Yeehaaa… yum yum… it’s Cowboy Cookies. Or, in this case, Cowgirl Cookies.
A friend introduced these to me and I love them. Especially the name. Cowboy Cookies. Cowboy Cookies. Cowboy Cookies. Rolls off the tongue doesn’t it? Well, I took the traditional oats, chocolate chips and pecans this cookie is known for and added some pink m&m’s to make them, well, more girly.
But why stop there. I also made a few cookie mixes to try out as a test run for a gift idea. You see, I missed said friend’s birthday (sorry friend) and I wanted to make up for it. So, I took her basic recipe and made a few adjustments so I could fit all the ingredients into these jars.
They’re smooth Ball jars made especially for crafts. Smooooooth. No embossed logos in the glass. Nice. And with a little fabric, labels and a brown suede bow, they’re perfect little gifts.
But which one should I give her? It actually matters because I made four different variations. If you notice in the photo above, some of them have more oats, more flour or more sugar. I was trying different combinations to get all the ingredients to fit.
Oh and note to self: Use a ruler when attaching labels next time.
Luckily, the first test batch I made, worked. Yes!
So, here’s the recipe:
To give as gifts, use a 1 quart smooth Ball jar and layer the ingredients in like this: Pack each level down really tightly. I mean it. Pack it in. Or else it won't all fit. Also, I added the chopped pecans last, because if the ingredients were too much or not enough, then I could add more or less pecans to adjust. I'd rather sacrifice nuts than chocolate, you know. The ingredients should be flush to the top of the lid when you seal it up. Uae the pdf linked in the blog post to provide instructions for your recipient.
Cowgirl Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Add
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.
Then roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about 26-28 cookies out of these.
Here’s how they came out.
Pretty and tasty. But I still want to try the other mixes later, and if one tastes better I’ll make sure and update the recipe. Besides, I want to know how long these will last in jars. Any ideas?
Want to make some cute cookie mix gifts, too? Here’s how.
Start with a 1 quart smooth Ball jar. I found these at Hobby Lobby craft store.
Layer the ingredients in like this:
First: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Second: oats
Third: m&ms
Fourth: chocolate chips
Fifth: brown sugar
Sixth: white sugar
Seventh: chopped pecans
Pack each level down really tightly. I mean it. Pack it in. Or else it won’t all fit. Also, I added the chopped pecans last, because if the ingredients were too much or not enough, then I could add more or less pecans to adjust. I’d rather sacrifice nuts than chocolate, you know. The ingredients should be flush to the top of the lid when you seal it up.
See. There’s some of the pecans peeking out from under the fabric.
To decorate the top of the jars, get a spool of suede cord and some fabric. I really wanted to find some pink western bandana fabric, but this will do.
Anyway, cut the fabric into 6 inch squares and the suede into 25 inch pieces. Place the fabric on top and tie ribbons around the lid to hold it in place.
For the labels, you’ll need some card stock, a paper punch and double-sided tape.
You can use the pink labels I made if you want. DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE.
I also included one for the baking instructions and a label for Cowboy Cookies in brown if you want to gift these to boys or girls.
Note: you can change the color of m&ms and give them as Halloween gifts, or Christmas gifts, too. Check out the seasonal m&ms in the candy aisle. They are usually available in special holiday colors or themes. The pink ones were in the Breast Cancer awareness bag. Also another great gift idea.
Enjoy!
What a fabulous idea, I’m going to make these for my daughters Baptism!!! THANKS!!!! :D
This is absolutely adorable. I am using this for my sisters Bridal Shower gift favor. Her theme is “Cowgirl” so it fits perfectly. I will also use this for future gifts like at Christmas, etc. You’re so creative. Thanks so much for sharing with all of us.
<3Carrie
You’re wondering how long they’ll last? Well, I received my jar as a gift a little over a year ago, and judging from the tag, I think they were leftovers from Christmas. So I think my jar’s been sitting around about 18 months. We finally got around to making them today and they are YUMMY!
these cookies are delicious! i didn’t think they were going to turn out because the batter is very dry but once you roll the dough into a ball, they’re fine. i had to squish mine down a bit cus i found that they didn’t expand very much. my whole family can’t wait for me to make them again. this is definitely a recipe for my recipe box
I LOVE this idea. I want to use if for a baby shower I am hosting. I was thinking I could call it “Shower Cookies” or something. The only issue is that shower cookies sound soggy and awful, so the name may need some work.
I am so excited about these! I am going to use these for baby shower favors!
i am a cowgirl myself so they look good!
thay look awsome
Thanks, Bakerella! I made these with my son’s Kindergarten class for all their teachers (classroom, gym, library, art…12 in all) The kids loved measuring and tasting all the separate ingredients and they turned out so cute!
We made these at our last MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. They were a huge hit, cute and yummy!
