them to the jars with string.

There is a space to write in the name of the person you’re giving it to and your name too.

For an even nicer looking label, you can use brown stringed luggage tags. Cut the printed labels around the edge of the rounded blue border and stick one half to each side of the luggage label. Beautiful!



I’ve written out the instruction below too in case you do prefer to handwrite the labels. These instructions are for the quantity of cookie mix in the recipe – 0.5l or 1 pint.

What You’ll Need

  • 1 Egg
  • 90g Butter – melted
  • 500ml Cookie Mix (this jar!)

What You Need To Do

  • Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan.
  • Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  • Empty the cookie mix jar into a mixing bowl.
  • Add 1 egg and the melted butter.
  • Mix to form a dough.
  • Spoon the mix onto a lined baking tray. Use a teaspoon for mini cookies or a tablespoon for larger cookies.
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Allow to cool then enjoy!

How Many Cookies Does The Cookie Jar Make

The recipe is very flexible so you can make the cookies your preferred size. This 0.5l / 1 pint of mix will make roughly 16 cookies when measured with a heaped tablespoon. Using a teaspoon will make more bitesize cookies. And you could make 8 large cookies if you prefer.

Cookie jar next to 3 finished cookies on a white plate

Pin this Easy Cookie in Jar Recipe for later

Cookie Jars – Cookie Mix in a Jar (Easy Edible Gift)

Sisley White
Cookie Jars are a super low effort but fabulous present which are perfect as birthday or Christmas gifts for kids and adults alike. They're low cost, easy to scale up and always loved! Plus this cookie mix in a jar is long lasting so you can make them in advance with the topping of your choice. My free printable labels with baking instructions included will make this perfect gift even easier to make and super cute too!
5 from 15 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Bakes, Dessert
Cuisine American, English, International
Servings 1 0.5l Jar
Calories 153 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 

  • 120 g (1 cups) plain flour / all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp (½ tsp) salt
  • ½ tsp (½ tsp) baking powder
  • 60 g (¼ cups) light brown soft sugar
  • ¼ tsp (¼ tsp) ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp (¼ tsp) cinnamon
  • 75 g ( cups) caster sugar
  • 75 g (1 cups) oats

Topping / Mix-ins

  • 100 g (¾ cups) chocolate/candies/nuts/dried fruit I use UK Smarties

Ingredients to be included on the gift tag

  • 90 g (7 tbsp) butter melted
  • 1 (1) egg medium

Instructions
 

  • Wash and dry a 0.5 litre / 1 pint glass jar.
  • Add salt, baking powder and plain flour to the jar.
  • Push down to compact the ingredients. Use the back of a spoon, a coffee tamper or the end of a rolling pin.
  • Add the light brown soft sugar, cinnamon and ginger then compact it down again.
  • Add the caster sugar and compact it down.
  • Add your chosen topping(s) – I used UK Smarties.
  • Top up the jar with the oats compacting as you go to get them to fit. Add the lid.
  • Print and attach your gift labels and your jars are ready!

Baking Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan.
  • Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
  • Empty the cookie mix jar into a mixing bowl.
  • Add 1 egg and the melted butter.
  • Mix to form a dough.
  • Spoon the mix onto a lined baking tray.
  • Use a teaspoon for mini cookies or a tablespoon for larger cookies.
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Allow to cool then enjoy!

Notes

Please note that the nutrition estimate is based on 16 baked cookies with M&Ms. 

Nutrition

Calories: 153kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 136mgPotassium: 36mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 170IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg

Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Keyword cookie jar, cookie jar how to, cookie jar ingredient list, Cookie mix in a jar, how to make a cookie jar, Mrs Hinch Cookie Jars
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35 thoughts on “Cookie Jars – Cookie Mix in a Jar (Easy Edible Gift)”

  1. 5 stars
    What a fabulous idea! I might suggest to my daughter that she makes some of these for her cousins for Christmas as we are trying to do presents with as little plastic as possible this year.

    Reply
  2. 5 stars
    Love how the smarties make these jars look so cute! And I would totally add those walnuts you recommend ! LOVE walnuts SO MUCH

    Reply
  3. 5 stars
    Made this as a Christmas gift and was absolutely perfect, now thinking of doing it as an Easter gift but using mini eggs!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Thank you for your comment. I would say each jar makes about 8-12 cookies. Of course, it depends on how big you want to make them. I have one friend who used it to make 4 giant cookies.

      Reply
  4. 5 stars
    Hello! I am so excited to do this for my daughters birthday ‘party bag’ next weekend! I have bought all the ingredients and jam jars for 36 little ones but struggling to download the labels!!??! Have sent my details via the link suggested but have not received them as yet! Any ideas?! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Hi Hannah, I can see you haven’t signed up for it as your email isn’t showing up (unless you used a different email). If you try signing up for it again it should work. If not just get in touch and I will help you out.

      Reply
  5. 5 stars
    Thank you so much – have just signed up and confirmed by email/subscription. Hopefully that will work! All 36 jars are ready for prep this week to give out on Saturday at the party! Will send you a pic! Thank you! Such a lovely idea! Look forward to receiving the labels, thank you, Hannah x

    Reply
  6. 5 stars
    Thanks for the beautiful label and great recipe. They’re so quick to make I was able to throw some together when I had people coming over! We’ve also used this for eco-gifts in the party bags! A winner every time!

    Reply

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