Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

By Ann Fulton

A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 
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A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 

 

A delicious cookie-in-a-jar recipe was harder to devise than I expected.  Not only did the cookie have to taste great, the mix had to fit in a standard size jar!

While layering the ingredients creates a pretty effect, the dry ingredients will fit better when mixed as described below. The prep is also less fussy, and more importantly, the brown sugar won’t clump if the mix isn’t made right away.

As an added bonus, this recipe can be made in one 32-ounce jar or two 16-ounce jars. Half batches allow for economical gift giving and freshly baked treats with minimal effort. If cutting the recipe in half, just remember to halve the ingredients on the attached instructions. 

When I started making (and giving) this chocolate chip cookie recipe somewhere around 2012, my sister-in-law, Melissa, deemed it her favorite chocolate chip cookie. High praise for such a classic cookie! 

Crispy or chewy? 

Since the texture of chocolate chip cookies tends to vary from recipe to recipe–some like thick and chewy, others thin and crispy – I should mention that the following recipe lies somewhere in the middle.

I used to bake the cookies at 375℉ for 8 minutes, which produces a cakier cookie that does not spread very much. Over time, I reduced the oven temperature to 350℉, baking for 10 minutes (or 11 minutes for my husband who prefers a crispier cookie). The lower temperature allows the cookie to spread more–but not too much–and crisp just a touch. These parameters may be helpful if you’d like to experiment and achieve the texture you most prefer. 

A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 

The batter may be portioned and refrigerated for several hours or overnight and baked later. Simply cover to avoid drying out the dough. While you could refrigerate the bowl of batter and scoop later, the batter will become rather firm. In this case, the bowl would need to let it sit at room temperature for a while to make scooping easier.

Prep ahead update: I’ve now refrigerated the batter for as long as three days, and the cookies still turn out great. 

When baking the refrigerated portions, you may find the cookies spread less than usual. If so and you prefer more spread, reduce the oven temperature by 25℉. This will allow the butter to melt and spread the cookie a little more before the heat of the oven sets the cookie.

A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 

Can these chocolate chip cookies be made gluten-free?

The short answer is yes, absolutely. Simply replacing the all purpose flour with a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour will do the trick. But…

How do I make a better gluten-free chocolate chip cookie?

Though a good gluten-free blend (I like King Arthur Flour’s Measure for Measure or my homemade blend), I can detect a hint of “gluten-free flavor,” which I attribute to the rice flour. (It can lend a gritty, chalky nature to the flavor and texture.)

Because I think a gluten-free recipe should taste just as good as its glutenous counterpart, I have experimented a lot. Short of creating a cumbersome homemade blend of several alternative flours, my best solution to date is to replace 25% of the GF flour with super fine almond flour. So in this case, you’d use 1½ cups (190g) GF flour and ½ cup (56g) super fine almond flour. I’ve served this to many gluten eaters, and they raved as usual, not noticing a difference. (Love it when that happens!)  

A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 

Download printable gift tags with instructions here:

Click here: Printable Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar Tag Sheet

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 32 minutes
Yield: 24 cookies
For twice as many gifts, divide the dry mixture evenly between two pint-size (16-ounce) jars. If you do this, remember to cut the additional ingredient amounts in half and write your own instruction card rather than using the printable gift tags.

For those who enjoy the salty-sweet combination, a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt adds a little something special to the freshly baked cookies.
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups (254g) all-purpose flour (see notes below for gluten-free option)
  • ½ cup (96g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1½ cups (255g) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 (32-ounce/quart-size) jar
Instructions:
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and pack firmly into a quart-size jar.
  2. Cover with the lid.
  3. If you prefer to make these cookies right away, there is no need to store to the ingredients in a jar first. Simply follow the instructions for a delicious batch of classic chocolate chip cookies!
Attach card with the following directions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
  2. In a mixing bowl, beat ¾ cup (12 tablespoons) softened butter until creamy. Add 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and beat until incorporated.
  3. Add the contents of the jar to the mixing bowl.
  4. Mix by hand until just combined.
  5. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
  6. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until just set.
  7. Enjoy with a glass of milk, coffee, or tea! (Yield: 24 cookies)
Notes

Need a gluten-free cookie? A good gluten-free blend can be used 1:1 (I like King Arthur Flour’s Measure for Measure or my homemade blend). However, for an upgrade that erases the hint of grittiness that can be perceptible, replace 25% of the GF flour with super fine almond flour. So that is 1½ cups (190g) GF flour and ½ cup (56g) super fine almond flour. Even the gluten eaters will have no idea!

If making a half batch, use 6 tablespoons softened butter, 1 egg, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

• I’ve also used the recipe to make a chocolate chip cookie pizza (see photo in post). To do this, spread the batter evenly over a pizza pan and bake at 350℉ for 15-17 minutes, or until just set in the center. I like to line the pan with parchment for easy removal; otherwise, grease or spray the pan. Once cooled, you may decorate with icing as you would a birthday cake. This recipe for Best Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is perfect.

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Recipe first posted December 6, 2013

Shots from years gone by…

A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 
A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included! 

My then 4-year-old niece, Evie, helping to bake the chocolate chip cookies!

A cookie cake is a fun and festive option…

For added fun, this chocolate chip cookie recipe can be baked in a pizza dish. Perfect for quick assembly and to decorate for a crowd-pleasing alternative to the usual birthday cake!

…and here Evie is at 9, with older sister Grace, 12. For added fun, this recipe can be made as a chocolate chip cookie pizza, which is quicker than making individual cookies and can be decorated for a crowd-pleasing alternative to a birthday cake. Use a 14-inch pizza pan (that’s the measurement across the top), and bake at 350℉ for 15-17 minutes, or until lightly golden and just set in the center. I like to line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal, but you may grease or spray the pan instead. 

A cookie cake is a fun and festive alternative to regular cookies – and faster too!

If you’d like to decorate the cake, Best Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is perfect. And once the butter is softened, it takes five minutes to make. I was going to add confetti sprinkles to this cookie (and add the birthday girl’s age in the center), but hungry people didn’t want to wait. ; ) I also used a 50-50 mix of M&Ms and chocolate chips for this cookie. 

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Comments

  1. Emily Russo, MS, RD, CDN
    (5/5)

    I have been making these as my go-to cookie recipe and then gifting the final product. They are the quintessential chocolate chip cookie. Delicious!

    Reply