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When February rolls around, everyone becomes fascinated with Girl Scout cookies. These cookies can only be sold by registered Girl Scouts. Adults are allowed to assist their scouts in an advisory capacity, but the cookies must be sold by the girls.

You can find the troop of Girl Scouts nearest to your location by going online to www.girlscoutcookies.org. Enter your zip code and you’ll see a list of locations where Girl Scouts are selling cookies. Because the cookies are so special and the proceeds go towards helping the scouts, it’s a great idea to load up on this once a year opportunity.

Types of Girl Scout Cookies

• Samoas: These are a favorite of anyone who likes chewy, rich cookies. They are round with holes in the center and are covered in caramel, chocolate, and coconut. Samoas are one of the most beloved cookies the Girl Scouts sell.
• Trefoils: These shortbread cookies are among the most widely recognized Girl Scout cookies. They feature two silhouetted faces and are made of buttery, light crispy goodness. They contain no hydrogenated oil and include the most cookies per package of any Girl Scout cookie.
• Thin Mints: There have been imitators, but no one has mastered the art of the mint cookie the way the Girl Scouts have. These are super-thin wafers of chocolate dipped in more rich chocolate. The mint is a flavor inside the cookie. They have no trans fats and tend to get eaten up rather quickly.
• Tagalongs: Peanut butter lovers head for the Tagalongs at any Girl Scout cookie sale. These are a wafer of crisp vanilla cookie topped with peanut butter and then enrobed in chocolate.
• Do-Si-Dos: The crunchy, natural yumminess of these sandwich cookies make them very popular. They feature two oatmeal cookies with a peanut butter center. They have no artificial flavors or colors.
• Lemon Chalet Cremes: Relative newcomers to the Girl Scout lineup, lemon wafer cookies house a layer of lemon crème filling. The outer cookies have a subtle cinnamon and ginger flavor.
• Thank U Berry Munch: Also newcomers to the lineup, these cranberry cookies are tart and sweet at the same time. They also have fudge chips inside the batter and are crunchy. The name is designed to thank buyers for supporting the Girl Scouts.
• Dulce De Leche: Bringing a hint of Latino goodness to the market, the dulce de leche cookie is sweet and made with caramel chips.

These are the cookies in the lineup today. But new ones are always being added. Some old favorites disappear and then come back again to market when consumers demand they be brought back. The thin mint, trefoil, and Samoas have always been around and are here to stay. While the price of the cookies has not changed in recent years, the contents have gotten smaller. The Girl Scouts are trying to keep the price low while still providing the much sought after cookies to the public.

Nutrition information on all these cookies can be found at the www.girlscoutcookies.org. But with cookies that taste as good as these, chances are you won’t be able to stick to a single serving size anyway. If you’re going to blow your diet, it might as well be with once a year Girl Scout cookies.

Starting a cookie jar collection can be fun, and it might take you on a trip through America’s most wonderful times. Cookie jars of the past are now highly sought after collectibles - they're no longer just for holding cookies! You should know what you’re looking for if you intend to collect for top dollar, but you can also just have a good time picking up cookie jars that appeal to you for their color, style, or size. If it is a birthday gift for a family member or friend, be sure to look into their current cookie jars and find out what draws them personally to a cookie jar.

What are some of the most valuable cookie jars? They’ll have been made by the Nelson McCoy Company in Roseville, Ohio. This company made the now famous Roseville pottery and also some of the most widely collected cookie jars on the antique circuit today. Prior to the 1920s there were no cookie jars in America. But as the Depression era unfolded, cookie jars started to become a prized kitchen item. They were made in all different shapes and sizes including rabbits, clowns, fruits, bears and figures of people. Back in the day, people bought cookie jars to use in their kitchens much like we’d buy a canister today. They weren’t thinking they’d be valuable, but instead that they were simply useful storage for their home baked cookies.

So what are some of the most valuable designs today?

