Cookie Gift Baskets Tip & Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Cookies’ Category

Diabetes is a serious disease that requires those who have it to keep their blood sugar in check. But studies have shown that small quantities of sugar are ok in moderation for diabetics. So why not make a batch of diabetic cookies with a special recipe that uses a sugar substitute or is diabetic-friendly in its ingredients? These recipes come from the web site www.diabetic-recipes.com. There you will find a whole host of recipes designed with the diabetic in mind, and work great as diabetic gifts. There are also tips and ideas for diabetics, including diabetic kids. It’s worth checking out!

Diabetic Pumpkin Cookie Bars

Courtesy of www.diabetic-recipes.com

Ingredients:

• Baking spray with flour
• 1/4 Cup (120 ml) liquid egg substitute
• 2 Large egg whites
• 3/4 Cup (143 g) one-to-one sugar substitute
• 1/3  Cup (65 g) plus 1 tablespoon (8 g) nonfat dry milk
• 1/4 C up (60 ml) canola oil
• 1  16-ounce can (480 g) unsweetened pumpkin
• 1/4  Cup (36g) currants
• 2  C ups (280 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2  T easpoons (10 ml) pumpkin pie spice
• 2  Teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon salt (0.6 ml) (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C), Gas Mark 4. Coat a 13 x 9 inch (32.5 X 22.5 cm) baking pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine egg substitute, egg whites, sugar substitute. dry skim milk, canola oil, and pumpkin. Mix for about 2 minutes. Stir in currants.

Sift dry ingredients over the mixture and fold in. Place the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes until the batter springs back when touched in the center. Cool in the pan and cut into 36 bars.

Per 1-bar serving:  56 calories (23% calories from fat), 2 g protein, 2 g total fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 39 mg sodium

Diabetic exchanges:  1/2 carbohydrate (bread/starch)

Diabetic Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies

• 1/2 Cup (120 g) margarine, softened
• 2 Tablespoons (24 g) sugar
• 2 Teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
• 6  Tablespoons (90 ml) liquid egg substitute
• 1 1/2 Cups (210 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking powder
• 1/4 Cup (60 ml) skim milk, warmed to room temperature
• 1 Teaspoon (5 ml) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon (0.6 ml) chocolate extract
• Refrigerated butter-flavored cooking spray

Cream margarine, sugar, vanilla, and egg substitute. Beat well. Add flour, baking powder, and 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of the milk. Stir to thoroughly mix. Divide dough into 2 parts.

Add cocoa and chocolate extract to one part, stirring until well blended. Chill both halves for at least 1 hour.

Working on a floured surface, roll out each part to a rectangle about 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide. Place chocolate part on top of white part, pressing together tightly with a rolling pin.

Brush the chocolate dough with remaining tablespoon (15 ml) milk. Roll up like a jelly roll to make a log about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C), Gas Mark 5. Slice cookies 1/8 inch (.5 cm) thick. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Per 3-cookie serving:   85 calories (53% calories from fat), 2 g protein, 5 g total fat, 8 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, trace cholesterol, 73 mg sodium

Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (bread/starch), 1 fat

More Diabetic Friendly Articles:

• Diabetic Carrot Bars
• Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies (Diabetic)
• Diabetic Ginger Cookies

For the next birthday party you throw, surprise the guest of honor with a birthday cookie cake. A giant cookie decorated for a birthday is the perfect alternative to the plain old sheet cake. You can create a mega cookie cake with little time and money. You don’t even really have to possess any cooking skills. If you can place a cake in the oven, or make cookies, you can make a cookie cake.

The idea of the giant cookie is nothing more than a bunch of small cookies put together. So start with a cookie mix from the store. You can buy cookie mixes in bags in the baking aisle. They’ll usually require you to add eggs and oil or butter. Everything else is usually already in there.

Decide if you want a sugar cookie cake, a chocolate chip cookie cake, or some other flavor. You can do a peanut butter cookie cake that has a chocolate frosting on it for a real delight. Shop the baking aisle and see which flavor you think will work best for your party.

While you’re at the store, pick up a pizza pan. They usually come in 14” or 16” sizes. You can find a cheap aluminum pan that you can throw out or invest in a more sturdy version if you plan on baking many cookie cakes or a few pizzas now and then.

Mix the cookie batter according to the recipe. Be sure that if the mix calls for softened butter that you do not rush the process and melt the butter in the microwave. You may be tempted, but the result will be a thinner, crisper cookie that doesn’t taste as good and may burn faster.