Hey!! I am having a pony party for my three year old, and wanted to say that even though this post has been around a while- I LOVE it!! I just bought the jars and m&m’s and can’t wait to give them as favors!! TY TY for the great ideas on your blog! (and for providing the templet for the punch! perfect!)
Also- for those still wondering- you can find individual colored m&ms at the candy store or some larger grocery stores. You can pick and choose how much of which color you want and just pay by the weight.
For the bag question- I would assume about 2 jars if you are buying by the bag (not as cheap). With 3/4c in each jar and most bags having two cups…. maybe three if you just divide the bag three ways. My 2cents.
Thank you again- this is perfect.
omg! u have tons of comments, i wonder if u would c mine but, its rlly cute, wonder how it taste like X3
Hmmmmmm interesting post…
Love it! What size paper punch goes with your labels??
Hey Bakerella, where did you purchase your 1 7/8″ paper punch. Hobby Lobby doesn’t have one when I went there. All they had was a 2″ or a 1.5″. Do you think a 1.5″ would work for your design?
This was an amazing gift! My manager gave this to us for Mother’s day! Good Job Chels! :) Love this website!
my friend is having a western bridal shower…these will be PERFECT:) Im soooo excited to try..thank u so much
These are adorable! I’m doing a walk for breast cancer and these would be great to make and sell for a fundraiser. About how many jars could you make with one bag of Breast Cancer M&Ms? It seems like it could get a bit pricey.
Hi! I am from Brazil, here I teaching swimm to babies and there are 2 weeks I made a blog to their momma.. I love reading your site and show the ideas in my blog. Thank you.
I am a Breast Cancer survivor and would love to make these for one of our fundraiser events. Where do you find the pink m&m’s? Thanks so much for sharing.
Cyndi, i totally agree! These would be SO CUTE for my kids’ pee wee soccer team! Gotta have them!
These are sooooo adorable. Can’t wait to try it and give it as gifts. I’m sure everyone will go nuts. Weee! Thanks a bunch!
Those cookies rock. I made them tonight and they’re the best. I’ve been trying to rejig the qty’s to fit into jars I have as I wanted to make them for kids pressies, and have managed to do half size in a fat doritos dip jar (cleaned and sterilised of course!). I feel I will never again have to go out and buy a birthday pressy for any of my LO’s class mates. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!
These are adorable but the brown sugar turns ROCK SOLID very quickly in the jar. Cannot even break it up enough to get it out. I had to dump the rest of the ingredients into a bowl (tilting the brown sugar hard disc sideways to slide by it) and then tried microwaving the brown sugar with a bowl of water next to it in the microwave…no luck. Could let it sit overnight with a slice of bread in there, but am just adding fresh brown sugar in its place.
Can you give me an estimate on how big the jars are? I.e Height and diameter of base? Thanks
how do you fit all this stuff in your kitchen and still have room to bake?
I love this idea. I am going to make them for co-worker gifts next year. . I work at a high school and our mascot is a Cowboy. They are going to love it!
Thanks :)
Thanks so much for the fabolous recipe n idea.
What font is Cowgirl? I love that!
I love these ideas I thik I am going to do these for Christmas gifts thanks again.
I made these for Christmas gifts. Everyone LOVED them. THANKS!!!
Oh thanks for this yum yum recipe !!!
I am planning a Rainbow party for my little girl and these would make the perfect party favors if I used all the m&m colors…
I have featured it on my blog today here http://thatcutelittlecake.blogspot.com/2011/01/rainbow-party-bags-and-favors.html
Thank you
SO CUTE!! I just made a ton of these as Thank you gifts. I dont know how you got the pecans in there though??? HA!! I was full to the top with the sugar and I was using everything I could to mash the stuff down. Then I decided to put the pecans in a cute little bag attached to the ribbon (just in case theres any nut allergies) ok ok… because I couldnt get them to fit. But the nut allergy thing sounds better :)
You are fabulous. Thank you for always having such fun ideas!!!
This idea is GREAT! I’ve seen it some time ago but just recently i gave it a try. Mine didn’t turn out as good as yours but it was decent enough :-)
You can see a picture of it here:
http://anzouyaspool.blogspot.com/2011/01/mix-it-up-festive-cookies.html
Thanks so much for sharing your incredible ideas with us! <3
I try to download the labels and it is coming out blurry when i print them, can someone tell me what the baking directions are. This is a great idea though!!! Goin to change he colors and use them for my lil boys cowboy party!!
Love this idea! Gonna make these for gifts! The jars looks so cute!!
I made these and gave them as Christmas gifts this year! Soooo cute, thank you for sharing yet another great idea!
these are tasty
I made a bunch of these for Christmas this year using the green and red M&Ms.
To be more cost effective I used cello bags tied with a ribbon instead of jars, and didn’t use pecans. Actually, I didn’t use pecans because a lot of people I know don’t like nuts–but it really helped with the cost since I made quite a few of these.
