Make Brownies in a Jar

This is a fun and easy edible gift to make for friends and family who enjoy baking. All of the ingredients come ready assembled for baking, along with a recipe, and all the recipient needs to do is crack a few eggs and start mixing!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/8 cups (140g) of flour
  • 2/3 cup (150g) of brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup (135g) white sugar
  • 1/3 cup (30g) of unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup (84g) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup of white chips

Steps

Preparing the Packaging

  1. Select a jar to hold the dry ingredients. A mason jar with an accompanying lid is ideal, however you can hold ingredients in a variety of interesting, transparent or lightly colored containers.
    • Consider using disposable Tupperware. Disposable Tupperware is ideal if you are giving gifts to teachers or other individuals where your child will be presenting the gift (so you don’t have to worry about glass breakage).
    • Fancy jars can make a great gift. Local craft or glass warehouses have a variety of containers with cork tops or lids. If you want to get a little more creative, stop by one of these shops to explore other possibilities.
  2. Sterilize or properly clean the brownie mix jar. Make sure you’ve removed any dust, debris or dirt that might have accumulated inside and outside of the jar before adding the ingredients. You might also need to remove any labels that aren't forming part of the gift.
    • Wait to add ingredients until the jar is completely dry. If the jar you’ve chosen has a narrow opening (and you can’t stuff a paper towel inside to dry it), allow ample time (which could be a few days) for it to air dry. If you add dry ingredients to a wet bottle it could ruin the gift.
  3. Choose ribbon and/or wrapping. Presentation is everything, especially if you're giving these brownies as a gift. For an old-fashioned presentation, wrap a mason jar containing brownie mix inside a gingham patterned cloth and tie with a jute ribbon. Or, you could include the brownie mix in a larger basket of goodies/items and tie a simple white ribbon around the top.

Preparing the Ingredients and Recipe

  1. Purchase the ingredients fresh. Make sure you have enough ingredients for the number of jars you plan to create (to avoid having to run back and forth to the store). It's important that the ingredients are all fresh, so that the flavors are best for baking.
  2. Design a recipe card to accompany the mix. Provide specific directions on how to bake these treats. The recipe card can be printed or handwritten, depending on whatever you fancy. The recipe is as follows:
    • Pour jar contents in large mixing bowl and add 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil and 4 eggs.
    • Whisk ingredients together.
    • Pour into a greased 13 x 9 glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
    • Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Assembling the Mix

  1. Layer the ingredients in the jar. Alternate between a light/white ingredient and a dark ingredient for the best appearance. The gift will look more appealing with alternate ingredient layers showing through.
    • Place the chocolate chips and nuts toward the top of the jar for a more decorative appearance.
  2. Seal the jar with the lid, cork or other seal. Finish up by adding garnishments (ribbon, tag, etc.). Tie the recipe onto the label using ribbon or string, perhaps around the lid or neck of the jar.
  3. Finished. You can either wrap the gift or slip it inside a gift bag for giving.



Tips

  • It's a good idea to label and date the mixture so that the recipient who is a lazy baker realizes they need to get on with baking it before it goes stale!
  • List all the ingredients on the back of the instruction tag so the recipient knows exactly what is in the brownies (and can possibly re-create them in the future).
  • Find out if the gift recipient has any food allergies or certain food dislikes so you can customize your brownie mix (i.e. some people do not or cannot eat nuts, while others would prefer a gluten-free mix).
  • Halve the recipe to make mini-brownies.
  • If you want to make things even easier, give the gift with a half dozen fresh organic eggs and a bottle of canola oil!

Things You'll Need

  • 1 quart mason jar (or similar container)
  • Washing gear
  • Spoon to help add ingredients and layer them
  • Card and marker or printer for making recipe label, plus string or ribbon for attaching
  • Fabric for lid, etc.
  • Ribbon and other embellishments, your choice

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