Grease the pizza pan and spread the cookie batter onto it. Spread it evenly so that no one spot is raised above the others. This will help the cookie bake evenly. That’s all you have to do. Now just pop it into the oven at the temperature the cookie mix recommends. It’s usually around 375 degrees or so. You’ll bake until the cookie is brown but not hard.

Here’s the part where many a cookie cake has gone awry. Never walk away into a separate part of the house while you are baking a cookie cake. You may get distracted by another task and find that your cookie is burnt beyond repair. Stay in the kitchen and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the minimum amount of time is reached, check the cookie. If it is nicely golden and not raw in the center, pull it out even if the whole 25 minutes hasn’t elapsed. You want it to come out of the oven while it is still semi soft. If you wait to pull it out when it’s already crisp, the cookie will be overdone. Heat will still continue to bake the cookie on the pan after it comes out of the oven, so you have to allow for that.

Next, cool the cookie. When it is completely cool, you can add your frosting decorations. Use icing from the store that comes in a tube so you can write on the cake. You can also pipe frosting around the edges.

If you think cookie cakes are fun, you'll have to check out cookie bouquets as well!

Cookies on a stick are fun to bake and really make a great impact for very little effort. For your next party or to give to someone you want to thank or who isn’t feeling well, bake up a batch of eye catching flower pop cookies.

Sugar cookie pops are nothing more than cookies on a stick. They are then arranged into a cookie bouquet and placed inside a vase or flower pot.

You can make your own sugar cookie dough, or you can buy store bought dough and roll it out. You’re going to need cookie cutters that are in the shape of flowers. Or, you can use round cutters and decorate your cookie pops to look like flowers. The important part is that you get the proper sticks. You’ll need lollipop sticks from a craft store. Buy the long kind so you can make long-stemmed cookies. You can always cut the sticks down to make shorter flowers. And you need to place the sticks inside the cookies before you bake them so that they stay firm.

Another thing you will need is a clean flower pot. Terra cotta pots look most authentic. You’ll be securing all your cookie pops to the pot, so you’ll need either floral foam or Styrofoam to stick the lollipops into. Tape down the floral foam or Styrofoam so it doesn’t tip out of the pot. Use green tissue paper to pad the top of the pot and cover the foam.

Here is a great recipe from the Jelly Belly jelly bean company. Their version of the flower pop uses jelly beans in a clever way. Visit their site at www.jellybelly.com to see the finished photo.

Here’s how they did it.

Jelly Belly Flower Cookie Pops

Courtesy of Jelly Belly

These colorful cookies are fun and easy to make, and are topped with some of your favorite Jelly Belly Confections like Mint Cremes and Swedish fish, and of course lots of Jelly Belly jelly beans!

Ingredients:

• 1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

• 1 tablespoon egg white powder

• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

• Assorted Jelly Belly jelly beans

• Mint Cremes by Jelly Belly

• Green Swedish Fish

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Knead the sugar cookie dough with the flour on a work surface until smooth. Divide the dough in half.

2. Roll out half on a lightly floured surface to a scant 1/4 inch thickness. Use 2 to 3 inch flower shaped cookie cutters and cut out as many shapes as possible. Transfer the shapes to the prepared pans on either long edge. Insert a lollipop stick into the dough about half way into the cut out.

3. Bake until cookies are golden about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough and lollipop sticks.

4. Combine the powdered sugar and egg white powder in a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon water and mix well. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until mixture is thick. Spoon the mixture into a re-sealable bag.

5. Snip a very small corner from the bag, about 1/8 inch. Pipe dots of frosting on cookies and attach the Jelly Belly beans. Pipe dots of frosting on cookies and attach the Mint Cremes or cut some of the Jelly Belly beans in half crosswise and add, cut side down. Continue with the remaining Jelly Belly beans and cookies. Let cookies dry at least 2 hours.

6. Place a piece of Styrofoam into a clean planter or serving bowl. Fill planter with green Jelly Belly beans. Insert the cookie pops into the planter, pushing the sticks into the Styrofoam to secure at different heights. Add a few green Swedish Fish as the leaves.

More Cookie Bouquet Fun:

• All About Cookie Bouquets
• 5 Different Ways to Decorate Cut Out Cookies
• Cookie Gift Bouquets - Make Your Own
• How to Make a Cookie Bouquet

If you’re in love with the scent of freshly baked cookies and want to spread that love around, why not make some cookie scented candles? They are perfect for those times when you want your home to smell like a bakery and they also make thoughtful and delightful Christmas gifts.

You’ll need some supplies from a good hobby or craft store. Take a walk down their candle making aisle. You’ll find everything you need right there. You’ll want to either pick up a candle-making kit plus a vial of cookie scented candle fragrance oil or you can buy each item individually. Here’s what you need:

Paraffin wax—this will come in block form. You can cut off sections of the block at home, or melt the whole thing to make a big batch.