If you have a Mammy with Cauliflower McCoy cookie jar from 1939 you are in luck. This, the first jar the company ever made is the most valuable cookie jar. This red dressed African American woman is the character from Gone with the Wind, the classic movie that came out the same year the jar was made. It will fetch you upwards of $1,300 if you can find it. Because of its rarity, this jar was often reproduced by imitators. You can easily find faux McCoy Mammies all over the place. You’ll find her with and without a plate of cauliflower.

A company called American Bisque made Fred and Wilma Flintstone character cookie jars. If you are lucky enough to find either one, you could cash it in for up to $2,000 or more. Look for other story book characters like Peter Pan, Puss in Boots and Little Red Riding Hood. Jars like this are worth a cool grand or more. For some reason cartoon characters are highly collectible. If you see a Humpty Dumpty jar, pick it up right away as it is very rare. You may also want to look for a rare holiday cookie jar.

Many other jars are also valuable. If you’re serious about collecting for money, get yourself a good antique cookie jar values guidebook. Take it with you when you visit antique malls and flea markets. Slink off to the side and look up the value of a jar you see that you’d like. Of course, you don’t want anyone seeing you look up the price or you will find that the asking price on a $3 cookie jar just went up to $300. If someone else thinks it’s valuable, you may not get it for a low price. If you overpay, don’t expect to recoup your losses by reselling it. It may become part of your permanent collection unless you want to take a loss.

There are societies and groups all over the place who meet to swap and show their cookie jar finds. Get in with a good group and you’ll have fun with your new hobby of collecting vintage jars.

If you’ve always wanted to become an expert home baker - the one that everyone requests cookies from, or the one who is known for their cookie gifts - then you need to stock up on a few tools. It’s not hard to learn to bake delicious sweets that come out perfect every time. Having the right equipment can certainly help.

You’ll need good baking sheets. These are a requirement if you’re going to bake anything at all. If you want the best pans, you need to know about the different types. There are aluminum pans that are light in color that are perfect for most baking applications. Professional bakers use them because of their even cooking properties. AirBake pans hold air between two layers of aluminum. These are ideal if you want cookies that don’t burn as easily. The air flows between the two sheets and allows the heat to be distributed more evenly. If you tend to burn your cookies, go with this type of pan.

A good rubber spatula that is not going to bend or crack with extended use is a must for scraping those last bits of batter out of the bowl. Invest in a professional quality spatula found at a restaurant or cooking supply store. You’ll be glad you did.

Have a mixer on hand. When you’re just starting out, you may not have the money for a luxury model like a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. But if you do, by all means get one for yourself. If you need to go with an electric hand-mixer, that’s fine, too. The beaters come off for easy cleaning and you can get by with it for just about every recipe. You may have to replace it once or twice as it wears out from overuse, but they’re cheap enough that you won’t mind.

You’ll need an oven thermometer if you plan to have cookies that come out perfectly baked. Not all ovens are the same. 350 degrees on one may not equal 350 degrees on another. So you’ll want to keep a separate thermometer inside the oven so that you can tell how much heat it’s really throwing. Go by the thermometer and not the external heat control dial. That way, you can bake your cookies for exactly the recommended time and have them turn out ideally.

Good ingredients are really the most important baking tools you can have. If you’re using the freshest chips, the finest nuts, newly opened flour, baking powder and sugars, you know your baked goods will come out tasty. Never use old baking powder or baking soda. They have expiration dates for a reason. Once they are past their prime, they will no longer have the leavening power they once did. The same goes for expired yeast. Just toss it. Once it hits the expiration date, your dough won’t rise at all.

Of course, you’ll want to have quality wooden spoons, measuring cups, and measuring spoons on hand. And really it’s all about browsing the kitchen aisle when you’re out shopping. Do you bake a lot? Then invest in the best mixing bowls you can find either in glass or metal. You’ll be so glad you picked up the best tools because you won’t have to go out and buy them time and again when they break.

