Holiday Cookies in a Jar

Source: Family Fun

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate-covered candy (such as holiday M&M's or Hershey's Holiday Candy Coated Bits)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup cocoa crisped-rice cereal (or regular flavor)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

In a 1-quart widemouthed jar, add the ingredients in the order listed. Pack them down firmly after each addition (use the blunt end of a table knife or a wooden spoon to level and tamp down each layer). Screw on the cover (see Wrapping It Up for a note on securing a ribbon beneath the threads) and prepare a gift tag with the following instructions:

"To make your holiday cookies, cream together 1/2 cup of butter or margarine, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 egg in a large bowl. Add the contents of the jar and stir until well blended. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 4 dozen."

WRAPPING IT UP
This gift, with its various layers of colorful ingredients, is most beautiful unwrapped. We fashioned the instructional tag from a folded rectangle of white card stock, decorated it with markers, and wrote the all-important baking directions on the inside. Punch a hole in the corner for a length of narrow ribbon, which can then be tied around the jar's neck or secured beneath the threads of the lid.