Recipe: Banana Nut Cookies-In-A-Jar

I'm participating in a benefit bake sale this week and didn't want to spend the week baking.  Sounds strange, eh?  I bake so much on a regular basis that anything extra just becomes a chore.  So, I decided to get creative and come up with something that would work and not take up so much time.  What I found was many recipes for "gifts in a jar".  You can do this with all sorts of cookie, brownie, cake and soup recipes.  A simple internet search will turn up dozens of hits.

I tried to look for something that was a bit out of the ordinary and gift-worthy.  My hope is to charge $5/piece for these to raise as much funds as possible.  All the money raised from our sale is going to benefit our local library's children's programs and our local Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  I found this Banana Nut Cookies In A Jar Recipe at http://www.best-cookie-jar-recipes.com/. 

These were so easy to make.  I had a bunch of 1-quart jars that (I purchased from our local thrift shop for 50 cents each!) so all I needed to buy were the lids.  I sterilized them by running them through my dishwasher and used the heat-dry cycle, then sterilized the lids in simmering water.  After drying thoroughly, I started adding the ingredients in layers using a handmade funnel made out of card stock.

To decorate them I made an instruction tag using a label from a beautiful site A Print A Day.  I downloaded it, then modified it to add the instructions.  I uploaded a copy of the tag I made which you can get here.  I tied each tag on using raffia and added a gift tag that I downloaded for free from Land O Lakes (you'll have to sign-up to their website to get it).

I made a batch of these cookies and they are truely gift-worthy.  They are nutty and moist with lots of banana flavour.  I like that you only use a heaping teaspoon for each cookie as it keeps them small and the perfect size for adult kid snacks.

BANANA NUT COOKIES IN A JAR

from www.best-cookie-jar-recipes.com

Ingedients for Jar:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Instructions for Jar:
In small bowl, combine flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Spoon into 1-quart jar and press down.

In another bowl, combine sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until mixed and evenly colored. Pour sugar mixture over flour and even out the surface.

Add the oats on top of sugar, pressing down firmly. Pour nuts over oats and press down. Place lid on jar.

Instructions for Baking:
1/2 up (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup mashed, ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add butter or margarine, eggs and bananas. Beat on low speed or by hand to blend. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to cooling rack. Makes 3 1/2 - 4 dozen.

Find a printable copy of this recipe here.

Enjoy!  Sarah


Happily submitted to Works for Me Wednesday, hosted this week by Rocks In My Dryer
"as Kristen from We Are THAT Family, is (as we speak!) en route to Kenya with Compassion International. Don't miss her trip updates at her blog--I know she's about to experience some powerful things."

Happily submitted to the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life As Mom where this week we're sharing our Favourite Flour Recipes.