Baking cookies to give as favors at a wedding, shower, or other event can be a great way to get people involved. Instead of trying to do it all yourself, divide up the work so that it becomes a party in and of itself! It’s actually very simple to create cookie favors that look like they took much more time than they did. Here are some tips to get you started.

You’ll need a good basic sugar cookie recipe if you’re making rolled cookies with cookie cutters. This recipe from allrecipes.com is easy and takes few ingredients.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.             In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2.             Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3.             Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

The nice thing about sugar cookies is that you can make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator. Make up a few batches so you can get several dozen cookies made at once. If you need wedding favors for a larger wedding, you’re going to have to bake 12 dozen to get 144 cookies. So base your estimate on how many guests are coming and plan for several extras in case some are burnt or broken. If you store the cookies in a tightly lidded container, they will last several days. Better yet, freeze them and you’ll be safe for several weeks.

When it comes time to wrap your cookies for presentation at the party, go with materials that are sturdy and elegant. Clear cellophane wrap is available for basket wrapping. You can find it at craft stores. Don’t use regular plastic wrap as it will not make a nice presentation and may smash the frosting you’ve worked so hard on. Take a small section of basket wrapping cellophane and wrap it loosely around the cookie. Gather the extra at the tip of the cookie and tie with an upscale ribbon. You will only need one cookie for each guest when the presentation is bold and beautiful.

Of course there are other cookies you can make for a wedding or party. Chocolate chip is always a favorite. Follow the same procedure for freezing and wrapping your cookies, but instead stack four or five cookies in each pack. If you’re going with a more rustic cookie, you’ll want at least a few for each guest. Delicately decorated sugar cookies are more like works of art, so you can present just one each. Variations on the chocolate chip cookie include chocolate chunk, double chocolate, and white chocolate macadamia nut. Just be sure to make a tag or sticker that alerts guests that nuts have been used in case they are allergic.

Cookies make delicious favors that everyone is happy to receive. Brighten up your next party with a basket of cookie favors.

Confused by all the names out there for what we used to call cookie sheets? There’s AirBake, non stick, French steel and more. If you just want to bake a great batch of cookies, you don’t really care about fancy names, but you should know which sheets will get you the best results.

Take a look at the differences between AirBake and non stick cookie sheets. These two are the ones you’ll most likely encounter in the stores and will want to have some idea about.

AirBake

AirBake cookie sheets are a relatively new invention. These cookie sheets work wonders when it comes to keeping cookies from burning. If you’re the type of baker who always gets frustrated by burnt bottoms and gooey tops, these are the pans for you. The reason they work so well is because of the ingenious design. The top layer of aluminum and the bottom have a cushion of air between them. That air heats up to bake the cookie. Because the air is evenly circulating the cookies don’t burn. They brown evenly. Even if you forget your cookies in the oven for a few minutes, you’ll usually find that they are still not burnt. If a recipe says cook for twelve minutes, these pans will actually bake your cookies in twelve minutes. You don’t have to go back several times, open the oven door and let all the heat out, just to check to see if the cookies are done. They will be perfect every time. Just know that you can’t put them in the dishwasher. But so what? They wipe clean easily because there’s no burnt on sugary mess.

Non Stick

Let’s not forget the marvel that non stick cookie sheets are. Back in the 1950s when the Teflon coating was invented, it rocked the world. Bakers now have cookie sheets that no one could have imagined before Teflon. No greasing required? “Impossible,” they would have said. But it’s true. Nothing sticks to a non stick pan especially your delicate cookies. If you want to make lacey French cookies that are thin and usually burn fast, you can on a non stick pan. Just take the cookies out of the oven and get them off the pan as soon as you can. It’s not a guarantee that if you leave your cookies in the oven too long that they will never burn, but they won’t stick even if they’re burnt to a crisp. Use a plastic utensil to get your cookies off so you don’t scratch the non stick surface of the sheet. Other than that, you can just wipe them off in soapy warm water and they’re clean. Try not to put them in the dishwasher as the coating is so easy to clean. You’ll preserve the life of your sheets.

