Angelic Christmas Cookies in a Jar

I’m probably going to curse myself now, but I seem to be doing reasonably well with my Christmas preparations. That said, things have been slightly complicated of late by the fact that the Dimpled Assassin, who is famed for her bad sleeping habits, has adopted the guest bedroom as her bedroom of choice. She spent the night there recently when Lord and Lady M to stay, and had a miraculous night’s sleep. DH and I have since embarked on a test-run to see if she does actually sleep better there than in her current bedroom.

I’m delighted to say, with fingers crossed and simultaneously touching wood, that things do seem to be improving. I’ve yet to establish why she prefers the room. Facing the garden, the guest room is quieter, so that could well be it.  But then I wonder whether she likes the weight of the double duvet on her as she sleeps. The overriding advantage is that, should she wake in the night, I am no longer forced to sleep on the floor at her side, shoulders wedged between bed and wardrobe. Instead I crawl between the covers next to her and get a more comfortable night than I would otherwise.

The complication with this development is Operation Christmas, which traditionally operates out of the Guest Room. There is a mini Everest of plastic bags, each relating to a person or group of people, holding gifts which need to be wrapped and distributed. The problem is that the room is out-of-bounds every night, so the production line I usually have throughout December will not be operational this year. Minimalist wrapping may be the way forward.

Thus my keen-ness to find home-made gifts that need little fancifying. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at cookies in a jar recipes online, after a recent trip to Ikea saw me bring back a dozen Kilner-style jars (does anyone ever go to Ikea and not buy a whole bunch of stuff they hadn’t planned to?) The recipes are mostly American and involve cups, and invariably call for different sized jars that the ones I have committed to. So I had to mix and match a few recipes until I found something that worked. The cookies are so delicious, I suspect I will feel a pang of regret giving them away to friends!

Little Big Girl named the cookies: she saw Dimples playing with the flour that had been liberally sprinkled across the kitchen (that’s cooking for children with you) and remarked that it looked like Angel footprints. I like to think that it’s because they are a taste of Heaven too!

For each jar of Angelic Christmas Cookies, you will need to layer the following ingredients into the jar*, packing them down firmly as you go:

• 150g plain flour
• 1½tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 75g oats
• 75g smarties or m&ms (or chocolate chips)
• 50g soft brown brown sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g chopped pecan nuts (optional)

Once you have packed all the ingredients into your jar, put the lid on firmly and decorate with ribbon. Don’t forget to attach a recipe card so that the recipient can make them!

For the recipe card:

Put the contents of the jar in a bowl and add:

• 1 egg
• 80g  melted butter
• 1tsp vanilla extract

Stir ingredients until thoroughly combined. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of the dough and roll into a ball, then place on a baking tray and flatten slightly. Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool, if you can wait that long.

*my jars are 1/2 litre or 1 pint.