The bags worked out better than expected, as I was afraid the layers would fall into each other and ruin the “prettiness.” I used 3 lb cello bags, which turned out to be the perfect size for this recipe (without pecans–possibly with as well). As I added each layer, I packed them in very well to avoid any ingredients falling to the bottom. I also had to switch the order of the layers. Here’s how I did it:
1. Sugar
2. Flour/salt/baking powder/baking soda
3. Oats
4. Chocolate chips
5. Brown sugar
6. M&Ms
The layers aren’t as evenly distributed, as all the white ingredients are at the bottom, but they still turned out pretty cute. Again, when using bags, the idea is to pack each layer down very well. Also, when I packed each layer, I kind of “cupped” them a little and then poured the next layer into the middle before packing them down. I don’t know if that helped, but I was worried about things falling through to the bottom.
I just thought I’d share how I did mine in case anyone wants to do these on more of a budget. While not as pretty as the jars, they were still cute and festive. And perfect for the gift baskets I’m making.
Also, I made a batch of the cookies to test them out, and they were delicious of course!
I swapped out the pink m&ms for green and red. I also put red and white polka dotted fabric on the top. Then I called them “Santa Cookies -in a jar-” I gave them out as gifts and sometimes I added personalized aprons to round out the gift.
Quick question, because I’m stuck.
1 – Are those ingredients only for 1 jar or do you have to share it between the 4 jars?
2 – What does it mean: “butter – melted slightly in the microwave” ? If I put it in the microwave, it’ll melt. Does it OK, if I don’t put it in the microwave, but leave at room temperature for a day or so?
Please help asap! :)
PS: I’ve fallen in love with the site and especially this idea :D
oh my stars, these are amazing. thank you so much for posting all of this, with details and directions. very, very cool.
happy holidays!
I made these for Christmas presents, it’s hard to find ball jars off season! Also made it with purple M&Ms, with a silver and purple wrapper on top, with purple ribbon.
Just wanted to share my tip. I found it hard to fit my hand inside the jar to pack it down tightly, so I used a baster. Works perfectly!!
I’m making Christmas ones right now =) Red and green smarties!!
AMEI !!!!!!!!! I loved it soooo much!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for a fantastic idea! And my 3 year old could help! We did a red and green Christmas version for teachers her school. Here’s our implementation: http://asokoloff.smugmug.com/photos/1129139529_bUkWN-L.jpg
I’m making most of my Christmas gifts this year and I have a feeling that I might need to add these to the list! I’m already going to be canning Maryland Crab Soup and Applesauce, so I might as well do cookie jars too :)
Thanks a lot for sharing. I’ve been browsing the web for cookies mix in a jar, and by far yours are the cutest !!
One thing though: i tried the recipe and the cookies stayed in balls !.. So I overcooked them in hope that they will faltten, but they never did. Which in the end is pretty funny: they tast and look like little biscotti-balls :-)
But I was wondering if I’m doing anything wrong. Do you have any idea by any chance ?
Any how, thanks a lot for sharing: you have an awesome blog :-)
Wow! Great idea for christmas or birthday presents. I´ll deffinetly try this out. And they look delicious!! Thank you for sharing. :)
There is someone on etsy using your photo. I just wanted to make sure that you knew about this.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62539434/cookies-in-a-jar
Thank you for sharing this idea – it is fantastic. I made these for last year’s Christmas presents and it went down a treat! I bought 1l jars and packed it all in :)
I just notice the other day that my mum still has the jar of mix in her pantry, so I’d better get her to make it then I’ll comment again about the quality of the mix almost a year on!
hi there – another fan of yours!
I have put these jars together TWICE in the past three weeks, batches of 2 dozen each for my daughters’ birthday parties. They were hands-down the NUMBER ONE party favor! Mom’s were emailing me telling me how they were eating these cookies for breakfast :)
Keep up the fun and inspiring work!
I just made these!!! I substituted the nuts for cornflakes (allergy) and they were great. I would recommend cooking time be reduced to 8 minutes and don’t go over 10!
These are adorable! My daughter has requested cowgirl boots for Christmas, I think I’ll make these to go along with the boots! Thanks for sharing :-)
Surely the ingredients depend on the size of jar?! OH no i’m stuck!
Oooh! These need coconut added to them (but where? That jar looks awfully full!)
you are the coolest!!!….how nice of you to share!!!!!…..some people are so selfish and don’t want to share their ideas. Because you don’t have a problem sharing your creative ideas, you are going to be blessed!
God Bless you….we need more people like you in this world!…OH!!! Me! :0)
These are great! I would like to use them for a Church fundraiser, how much do you think I should sell them for?
I really can’t stop looking at this website because it makes me so excited and I want to make everything!
Here are the cookies in a jar… We would just replace the pink m&m’s for red and green and I could also make tags that say “Santa’s Cookies” to put on the front. I thought it would be cute to get some fun ribbon and fabric {kinda like the picture}
Thank you so so much for watching Averlin today. It means so much to me.
loves-sierra
These are great. I’m trying to make the for my MOPS group but when I bake them the M&M’s look horrible. Any tips?
