Cookie mix jars as party favours: Smarties, chocolate and oat cookies

A home made gift can be as simple as an old jam jar filled with cookie mix.

Take an old (clean) jar, fill it with layers of dry ingredients for your favourite cookie recipe and then add a tag for additional wet ingredients, the recipe and a greeting, so that the gift recipient can quickly whip up the cookies without having to do much measuring.

My daughter and I made 15 cookie mix jars for her birthday party to give to her friends as party favours. It was a lovely activity for the two of us on a Saturday afternoon: we set up a production line where she was in charge of all the weighing and measuring and I did the mixing and jar-filling.

By the end of it she was a real pro with the digital scales, and she now also knows the recipe by heart! The whole activity made her feel empowered and she is so excited to give something that she made to her friends.

I printed the labels which we designed together, including the recipe and ingredients, and she cut them out and attached them to each jar with a piece of twine.

My recipe to make a cookie mix jar using a 500ml jar

I had to do quite a lot of experimenting when finalising this recipe because I needed the quantities to fit into a 500ml jar (I didn't want huge jars!), and also produce a tasty cookie. So, here is what I came up with:

For 15-20 cookies:

130g self raising flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)

½ tsp salt

100g brown sugar (use a fine variety such as golden caster or soft brown sugar)

50g smarties or chocolate chips

50g oats

To make up the cookie mix jars

Measure the self raising flour into a small bowl and add the salt and cocoa (sifting it is essential as cocoa lumps are stubborn). Mix this up with a fork and then spoon it into the jar.

Gently tap the jar on a tea towel to help the mixture settle and remove any air pockets - this also helps to create fairly horizontal layers.

Next, spoon in the brown sugar, followed by the smarties and finally the oats.

If you like the tags we made, you can download the PDF here.

Instructions for the recipients of the cookie mix jar

Pre-heat the oven to 170C (fan). Melt 100g butter and allow to cool. Whisk in 1 egg, tip in the contents of the jar and combine with a wooden spoon. If the mix is too dry, you can add a tbsp of water.

Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the mix, roll them lightly between your hands, place on a lined baking sheet, pat down slightly and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack.

Note: If using smarties in your cookie jars, note that they are likely to use their colour once mixed with the wet ingredients. You could suggest picking the smarties out of the mix and adding them onto the cookies just before baking.

Cookie mix jar recipe variations

Healthier options

You can replace the smarties with cranberries or raisins (bearing in mind these also contain sugar, but as opposed to chocolate chips, they also have fibre, vitamins and minerals). Replacing them with nuts is also healthier and very tasty, but check that the recipients don't have any nut allergies.

Gluten free cookie mix jars

To make this recipe gluten free, simply replace the oats and flour with gluten free versions, or if you don’t want to buy both, increase the amount of flour you use to 180g and leave out the oats. Be mindful that smarties and other confectionery may contain gluten and nuts, so it’s important to check all the ingredients before including these.