This do-it-yourself, just-add-liquids Christmas cookie, with the ingredients already measured out, is perfect for people who have fun being in the kitchen. There are many possible recipes, all easy for little cooks to assemble. This one we particularly like for its sand-art-like look.

Ingredients

• 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

Instructions

1. 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."

2. 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.

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• Christmas |
• Gift Ideas

Related Categories:

• Gifts from the Kitchen |
• December/January 2001