Everyone loved the party favors I made from your cowboy cookies
I couldn’t fit the ingredients into the 1 quart jar… Did anyone else have this problem? Adorable, though!
Dear Bakerella,
I love the things you make!
They look and taste delicious.
I would like to know with which program you make the labels.
If you want to share that of course.
I am sorry for my bad English.
Thanks!!
I couldn’t fit all of the ingredients in a one quart jar…Am I doing something wrong?????
Please! I need help! I want to make these jars as baby shower favors but I need help figuring out which jar to use? Is this a 32 oz. or 16 oz. jar?
I used your cowboy cookie jars as a party favor and everyone was in LOVE with them!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
I know this is an old post, just wanted to say i tried them and they are amazing!!!
How much would be a good selling price for something like this?
Maby the best idea ever ! I just love it ! <33
I show some of this picture on my blog, I want to show the women in my country that baking can be fun:))
Mmmm, was just reminded of this recipe from your magazine appearance and made them for the first time. I didn’t have M&Ms and my hubby doesn’t like nuts, so I just used dark and white chocolate chips and they turned out delicious! Thanks for the recipe :)
This is so beyond adorable! I am going to have to try this.
I tried these the other week and added some crunchy peanut butter- delicious! Thanks for sharing this!
That’s awesome! Really a great post!
My girlfriends group used this idea last November for a craft show and sold the jars to raise money for a local family in need for Christmas! We raised $750 and I still had my jar sitting on my counter and just made them today after 10 months! Delicious and fresh!!!!! :)
sooo cute i found my friends xmas gifts!! could i ask whether the egg added is large or medium?? thank you!
Posted a link on my blog!
I could stare at your pics for hours! Those cookies look amazing, I bet they tasted even better!
Oh, Angie those are soooooooo darn cute.
You’re a good friend
I absolutely ADORE the way the mix is packaged. That is such a perfect gift for any family who likes dessert. Amazing, as always, bakerella.
My fiance and I are doing a lemon themed wedding. I was wanting to do something similar to this but with a lemon cookie recipe? Do you have a good recipe or any ideas for labels?
I love this idea! I’m going to use it as a ‘thank you’ at my baby shower!
Thanks!
Thanks for the Cowboy Cookie recipe, I made them today! I made them first using regular oats and the next batch with quick cooking oats. I liked the quick cooking oats much better. I used light blue and dark blue M&M’s for a boys baptism favor. They turned out great!
Loved them! My friend (we’re Finnish) gave me this kind of jar as a birthday gift in April, and I made these last week. The ingredients were still good, the brown sugar was a bit lumpy, but not much.
The cookies didn’t look quite the same, and the dough was surprisingly greasy, but still I liked the result. Maybe I messed something up with the cups, since we use decilitres in Finland.
My friend had put some mint and chocolate candies, but I guess M&Ms would be better.
And I love the idea of the ingredients readily in a pretty jar! I’m so going to use this on someone :D!
This is brilliant! You should be a package designer!
Those are AWESOME! I’d love to do this at Christmas time!
Those cookie dough balls look soo good! Thanks for sharing, excellent idea
these are so adorable!!! i cant wait to try them. i was wondering by any chance if u could make some really cute like the same kind of theme cupcake toppers where we could print them out and use them as decorations on cupcakes and stuff (; like the round ones u made like 2in. that would be awesome!!! Email me (;
I made the cookies and they were really good!!!!!! but does anyone happen to know why my m&m’s loose their colour and become white? Are european m&m’s different from American?
you gotta check this out
Oh my god! i cant believe it! I love your work! Congrats! Sincerely, Montse from Paraguay.
I made these when I was in girl scouts!
For some reason when I baked these, my cookies turned out a lot more puffier. I’m sure I got my numbers right with measuring, is there a reason why it would stay puffy?
Adorable – If you were to make these for a school fund raiser what would be a reasonable price to sell and make a profit from supplies? Thank you
Love love love your cowgirl cookies!!! thank you!!! Do you happen to have the labels in other colors? Red or green or anything?
Thanks!
If you have a Food Saver you could seal them and they would keep for months. Only if you could hide them from your family for that long.
They are very beautiful, I enjoy making up cookie mixes at Xmas time to give as just a little something to friends and neighbors.
These are so yummy looking, what a cute idea. Thank you for sharing this
this is such an amazing idea!! I am in love with it!
i made these for a breast cancer function and they were a hit! thank you so much that was an amazing idea and i told my friends all about your website!
géniale!….
Oh how cute! I totally made these as favors at my nephew’s 1st Birthday party this weekend :) It was a racecar theme, so instead of m&ms, I used ghirardelli chocolate chips (because they’re the size of m&ms, lol) and white chocolate chocolate chips to look like the checkered flag pattern. Then I realized, m&ms would have worked with the chips, haha. Oh well.
