Queen Mother Blog

image by africankelli on flickr

For those of you who would rather make homemade gifts this year, or don't know what to buy various teachers, co-workers, doormen...There are gifts in a jar. Gifts in a jar can be anything, like the beautiful limoncello above, to pre-made cookies and candies. Most common, and probably the most economical for you to make, are the mixes in a jar.

It is not just soup or chocolate chip cookie mix, either. You can make anything from trail mixes, to breakfast mixes. Here are a few different ones that won't put too much strain on your wallet. Just make little cards with the name of the mix, the additional ingredients and instructions. You can also decorate the tops of the jars with fabric & attach the cards with raffia, or cover with tissue paper and tie the card on with ribbon.

Raisin Bran Muffins (I loved these as a kid!)

Use a 1qt. canning jar & pack the ingredients down in the order listed:
1 1/2 cups All Bran cereal
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup raisins

Attach to jar:
Additional ingredients needed:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Empty mix in a large bowl. Combine dry mix and then add additional ingredients. Mix well. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake 16 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes (or whatever dried fruit you use!)

Use a 1 qt. canning jar & pack down the ingredients in the order listed:
3 cups flour
3 T sugar
2 T baking powder
1/2 cup dried apples (or whichever fruit you want to use, blueberries, etc.)
4 t. cinnamon (if you are not using apples, you can nix this if you want, I'm not a cinnamon fan)
1 t. salt

Attach to jar:
Additional ingredients needed:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 T vegetable oil

Combine dry mix and measure 1 1/3 c. Return excess mix to jar. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, egg and oil. Whisk in 1 1/3 c. of pancake mix until moistened (will still have lumps). Cook on lightly greased skillet. Makes about 10 5" pancakes.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Use a 1 qt. canning jar & pack the ingredients down in the order listed:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder (you may need to wipe the jar down after this layer)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup Craisins
1 cup chocolate chips
Combine 1 3/4 cups of flour, 1 tsp. baking powder & 1/2 tsp. baking soda and use as the last layer.

Attach to jar:
Additional ingredients needed:
1 egg
1 1/2 sticks melted butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Empty mix into a large bowl. Combine dry mix with the additional ingredients and mix well. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes. Yields about 30 cookies.