Easy Handmade Gifts | Cookie Dough Jars

Easy Handmade Gifts, made by Kids

Could you use an idea for easy handmade gifts that kids can help with?

I’ve been thinking of different ways that my kids can get involved in gift-giving. They’re four and six, so it had to be something they could both help execute AND get excited about. Oh, and if the gift happened to look good, well, that would be nice too.

Well, friends, this easy cookie-dough-in-a-jar is just the project, and I would wholly encourage you to give it a try if you’re also looking for an easy gift to get the kids involved in.

Bonus: we have tested these cookies twice, and they are truly divine. They bake like chocolate chip cookies, with the added subtlety of oats, tart cherries, and walnuts. Feel free to leave the nuts out for nut-free cookies.

Inspiration for this project came from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen (affiliate link), from Chronicle Books. My mother-in-law gave us this book a couple years ago, and it comes out every year for holiday cooking. The book is full of so many great ideas for cooking and crafting with kids in the kitchen. If you can grab a copy before (or after) the holidays, it will be worth your while.

If you click on the link you can peek inside. But I digress, for today I’m sharing how to make these rad cookie jars that are 100% kid-friendly.

Start by cleaning and drying your jars.  The jars you’ll need for this are quart-sized mason jars and you can find them on Amazon: here (affiliate). I was surprised that the girls were so enthusiastic about this step. I found some little washcloths for them to dry the lids while I dried the jars.

Then we filled them. This was our favorite part. I filled a big bowl with each ingredient, one at a time, and then scooped out the appropriate amount for them to transfer into the jars.

Because we were making large quantities, I was able to find most of the ingredients at Costco. They carry tart cherries, organic sugar, and large sacks of flour. I was surprised that they didn’t carry brown sugar when we were there, but that’s easy enough to find elsewhere.

What goes in each jar

Recipe for Oat Walnut Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies. For nut-free cookies, leave the walnuts out. You could replace the walnuts with another favorite such as pecans or almonds, and of course, the cherries could be replaced with raisins. Get creative!

Layer the following ingredients in the jar, in the listed order:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (tap the brown sugar down before you add the next ingredient)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup dried tart cherries

1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Once the jar is packed, you could cut a circle of fabric out as we did, and seal your jar ring around it. Add a tag with the following information:

Oat Walnut Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Pre-heat oven to 375 F

Beat 6 tablespoons of soft or melted butter, 1 egg, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Add all of the jar ingredients to the bowl and mix until well blended.

Drop in round spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 7-10 minutes (We like our underdone. If you do too, err on the shorter side).

One more thing: Because it’s always a good idea to test a recipe before you gift it to a billion people, and, well, these are wicked good, make a batch for yourself first like we did. Yum yum.

More Handmade Gift Ideas

Handmade cards that kids can make.

Handmade Valentine Cards with heart-shaped envelope

Last-minute DIY gifts to make with kids