I had to half the recipe because I could only find pint-sized jars…and I didn’t make a batch to see if I halfed correctly. Hope so! Haha. Also, I forgot to half the egg, butter, and vanilla on the instruction card…sooo…hope that works? Ah!
Anyway, I used canning jars and just put the checkered fabric on top of the jar before twisting the outer ring on..it worked just as well as tying with string. :)
sorry. i just found the answer in a recent post ;) quick cooking in case anyone else is wondering.
Could anyone tell me if it matters whether I use quick cooking oatmeal or old fashioned? I can’t wait to try them!
I just made these on Sunday. This has been on my list for sometime, but I finally made them. They are divine.
Just a quick question. I am new at baking, and these cookies were the ones I made. How does one ensure that the cookies don’t get a burnt (or slightly overdone) bottoms?
Cheers,
Nishtha
So cute! I will be making these as shower favors for a “cowgirl ” baby shower I’m throwing in a couple of weeks….Thanks for the great idea!
Just wanted to say thank you! I made these for my friends at work for Valentine’s Day! They loved them. I knew making more than one would add up so I used coupons from Michaels/Hobby Lobby to slowly collect the jars, fabric, and ribbon for cheaper and then watched the sales at our grocery store to get the ingredients. They were so much fun to make! Thanks for your great ideas and wonderful instructions!!!
I just want to say what a GREAT idea. I just made these for my daughters teachers for Valentines Day!! They absolutely loved them. So SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My mum indroduced this site to me, she made this for the grandkids but gave one to us as we have no kids. going to make this for the nephew on other side as they are so yummy, texture with the oats was good and think its an awesome idea for kids to make with an adult.
Brilliant idea
the kids made these this weekend and WOW they were amazing so so delicious
would recomend baking these to anyone and also they are a fantasic present
xx Suzi
I’ve seen this kind of idea before, but I think all the colours together, along with how you’ve decorated them just make this AMAZING! I’m totally inspired, thankyou!
Hi! Love the recipe! Made for Christmas gifts for teachers and neighbors…I REALLY appreciate the labels!!!!! Thank you!
I have a question…have you tried to make them in the pint size mason jars? I thought it would be cute to make Valentine’s ones for preschool kids but I’m not sure if I can just halve the recipe. Thoughts? Thanks so much!
Hi, wonderful gift !
No oats though. :-(
How could I change the rest of the ingredients?
Thanks,
Antonella
Hello! Greetings from Costa Rica! Ever since I saw these jars on Bakerella´s page, I knew I wanted to make them as Christmas gifts. I didn’t know how easy it was going to be for me to find everything here in Costa Rica. Luckily, I found Ball Jars, however, mine were embossed, couldn’t find the smooth ones. I couldn’t find also the red and green M&Ms, but I asked a friend who went to the States to bring them for me. I packed everything really tight just as Bakerella said, and EVERYTHING fit perfectly, I even used almost ½ cup nuts. What I did was to use a small measuring cup to push everything down just as she mentioned in a comment above. For the decoration I used a “pipe cleaner Santa” that I made from the Martha Stewart page. For the instructions, I didn’t glue them to the jar, since mine were embossed, but I laminated them, and wrote every step on the back, my last step was “for perfect results, bake them with the family”. I hope you enjoy my pictures; sorry for the photo quality, my camera is not the best. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=silmanr&target=ALBUM&id=5418789115935272449&authkey=Gv1sRgCJiouv-Lo9mKqQE&invite=CKma4soF&feat=email
So, I made these with red and green M&Ms for Christmas gifts. I used a little holly print fabric with red ribbon, and the instructions are printed on ornament-shaped labels. They look really cute. The only problem I had is that there was NO WAY IN HELL all the ingredients fit in the jar. And yes, I used 1 quart wide mouth Ball jars. You must have modified the recipe after you packed your jars because I packed like crazy and I didn’t even get all the white sugar in, let alone any pecans. I suggest to others, if you want nuts in the jar, leave out some of the chocolate or oats.
SWOON! Love these <3 Might have to make some tomorrow! Yes!
Bakerella, wondering if you would be so kind as to share how you made the PDF for the labels? Absolutely adorable!! You are so amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!
OMG! What a brilliant idea! Dont mind if I do (use some ideas from this fab site)!!
do you really have to bake the BALLS or should you flatten it before baking ???
I’ve made them twice now and just and love these cookies! Decided to try them as teacher gifts, and they were fun to put together, but I agree with joyfullytiredmom. I tried and tried to pack the ingredients and well- there are no nuts, still flush to the top. Oh well… I guess I can attach an “optional” baggie to each jar, right? Not everyone likes nuts anyway. :)
Thanks for the great recipe!
