I know the holiday season is the busiest time of year for a lot of us. But color me surprised to see that big box stores are selling “handmade” gifts for giving. If you’re short on time but want to give handmade gifts, these are a snap to make.
Looking for a healthier food gift to give? Try this friendship soup in a jar!
Cookies in a jar are so easy to make! They’re cute and perfect for giving a little something to your postal carrier, your kid’s teacher, or as a hostess gift. And you can get ingredients to make several of these homemade gifts for the same price as buying one ready made. Use the tips below to make a bunch all at once!
Try these white chocolate cranberry cookies in a jar, too!
Cookies in a Jar Recipe
Mason jars are certainly a cute option, but you don’t need to go out and buy new jars.
Because you’re not actually sealing the ingredients in the jar, this is a great opportunity to repurpose glass jars. As long as they have a volume of one-quart, these cookies in a jar will fit. You could even decorate the jars like this.
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Ingredients
Flour — When I bake with all-purpose flour I opt for the unbleached version. Bleached flour is very white, but it’s also treated with bleaching agents that I don’t really need in my food.
Sugar — Use your favorite brand of granulated cane sugar. I prefer organic.
Brown sugar — The rich molasses flavor of brown sugar is delicious in this dessert. Use light or brown sugar, as you like.
White chocolate chips — Technically, these sweet chocolate chips are not chocolate. They tend to be sweeter than actual chocolate chips. Feel free to substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips in this recipe.
Macadamia nuts — These nuts are readily available to me locally, but tend to be pricey. The recipe will be just as tasty with walnuts, pecans, or almonds.
Leavening — This recipe calls for both baking soda and baking powder; I bet you have both on hand!
Filling the Jars
I have some tricks for making this easy gift even easier. Making many at one time means in just a hot minute you’ll have half a dozen (or a dozen) gifts ready for giving. This is a fabulous gift to have kids make!
Once you have the ingredients out, assembling a number of these cookies in a jar gifts at once won’t take much longer than doing a single one! Might as well do several. (I like to keep a couple of these on hand for unexpected holiday drop ins, too!)
Once you’ve got your jars ready, line them up on the counter. A canning funnel makes filling the jars a snap if you have one.
Alternatively, you can make a quick paper funnel. Place your funnel in one of the end jars and measure the dry ingredients in. Move the funnel to the next jar and repeat. Continue down the line until each jar has the dry mix in place.
Shake the jars a bit to level the ingredients. Now do the same for the brown sugar layer, pressing it in lightly.
Add the white sugar, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate chips in the same manner.
Grab a free printable label for gift giving here!
When the jars are fully assembled, twist on a lid. Print out labels and tie one on each jar. Tada! Cookie mix in a jar ready for giving for Christmas, Hanukkah, or as a hostess gift any time of year.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below! ★
White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies in a Jar
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- ¾ cup macadamia nuts chopped
To make the cookies you will also need:
- ½ cup butter (1 cube)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To assemble the cookies in a jar:
- Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Place in the bottom of the jar.1 ¼ cups flour, ⅛ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Measure brown sugar into jar on top of flour mixture, pressing lightly.½ cup brown sugar
- Add white sugar, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate in that order.⅓ cup sugar, ¾ cup macadamia nuts, 1 cup white chocolate chips
- Seal and attach gift tag.
To make the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Pour contents of jar into a mixing bowl; stir to blend.
- Whisk egg, softened butter, and vanilla together in a separate small bowl.½ cup butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Form cookie balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
- Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack.
Notes
- Feel free to substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips in this recipe. You can also swap out the nuts, using walnuts, pecans, or almonds.
Nutrition
Originally contributed by Claudie Evert and published in November 2019; this post has been updated.
We just made this recipe for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and wow. The texture is exactly what we hoped for: squishy, and super satisfying.
My husband, who is our household Cookie QC Inspector, confirmed this with a very official review: “squishy and satisfying.” High praise from the cookie department.
They passed the cookie test, and we’ve already decided these are going into our Christmas gift baskets for family and friends. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it is definitely a keeper!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
This is such a cute idea! What a fun gift to make for family and friends for Christmas!