Valentine Cookies in a Jar

Good Monday mornin' to you all! 

First of all, CONGRATS to my girl Katie over at You Betcha Baby for winning my Words to Sweat by(TM) giveaway! This was my first giveaway. Thanks to everyone who entered! Katie was able to pick a friend to also receive a towel and she chose her SIL and fellow blogger Lisa at Simple Kind of Wonderful. Go check these gals out! 

I have a couple of awesome "gifts in a jar" recipes to share with you today! I have a little booklet that has a bunch of Christmas-themed gifts in a jar but I revamped one of them for Valentine's gifts for my coworkers.

 In other news, I got some new Zumba shoes! My certification course is only two weeks away. I am getting so excited! You don't need special shoes for Zumba but these sure make it much easier. They are jazz sneakers. I used to wear this brand when I was a competitive dancer and they move really well with your feet and also offer tons of support. They are Bloch Boost DRT Sneakers.

Also, I finally got my hair did! It was looking super brassy so I got some "cooler" tones and some blonde streaks:

Now time for the recipes! I made two different kinds because one of my coworkers is allergic to chocolate (how horrible is that?!). Um, I also consumed a lot of M&Ms...

Double-Dutch Chocolate Valentine Cookies
(From Taste of Home Gifts in a Jar- named Double-Dutch Chocolate Holiday Cookies)

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dark cocoa
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-1/4 cups Valentine M&Ms
• 1/3 cup white baking chips

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a 1-qt. glass jar, laer the lour mixture, cocoa, sugar, brown sugar, M&Ms and baking chips. Cover and store in a cool, dry place for up to 1 month
YIELD: 1 batch= 36 cookies

Instructions to put on tag:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat the butter, egg and vanilla until well blended. Add contents of jar and stif until combined. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool. 

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt

layer the flour mixture, cocoa, sugar, brown sugar, M&Ms and baking chips

Then, make it purdy :)

For my non-chocolate eating coworker I found this recipe online for oatmeal cookies:
(You can find the recipe HERE)

Oatmeal Cookies in a Jar

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Layer in the following order:
half of the oats
half of the brown sugar,
flour

Mix together the remaining sugar, baking soda and cinnamon. Put this mixture on top of the flour. Then layer the remaining brown sugar and remaining oats.

Instructions for tag:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, beat 1-1/4 cups of butter with 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Stir in the contents of the jar. Drop cookies by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cook completely.

Voila