I made these for teacher gifts for Christmas. Such a cute idea. However, there was absolutely NO WAY all the ingredients fit into the jars. I had to decrease the choc’s to less than 3/4 cup in order to fit in the sugars & pecans. Trust me, I tried LOTs of times to pack, pack, pack it all in.
But your labels are adoreable and I’m glad you passed the idea along so we can pass it along too.
merry christmas!
Your idea is wonderful, congratulations
Please, could you give me de equivalences in grams of this recipe: https://www.bakerella.com/mix-things-up/ thanks from spain
Great idea for Christmas gift! Thanks!
You solved my present problem :)
It`s only hard to find chocolate chips and M&M´s (in pretty colours) here in Finland.
I used Finnish Taloussuklaa instead of chocolate chips and I took only brown, red and orange M&M´s from the bag for this Christmas version.
350 F –> 175 C and the perfect jar for this is 1 liter…
Does any one know the recipe so the cowboy cookies will fit in a pint size jar. I want to use pint size jars instead of quart size jars as a Christmas gift
hey there! i am planning to make these for a kids party… so i am using 32 oz. plastic jars (instead of glass- not great for kids i dont think), so there’s a suggestion for some readers out there.
Here is my question- how long can the brown sugar last in there?? i know brown sugar hardens pretty quickly, and these containers aren’t gonna be 100% airtight. Just concerned about that 1 ingredient of the recipe… thinking that you probably want to make these a couple of weeks in advance and also thinking that the recipient may wait a few weeks before actually baking them up?
Just wondering how long you were able to keep this stored in there with the brown sugar staying pretty soft and dry…
thanks!!
Hi Bakerella! These are tooo cute — I planned on making them for Christmas gifts for my coworkers when you first put this post up. I know you’re probably swamped, but would you be able to adapt the PDF of the stickers to a red/green theme? Or just leave instructions… I’m software challenged! Thanks, and have a great holiday! :)
Absolultely adorable! I wish I’d run across these sooner so me and my little niece could have made some for birthday favors at her party. But I will certainly try this one out. The cookies sound delicious! I love your site!
yummy food
I’ve tried the cookies today. They were not as beautiful as yours but they were good. If you want to give a look at them, click on the link
http://sociedadedesocorroonline.blogspot.com/2009/12/e-tambem-temos-cookies.html
I translated your recipe into Portugueses for by blog readers.
thanks for sharing.
Great Idea! You can make this up to six weeks in advance- Keep containers airtight, well sealed and store in cool dry place. Watch for expiration date on nuts if using in recipe. I would also put baking soda in plastic wrap separate from other dry ingredients.
I sooooo LOVE this idea of yours!!!!! you have such a creative mind!!!!…
Those gifts look great! I would like to make some for christmas.
BUT: one big question, because in europe we usually don’t cook with cups.
How big is a cup? Is it more a little english tea cup, or more like a give-me-tons-of-coffein-or-I’m-dying-coffee-cup? So about what size do we talk, when we talk about cups?
HI, I’ll like to know how big are these jars?
thank you
My wife made 30 of these for a Christmas party and did them in a Christmas theme.
You’ll have to check out http://thereisnolaughing.blogspot.com/ and http:://damon-crawley.blogspot.com to see the results.
I’m doing these for holiday gifts. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the great idea!! I am making a dozen jars for xmas gifts. I had to adjust the recipe a bit because I bought slightly smaller jars. They are super delicious and super cute!!
So cute – so fantastic! Tried it out tonight – both to fit it into my jar(about 1 liter) and baking it =) In norway we use different measurement, but I must have gotten it right – because it looked and tasted great. May I post the nowegian receipe on my blog – and of course link to your so inspiring site!!? Next I will try out the cake-on-stick-thing =) Good thing my oldest birthday is soon coming up =P
I made these for a friends baby shower last weekend – they were such a hit! I wanted everything to be really pink and girlie, these were the perfect touch! Thank you for the great idea!
Hi !
I wrote your idea in my to-do-list and make it for Xmas for my little mum… just to tell you that I put in my blog (and of course said that the idea is coming from you !). Thanks for your creativity and inspiration ! (NB : I translated the recipe in french … the more difficult is the quantity … we don’t use your cup…! I should buy these little cups !)
love this idea! i’ve just made a xmas version here-
http://newlymade.blogspot.com/2009/12/last-minute-gifts.html
one thing i learnt too late was to not put the m&m’s in a flat layer, but pack them up around the sides & fill the middle with choc chips! oh well..
and for metric types (like here in NZ), it fits perfectly in a 1 litre jar :)
thanks bakerella!
I LOVE them! Once I manage to dechiffer your mesurements (we use liters and dl and kg here in Norway) I will try them out! This is a perfect Christmasgift! Happy Holidays and keep up the good baking!
Greetings from Norway!
I made two mixes–one for me to try and the other to add to a friend’s wedding gift (she is baking challenged and thought it would help-lol). I was surprised at how moist they were and they stayed that way for three days (when we polished them off). Thanks for sharing the recipe and the neat idea!
can you please tell me the size of the jar that is used?
