Christmas presents

So Susan's tag has now gotten me thinking about getting Christmas presents ready. I'll do the shopping for family and friends in Singapore when I get home but I've been thinking about what to do for our friends here. I can't afford to get everyone fancy presents of course, but I don't want to buy them trinklets they'll forget about the moment after they receive it either. Our friends here have become really important to us (and also those who have moved away whom we dearly miss!) and I think they deserve something nice this holiday season. So here's what I'm thinking- Cookies In A Jar. I'll pack the dry ingredients for one recipe-worth of holiday cookies in a jar and attach a greeting card with instructions on what wet ingredients to add and how to bake the cookies. I'm planning to layer the ingredients one after another instead of just mixing them up; this way the different texture and color of the ingredients will play off each other nicely. This works especially well with this recipe for Cranberry Hootycreeks which are essentially white chocolate cranberry cookies. The recipe calls for pecans but I think I'll leave those out in case people are allergic to nuts. This is how it'll look (I hope...):


The digital camera's with Jude so this is the closest I'll get to showing you the final product. I'll also buy gingham fabric to wrap the top of the jar and attach the greeting card and instructions with twine. It won't cost too much since they're really simple ingredients and canning jars aren't particularly expensive either. Hopefully they'll turn out pretty. They'd better- I haven't done this before and the last thing I want is to be stuck with a dozen jars and 70 cups worth of flour, oats, sugar, white chocolate chips and cranberries...

Here's the recipe if you're thinking of something similar for your friends:

INGREDIENTS:
5/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart or 1 liter jar, in the order listed. Make sure you press hard on each layer you add in. This is to make space for all the ingredients.
2. Attach a tag with the following instructions:

Cranberry Hootycreeks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy.
3. Add the entire jar of ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

The recipe serves 18 and if you leave it in a cool place, it should last for about 3 months (the jar of ingredients, not the cookies!). Now we just have to hope I finish all my crazy work in time to destress with this holiday project...