Wicks—choose the smallest wick diameter for small candles like tea lights and votives and a bigger wick for large cathedral type candles.

Cookie scented candle fragrance oil—this is the essential item that will make your cookie scented candles outrageously and wonderfully scented. You can pick up scents from sugar cookie to chocolate chip. Many companies make more than one cookie scented oil, so see what your craft store has to order. You can also order it online by typing “cookie scented candle fragrance oil” into a search engine like Google.

A metal melting vessel—your craft store will have a metal pitcher designed especially for candle wax melting. It will be right near the other candle supplies.

Molds or jars—the molds you use will determine how your finished candles look. Several different molds are available at crafts stores. You might want to make small tea lights or taper candles. You can also make thick, chunky candles, but know that you will need more wax the bigger the candle. A good idea is to use empty and clean baby food jars. The old glass kind work best. They are the perfect size for displaying and giving as candle favors.

A wooden spoon, pencils and scissors.

Get out all your supplies. Tie a length of wick to the pencil and lay it across the jar or mold you are using. This will prevent the wick from falling down into the melted wax. Melt the wax on a stove, watching and stirring carefully as it melts. Don’t walk away or you could have a fire on your hands. Melted wax is extremely hot, so use pot holders when transferring it to the molds. When the wax has melted, add the cookie oil. Stir to mix. Now is also the time to add in any color you may want in the form of candle wax tint. Food coloring doesn’t work well, so go for the real thing. Pour the molten wax into the molds. Allow to sit overnight in a place where there is no activity. You don’t want the candles being bumped or overturned. The next day, pop your candles out of their molds. If you are using glass jars, just leave them as they are. Remove the pencils and trim the wicks down to a safe size for the candle using scissors.

That’s it! You’ve just made cookie scented candles to keep or to give. Don’t reuse any spoons or supplies that have had wax on them for food service.

More DIY & Craft Ideas:

• Handmade Baby Gift Ideas
• Valentine Craft Ideas with Kids

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.

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.

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!

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.

The fortune cookie is a mysterious and entertaining cookie. Unlike any other cookie, this little folded beauty holds a pearl of wisdom. People eagerly crack them open to reveal their future. Never has a cookie had so much power!

Today fortune cookies are popping up everywhere!  You can find fortune cookie party favors for weddings and birthdays, or logo fortune cookies for corporate events and trade shows. You can order them with just about any saying you like inside. There are companies devoted to nothing but custom fortune cookies. You choose the saying and the flavor and the accents. Go with a chocolate fortune cookie with sprinkles or a vanilla fortune cookie with coconut and white chocolate. And, of course, you can always still get the traditional original flavor.

In addition to the pint sized version of the fortune cookie, you can also order them in a jumbo size. Have a special saying put inside like, “Will you marry me, Kate?” or “Guess who’s expecting twins?” Fortune cookies of the grandiose kind are prefect for making announcements that are just as big. Play around with wording and think about fun situations where you could present someone a giant treat. Boss’s day is a great time to thank him with a big cookie dipped in chocolate. Write the words, “Thanks to the best boss. From your staff.”

What are some other things you might say on your custom cookie? Here are some ideas:

For Weddings

• Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.
• Don and Martha October 12, 2011
• Thank you for joining us at our wedding.
• When you love someone, all of your saved up wishes start coming true.
• True love forever…Kate and John 10/12/2010
• Couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking.
• Today is the first day of the rest of our lives.
• When we meet, you fill my eyes; When we part you fill my heart.
• Only you can make my heart crumble…
• You will spend the rest of your life with the man (or girl) of your dreams.
• Roses are red, violets are blue, I am so happy that I love you!
• It is your good fortune to share life’s special moments with the one you love.

For Corporate of Business

• Your company’s logo
• A raffle prize drawing number
• An inspirational quote
• Your company’s tagline
• "You always pass failure on the way to success."-Mickey Rooney
• "You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play."-Warren Beatty
• "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."-Henry David Thoreau

For Birthdays

• “At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; and at 40 the judgment.” - Ben Franklin
• “Live as long as you may. The first twenty years are the longest half of your life.” - Robert Southey
• “Everything I know I learned after I was thirty.” Georges Clemenceau
• “After 30, a body has a mind of its own.” Bette Midler
• “Thirty five is a very attractive age;London society is full of women who have of their ownfree choice remained thirty-five for years.” Oscar Wilde
• “Life begins at forty.” W. B. Pitkin
• “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.” - French Proverb
• “Looking fifty is great--if you're sixty.” Joan Rivers