Thankyou, it will be the perfect gift for the people who have everything, and its home made
Hi Bakerella, sorry to bother you again, could you please tell me what type of oats did you use? old-fashioned, instant, quick-cooking?
Thanks!
Lucia
Tracy – it’s a quart size jar.
Love these! Just made them for my niece & nephew, but I cou’dn’t find nice jars, so, i threw the veggies that were inside away, and tadaaa.. nice jars :) If you’re curious, i’ve made pics : http://www.flickr.com/photos/keetie-com/
The Cowgirl cookies are amazing. They tast realy, realy good. I mean good, Im not joking! My 4-H club are doing the mason jar thing for a fundraiser. I’m hopine it flys.
We’re having a cooking themed birthday party for my twin girls soon – I always like to send the people who help out (like my mom, sister, and MIL) home with a little ‘thank you’ gift. I went to a candy store in town and bought pink M&Ms since I can’t find the pre-bagged pink ones anymore. I can not WAIT to see their faces!! Thanks so much for a great idea!!
I make these each year with my students. They give them to their families for Christmas. Yours are so much prettier, but they love making their jar cookies. I love the idea of making little labels for them.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! We used to make Cowboy Cookies as a family when I was growing up. I just ran out & scored CVS’s last 4 bags of pink M&M’s for only SEVEN DOLLARS after my $4 off coupon & the $5 off with purchase of $15 or more in candy. These will be going home with my kids’ teachers & babysitters for Christmas. Now off to find some jars!
Thank you for the link, your site is super wonderful and so much fun.
i love the cowgirl cookies and i plan to give them out as a treat during the hoildays… my question is what size jar is that so i dont estimate. i wont wanna buy jars too big or too small.
Flossy – try this converter
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm
Lucia – i used the flat side of a small measuring cup.
Just had to say I sent this to my girls and they made them for my pink and brown themed shower. They paired them with cute little heart shaped measuring spoons and put it in kraft paper bags tied with raffia. SWOON!!!!
Thanks for the great idea!
Dear Bakerella… Please please could you work out the conversions for me in UK measures which are grams and ounces. I am stuck trying to do them and getting in a mess!
nice idea…very sweet and yet elegant…like it
Hi Bakerella! Just wondering if you used a regular spoon to pack the jars? Thanks!
i love the idea of giving this to a cancer survivor.
the label can read “hero cookies”
with a simple switch of the color of mms you can rename these cookies to anything. i am planning on making a few of these for christmas gifts!
thanks for sharing all the great info and labels too!
LOVE this!!!
These are awesome! I’m going to give these out as party favors at my daughter’s 5th birthday party. There will be pony rides at it’s at a farm, so it’ll be perfect. I made them to test them out and they’re delicious! Thanks so much.
I don’t know if someone has already mentioned this so I’m sorry if it is a repeat, but you can also buy bags of individual colored m&ms here: http://www.mymms.com/25colors/#
The individual bags are kinda steep though. Each bag is $6.99 and that doesn’t include shipping. For orders under $25 its $9.95. Ouch.
Strangely, I can find all 25 colors at Fry’s for like $4.99 or $5.99. I’ve seen them in Sacramento and the Bay Area so I assume they’re a Fry’s stable near the checkout stands.
Nicole – love those jars!
Brenda – I used a program called illustrator and printed them on card stock.
Christina – On the bottom. The tape is to stick the label on.
Thanks so much for posting this adorable idea! I’ve already gotten some smooth ball jars from Michael’s and I can’t wait to try them for Christmas gifts! Any ideas for a Christmas label?
So Pretty – Such an eye pleasure!
Hi Bakerella, these jars are amazing! I was just wondering, where do you place the baking instructions and what do you need the double-sided tape for?
Thanks!
Beautiful idea! I’m making these as favors for my daughters cowgirl party. How did you make the labels? I’d like to duplicate the lettering for the invitations. Thank you!
HI
I was given a jar with this cookie mix as a gift when I left the pre school where I was a Teacher. I was absolutely delighted with the gift and the effort that had been made by the family who gave it to me. A hand made gift is so personal and very much appreciated I think. I think its a wonderful idea and quite unique here in Tauranga New Zealand. I regularly log into the bakerella website these days!!!
Love this idea!! I used it for a silent-auction fundraiser at my daughter’s school. I made a Thanksgiving/Fall themed jar and a Christmas jar. I used a bag of regular M&Ms and sorted them into brown/orange/yellow and red/green. They turned out super cute.
A friend decorated the jars for me. For the Thanksgiving one she used burlap and raffia. I never got to see the Christmas one after it was decorated, but I’m sure it was cute, too. :)
Thank you!!