Both AirBake and non stick are excellent choices for the home baker. If your problem is burnt cookies, go with the AirBake. If you tend to get burnt on, stuck on cookie messes, use the non stick. Either one will get you perfect cookies and they last for years and years. Invest in a good set, and you won’t have to rebuy them every year.  A good set is well worth the purchase price as you’ll be turning out cookies that are delicious, unbroken, and perfectly toasty brown.

A baker is only as good as his or her tools. If you have rusty old bent-up cookie sheets, then perhaps it’s time to go out shopping for some new ones. Having the right cookie sheets can make all the difference between burnt or undercooked cookies and bakery-fresh cookies that look, smell, and taste amazing.

Aluminum

Aluminum baking pans are a favorite for many reasons. Their light color makes it less likely that your cookies will burn. They don’t scratch as easily as Teflon will. However, they will require greasing most times. And if you leave them in the oven too long with cooking spray on them, they will develop a sleek, greasy, burnt area where the cooking spray has crusted over. This makes for ugly cookie sheets. But you can still use them without any harm. If you want to get that gook off, use a product like Dawn Power Booster or soak in an automatic dishwashing powder. Never use a product not certified for food (like Goo Gone). It will be toxic once you use the pan again for cooking.

Teflon

The genius of Teflon is that nothing sticks to it. You can burn a pan of nachos and the cheese will still slide right off. You need to use non-metal utensils with any Teflon coated pan. And there is some truth to the myth that household birds can die from the fumes that come off Teflon pans. But if you don’t have a pet bird, Teflon is a workhorse pan that you will reach for every time you bake. You won’t need to grease your pans and you’ll find they last forever.

AirBake Sheet Pans

A relative newcomer to the baking sheet arena is the AirBake pan. This is an aluminum pan that has two layers of aluminum on top and bottom and a layer of air between them. The beauty of this type of pan is that the air will heat and circulate and your cookies won’t burn. They’ll cook at a much more even temperature. This pan is ideal if you often forget your cookies are in the oven. If you remember to retrieve the cookies soon enough, an AirBake pan should hold your cookies pretty steady. Of course you can’t leave them in an hour too long. No pan can keep cookies from burning under those conditions. But under normal conditions, you will love the magic that the AirBake pan creates. Fresh, hot, perfectly baked cookies are yours every time you use these pans.

There’s a baking pan for everyone. You can even invest in a Silpat silicone mat that fits a cookie sheet and ensures that even candy won’t stick to it. You shouldn’t use a Silpat with an AirBake pan, however, because the double insulation of the Silpat and the air layer will cause your cookies to turn out undercooked. Too much of a good thing.

Shop for baking sheet pans that feel right to you. You’re the one who has to love them. There are pans in every price range. See if you can find a restaurant supply store and you can score a bunch of professional quality baking sheets for a bargain price. They’ll last you practically forever and you can even pass them down to your grandchildren.

Kids love to help out in the kitchen. Children of every age love the rewards of helping bake their very own cookies. And it’s a special time to make memories with mom, dad, friends or grandparents. Cookie gifts are perfect for any occasion! Perhaps you’re envisioning a kitchen dusted with flour on every surface and a mixer gone mad with splashed batter. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can have fun with the kids and still keep order and bake some tasty results.

Start off by asking everybody to wash their hands with soap and hot water. Remind everyone that hygiene is of the utmost importance when baking. Ask anyone with long hair to tie it back and you do the same. Give everyone an apron so they can feel like official cookie bakers.

Remind children not to stick their fingers near the mixer and briefly go over safety rules about knives and other tools. You don’t want to be a drill sergeant, but you don’t want any accidents either.

Now comes the fun. Kids should be given jobs appropriate to their age level. Give little ones a step stool so they can reach the counter tops or seat them at a table and work there. Little ones can use plastic or butter knives to cut certain ingredients. They can also use measuring cups and spoons. You can get a quick math lesson or two in at the same time. Talking about halves and quarters is much more fun when you can see a half cup of chocolate chips going in the batter.

