Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies in a Jar – Holiday Spiced and Everything Nice

Holiday Spiced Oatmeal Cookies in Jar, 1/4
Holiday Spiced Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies, easily made vegan – recipe in post

Is there anything better than a homemade gift? I mean, really… what are the holidays all about? Family, love, togetherness, smiles… and if you ask me, that doesn’t have to be expensive, or difficult, or full of gifting-guesswork.

Even as a kid, I would get so excited about the things I was making for people it was hardly ever a surprise to the recipient. In fact, the giving was always more exciting than the getting! I was a strange child, I know.

This year I’m making some of my favorite treats as gifts (you snooping family members, look away!) and wanted to share them with anyone looking for some great last-minute goodies. To kick things off, cookies!

Holiday Spiced Oatmeal Cookies in Jar, 3/4

These are some of my favorite oatmeal cookies – they’re a little more rustic looking than your average cookie, but they’re crazy tasty. Just a touch of holiday spice goes a long way to make these extra-special. To complete the holiday feel I like to add cranberries and walnuts, but these can be swapped with other nuts, fruit, or chocolate chips – mmm!

The recipe took a little tweaking to make it jar-able, but after a few test batches I had things working perfectly. I’ve provided the ingredients in the order in which I layered them in the jars, and for consistency I’ve measured each ingredient by weight as well as volume.

Holiday Spiced Oatmeal Cookies in Jar, 2/4

Recipe Notes: The idea for this gift was inspired by Bakerella’s Cowgirl Cookies – her recipe would be another great jar-able gift! She used smooth-sided mason jars, available at craft stores, but since the ones I found were quite a bit more expensive than regular mason jars I opted not to use them here.
This recipe is easily made vegan (simply use your favorite substitutes for butter and milk). I tried making a batch gluten-free, with not-so-good results. If you’d like to play around with making them gluten-free, I suggest adding another 2-3 TBSP liquid to the recipe.

Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies – Holiday Spiced and Everything Nice
Makes about 16 cookies – easily made vegan

Dry:
1 cup all-purpose flour (140g.)

1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8th tsp. ginger
1/8th tsp. cloves

2 cups rolled oats (160g.)
1/3rd cup dark brown sugar, packed (about 65g.)
1/3rd cup sugar (about 65g.)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (about 60g.), or other dried fruit
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (about 50g.), or other nut, more dried fruit, chocolate chips, m&m’s, etc….

Wet:
6 TBSP unsalted butter, or dairy-free substitute, melted
1/3rd cup milk, or dairy-free substitute
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350f.
In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Stir in the butter, milk, and vanilla extract. Scoop 1 1/2 – 2 TBSP sized balls onto a lined cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just barely set on top. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

To Layer In Jars:

One recipe fills one quart-sized mason jar. I layered the ingredients into the jar in this order:

Flour (with the baking powder, baking soda, and spices whisked in)
1/2 the oats
Brown sugar
White sugar
1/2 the oats
Cranberries
Walnuts

I then labeled each jar with baking direction on top:

Directions: In a bowl, stir cookie mix. Add 1/3rd cup milk or milk substitute, 6 TBSP melted butter or dairy-free margarine, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
Mix well, and scoop into 1 1/2-2 TBSP sized balls onto a lined cookie sheet. bake at 350f. for 10-12 minutes, or until just barely set on top. Let cool 5 minutes before devouring!

Holiday Spiced Oatmeal Cookies in Jar, 4/4

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13 Responses to Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies in a Jar – Holiday Spiced and Everything Nice

  1. Ivy December 11, 2012 at 7:16 am #

    This is exactly what I was looking for to make as Christmas gifts! Thanks!

  2. shannon weber December 11, 2012 at 1:14 pm #

    i love homemade gifts so much; that’s kind of our thing around here. :) my mom almost always used to make christmas presents (she knows her way around a bandsaw, wood, and some paint, let me tell you) and we get our handmade/crafting/baking genes from her. I agree: so much more fun for everyone when something is really from your own hands. LOVE these cookies! Not only for the pretty way they sit in their jars, but also because cranberry walnut cookies are some of my favorites. great idea!

    • Willow December 12, 2012 at 2:53 am #

      Wow, you’re lucky to have such a strong DIY background! I feel like every time I start a project I kind of have to feel my way through each step. :P

  3. Anonymous December 12, 2012 at 2:23 am #

    I received a surprise delivery of these scrumptious cookies in the mail recently! So yummy!!! Thanks, kiddo! *hugs*

    • Willow December 12, 2012 at 2:54 am #

      Glad you liked them! I hate that I’m so busy, but I’ve been thinkin’ about you. We need to catch up sometime!

  4. Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes December 13, 2012 at 5:26 pm #

    um LOVE those labels – where did you get those! I always have loved making homemade gifts, I always seemed to have a theme each year – paintings of flowers, homemade ornaments, cookies or brownies in a jar- they were so much fun to make :) I can’t wait to make up a few of these jars!

  5. Anonymous December 29, 2012 at 5:12 pm #

    Had all the ingredients so figured I would try these. Yup…delicious! I replaced the sugar for 1/3 cup agave and added an 1/4 tsp salt but all else the same….MMM MMM GOOD! Thank you.

  6. Heide M (TM) February 18, 2013 at 11:02 pm #

    Love the twist of using jars for the cookies.

  7. mariya December 7, 2014 at 6:04 pm #

    I normally do homemade hampers every year for my friends, the usual stuff, chutney, home made crackers, sellection of local cheeses, mulled wine or ciders spice mix and few home made decorations. Last year added some home made soap, but this year wanted to change things, so was looking for sweet alternatives. All of my girlfriends are seriously addicted to chocolate and i just came back from Germany, where i sampled delicious gluckwine and lebchuhen (in my opinion this is what christmas tastes like). So i have converted a boring vanilla muffin recipe in to spiced christmas morning muffins mix. No melting required, just some vegetable oil and eggs, even better is made with with youghurt,so you can feel rightous and smug whilst everybody enjoys your muffins whilst opening the presents, to be served with tangy apple butter and very mild and nutty emental or gruier cheese. So going back to my initial pont, your ideas have inspired the idea of myffing mix, apple butter, cheese and scented candles (mulled wine scent). Thank you for the inspiration.

    • Willow Arlen December 7, 2014 at 8:54 pm #

      How fantastic! The muffins with apple butter and swiss cheese sound amazing. So happy to have inspired you, thank you for taking the time to share!

  8. Anthony December 12, 2016 at 11:49 am #

    Looks great, can’t wait to try these! Do you have the designs available to print out for the jar?

    • Willow Arlen December 13, 2016 at 10:53 am #

      Hi Anthony! Unfortunately I don’t have the labels anymore… I made these ages ago, and I wish I’d had the forethought to keep the design somewhere. My apologies. I hope you like the cookies, though!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. 25 Mason Jar Recipes: Holiday Gifts in a Jar | Natalie Weick - November 17, 2014

    […] 14. Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies: Looking for a super tasty and flavorful sweet treat? Try these Holiday Spiced and Everything Nice Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies in a jar. […]

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