Hi
I just wanted to say thankyou again for putting these up .. I ending up making some for a local spring fair (Australia) .. and although I couldn’t get the right jars here !! I did end up finding some that worked really well .. I also couldn’t get the breast cancer M&M’s – so I had my daughter sort out normal M&M’s into there colours .. would love to do some for Christmas too .
Anyway here is a photo of how they looked
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27794589@N02/4051748726/
thanks again
Nicole xx
in Australia
Calli – 70 would be pretty time consuming. And expensive probably. You could eliminate the nuts and add a few more chocolate chips or m&ms
Bakerella, I am thinking of making these for teacher christmas gifts from the PTA… so I will be making around 70 of them. Are they really time consuming? Can I make them without nuts to save a money? Thank you for the very clever idea. Cheers, Calli
i absolutely love this! you are brilliant!
Why can I not find pink m&m’s ANYWHERE???? I live in Utah and have been looking for two months, both in stores and online, for the regular bags that I see every year and am having no luck! I know I could pay an exorbitant amount for custom m&m’s but can’t justify it. Can anyone help?
Oh-so-cute!!!
I’m fond of it…Photo,jar,recipe,cookies…How did you get such a f***** nice idea?
Do you think you can do some for me?
J’adore ce site, les photos sont géniales et donnent vraiment envie de faire ces recettes!
et des cookies girly, yesss!
sorry, I don’t speak english, so just
Waouuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!
I just love this idea, will have to use them… Thanks for sharing again!
Love the design&branding of your site!
Sophia – it’s stated in the post. 1 quart or 32 ounces.
Melanie – Hey there.
These cookies are wonderful! The only alternation I did was to use dark brown sugar. I chose to use the pink theme in conjuction with breast cancer awareness month. Thank you for sharing your recipe and creativity :). I just posted about them on my blog today.
PERFECT idea! Love it! And just in time for Christmas. With a HUGE family homemade is the way to go and seriously, how many snowman candles does one really need? Danke!
I love this idea. Please tell me what size of jar you are using?
Angie, these are so cute! I’m going to let Lydia (my almost-13 year old) make and give them for holiday gifts to all her friends. I know the girls will love ’em! I so enjoy following your website.
Please tell me what SIZE of jars do you use for these absolutely cute cookies? I can not wait to make these for christmas. I am totally giving these to everyone I know. Thank you for the amazing idea. Love, Love, Love them!
The cutest thing ever I looooove this idea!
A couple of years ago my aunt do something similar for teachers’ day presents, only that instead of those lovely jars she bougth some mugs and put all the ingredient in a bag with a step by step tag…so cute but these are wayy better! Love the tag and the jars…just love it! The pink m&ms are just the perfect girly touch!
XOXO
Tatis
Shannon – this is enough for one jar.
Kat – Make sure the jars are the same as I am using here. They have to be packed really tight and if you have to sacrifice a little, then add the nuts last and don’t worry about what doesn’t fit.
I love these the most – I am rubbish at baking (I don’t even own a baking tin) but I have some very sweet friends so these are going on my handmade Xmas gifts list for sure
Great idea! Thank you for sharing :) I tried packing a jar today and had some trouble fitting everything in. Any suggestions/tip/tricks for pushing the flour down?
You are so talented and your creations are just brilliant. Thanks for inspiring me to get back in the kitchen!!!!
My grandma always makes cookies-in-a-jar to go in our family christmas gift baskets, so I was really excited to see this! I’m going to have to show her this recipe soon.
these are the best cookies i have ever tasted! and cute packaging idea too :D. my family, friends, and coworkers all loved it! thank you for sharing the recipe!
is that amount the amount for one jar? i want to make one or 2 jars to send to my sister who just moved out of state but she doesnt need a lot. im thinking making halloween themed ones
HI Bakerella
Can you make labels for Halloween? Christmas? I can’t get enough of you site!!! :)
Olivia
YOU ARE SOOOO CREATIVE WITH SO MANY FABULOUS IDEAS! Love this idea. I just made these cookie jars with Halloween M&M’s and made labels that said, Cow”ghoul” Cookies! They turned out adorable using the colors black, orange, purple, and green. Such a great gift to give to anyone. Thanks for all your amazing ideas!
Love it, I’m going to use these for christmas. To bad you don’t have premade christmas labels.
Dear Bakerella Godess
You are so incredibly talented, I am so excited to try some of your great ideas. Keep up the good work
These are adorable!!! I am thinking they will make awesome teacher gifts!
Ohhh I love these! Just found them through Tasty Kitchen!!!
I would adore to make these for my relatives at Christmas. I wonder what Christmassy version I could make. Love them, thank you for such great inspiration!!
Blondi – 1 quart or 32 ounces.
AMAZING! i love it
WOW!!! I LOVE this….I’m from England, so what sise jar is this, can any one help? Thanks x
lots of love your blonde from blighty!
I made these for work!! the very first thing i think i have ever made, and they turned out amazing, we sold them at the bake sale and made over 500 dollars for charity amazing! Thanks bakerella!!!!