Older children can help with many more of the steps. Put the oldest in charge of gathering all the ingredients, reading the recipe and chopping nuts or other ingredients. Give everyone a role so they feel included. Older children can be in charge of timing the cookies and taking them out as well.

Ask the children beforehand what type of cookies they think would be fun to bake and when it comes time to bake, they’ll be really excited to see their creations come to life.

Show how each ingredient goes in and let even the littlest ones dump a few ingredients in so they feel like they helped. Sing carols or have music playing while you bake.

Have children help you grease pans, scoop dough out, or roll dough out. Let children make their own creations out of rolled cookie dough. They will often want to free-form their cookies rather than use only cookie cutters. Let them experiment. Your cookie tray may look like an alien landing zone by the time they get through with it, but they all will have had fun.

While the cookies are baking, ask everyone to help clean up. Have the little ones hand you items or sweep the floor with a little broom. They’ll love being chosen as the helper. Don’t leave any knives or other sharp objects soaking in dishwater where children might plunge their hands in to help.

When the cookies come out, no one is going to want to wait for them to cool. Have ice cold milk at the ready and start plating the cookies for them to devour. Cookies taste so much better when you see how they are made and the ingredients and hard work that went into them.

You can enjoy fortune cookies at home at any time if you make them yourself. You don’t have to wait to go to a Chinese restaurant when it’s this easy to bake them at home. Have confidence in your abilities. A few simple folds will create this complicated-looking cookie!

Here is the ingredient list from About.com listing exactly what you will need:

Fortune Cookies

2 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 teaspoons water

Those are pretty standard ingredients for any fortune cookie recipe. You can also add flavors like chocolate or orange, but let’s stick to the basics for now.

Our instructions here simplify the process for you. Start out by preheating your oven to 300 degrees. Generously grease two standard cookie sheets.

Cut strips of paper about ½ inch wide to fit inside the cookies. Use any paper you like, but thin paper is best. Write funny or interesting messages on them. You can write Happy Birthday or Congratulations or any message to celebrate an important event. You have to have your fortunes ready before the cookies come out of the oven. The key to getting your fortune inside the cookie is to work while the cookie is hot and still pliable.

Beat the egg white, vanilla, almond extract and oil in a bowl until bubbles start to form.
Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into another bowl. Gently pour the liquid mixture, a little at a time, into the flour mixture. Stir just until all ingredients are mixed. Don’t over mix as the batter will toughen. It will be thin so that it can be poured easily.

Use a standard tablespoon to pour individual cookie batter circles onto the baking sheet. Leave a few inches between them as they will spread. Tap the baking sheet a few times to get the batter to level off. Your circles should end up being about four inches across when the batter has settled.

Every oven is different. Start checking your cookies at 12 minutes and bake no longer than 15 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven when they are not hard or crisp, but just baked enough to remove off the sheet with a spatula. This step is crucial as you are going to fold the cookie quickly. If it’s over or underdone, the cookie won’t fold properly.

Quickly flip the cookie onto your hand. It will be hot, so use cotton gloves if you have them. Grab a fortune and lay it down onto the center of the cookie. Quickly fold the cookie in half then pinch the edges together to form that classic fortune cookie shape. Experts differ on what you should do next. Some say you should immediately place the cookie on a solid base like the edge of a drinking glass or over a wooden spoon. Others say you can just place it down on the counter.  Setting them in a cupcake pan also helps them keep their shape while they cool. These cookies harden so fast that you’ll want to have thought out your strategy beforehand. Try it all ways and see which works best for you. Don’t get discouraged if your first batch doesn’t turn out perfectly. It’s going to take some practice, but you’ll get the hang of it.

If you want to try something different, you can dip your cooled fortune cookies in melted chocolate for a gourmet treat!

If you’re a cupcake lover, you’ll flip for cookie dough cupcakes. Never heard of them? These luscious cupcakes are filled with frozen cookie dough and topped with a cookie dough frosting. Could anything be better than cupcakes and cookies? If these don’t cure your craving for sweets, nothing will.

The idea is to make a plain cupcake batter and to place a scoop of frozen cookie dough inside. Because it’s frozen, it will not bake all the way. The result will be a fully baked cupcake with a creamy cookie dough center. It’s ok to eat the cookie dough in a semi-cooked state (and even raw for those who can’t resist!) because the recipe uses no eggs. It is not recommended that people eat raw eggs, so this recipe is a good solution.

Bake up a batch and watch them disappear!

Recipes courtesy of http://www.lovintheoven.com

BROWN SUGAR CUPCAKES

(Yields about 12 cupcakes)

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.

Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds after each.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Measure out milk and vanilla together.

Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.

Add about one third the milk/vanilla mixture and beat until combined.

Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.

Place previously prepared frozen cookie dough ball (mine were fairly big) into cup liners, then fill about half to three-quarters full of cupcake batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden and the cake springs back when lightly touched. (Testing by using a toothpick would be insufficient because of the gooey cookie dough in the center).

COOKIE DOUGH FROSTING

(Recipe from The Cupcake Review. Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes.)

1-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

Eggless cookie dough (recipe below)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, salt, and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Add milk and continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary. With the mixer running, slowly add remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, mix until well combined.

At this point you can mix in the eggless cookie dough. Mix in enough cookie dough to suit your taste. Any cookie dough leftover you can gladly eat! There are no eggs in it so it is safe. Yum!

EGGLESS COOKIE DOUGH

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

2 teaspoons water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add water and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt and stir to combine. Stir in mini chocolate chips (optional).

Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Ever seen cookie mix in a jar presented as a gift and wondered how to do it yourself? It’s not hard at all and you can do it as an assembly line and make several cookie gifts at once. The kids can get involved too. It’s a great choice for a craft for Brownies or Girl Scout troops who need to raise money. The girls can easily fill the jars and write out the tags. Host a bake sale next time that includes these great gift ideas. They’re also fun for grab bag gifts, gift basket fillers and raffle prizes.

So how do you do it? The idea is that you will layer the ingredients needed to make a certain type of cookie. The recipient will need to follow the recipe you provide and add a few additional perishable ingredients that couldn’t be added to the mix. Follow these guidelines.

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

1 cup brown sugar, light or dark, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (use the best you can find)

2 cups flour (all purpose, not self-rising or cake flour)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

You’re going to layer all the above ingredients in the order they are listed. You’ll need a wide-mouth canning jar. A one liter jar works perfectly. Some people say you should mix all the ingredients and then pour them in the jar. But the layers make a lovelier presentation. It’s fine to do whichever you choose.

You’re going to want to type or write the following baking instructions and attach them to the jar either by a string or by gluing or taping them onto the jar.

Chocolate Chip Cookies: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat 1 cup of butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Pour in the entire jar of dry cookie mix. Using a wooden spoon, mix until combined. Drop spoonfuls of dough, one inch apart, onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. Check often as all ovens are different. Remove them from the oven when they are still soft and only lightly browned to avoid burning. Allow to cool before eating. Enjoy! ( If left covered in a cool, dry place, this mix will stay fresh for 6 months.)

Decorate your jar any way you like. Many people like to cut a circle of fabric larger than the lid and secure it with the Mason jar screw on lid, ribbon, or a rubber band. You may choose to paint on the glass with glass markers or write a message on colorful paper and tape it on the jar. How fancy you get depends on the time and energy you have. If you have younger helpers, let them pour some of the ingredients in and then glue shapes to the jar for decoration. Use these gifts for thanking teachers, other moms, dance instructors, soccer coaches and school bus drivers. It shows you thought of them, but you didn’t have to break the bank to do it.

Any glass vessel will work for this project. Just make sure it has a lid. And use the freshest ingredients so that your recipient can store the mix for up to six months without spoilage.