

Sending baked cookies in the mail is a super sweet gesture, so long as they arrive on time, and in one piece! A cookie jar mix, however, means that your recipient will be enjoying oven-fresh cookies at their leisure, all the while thinking about how awesome you are.

But sometimes cookie jar mixes can be too rooster, denim and gingham. What about a mix for those of us who only wear black and couldn’t tie a perfect bow to save our lives? Enter the punk rock cookie jar mix!

With cut-out ransom letters as the label, and a safety pin holding together the ribbon, you don’t need to be too precise with the design. And the whole thing comes together in about half an hour, making it a great last minute gift. I sent these Double Chocolate Pecan cookies to my friend Anna Dorfman, because she built and designed such a lovely site for the Teal Cat Project.

What you’ll need:



All of the ingredients for the cookies (below)

A clean empty jar with a lid big enough to hold 3 1/2 cups of stuff (I used a mason jar here, but an empty spaghetti sauce jar works, too.)

Some ribbon, about a foot (somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide)

Some glossy magazines

A used card, or stock paper with a pretty print and a blank side, about 4×3

Small safety pin

Hole puncher

Glue stick

Optional (both of these things are available at craft stores):

Sticker strips of animal print

Small silver stud stickers

1) Gather your ingredients. You’ll need:

1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons ground flax seeds, 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup chocolate chips

2) Wrap jar one inch from the bottom and 2 inches from the top with the animal print stickers. You can make your own strips with some printed paper and a glue stick.

3) Cut out letters from magazines to spell out C-O-O-K-I-E-S



4) Place the “K” first. Because it’s the middle letter it will give you more control in where the other letters are going. Use a glue stick to completely coat the backs of the cut out letters, and stick them firmly in place. Rub them to make sure they stay put.



5) Time to fill the jar! Make a funnel out of paper to get your ingredients in without making a mess. Just roll a sheet of paper into a cone and snip off the bottom.



6) Add the flour first, along with the baking soda, salt and flax. Then add the pecans, and use a spoon to smush them into the sides so that they show through. Add the sugar, then chocolate, then the chocolate chips. Seal jar tightly.



7) Make the card. Use an old card or stock paper with a pretty print and a blank side. I used the May image from the My Zoetrope calendar. Make a rectangle big enough to fit the text. Fold it in half and punch a hole in the upper left side.



8 ) The card can say whatever you want, but it should definitely have the cookie title and directions. It should say “Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies” “Mix with: 1/3 cup veg oil, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla.” “Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten into 1 1/2 inch discs. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F. Makes 20 cookies.”



9) Slide the ribbon into the hole you punched and make sure it’s secure. Wrap ribbon around the lid and affix with a safety pin. The card should be dangling a few inches.





10) Stick a few silver stud stickers on the jar letters, and the card. Voila! Your punk rock cookie gift jar is finished. Makes sure to pad it really well if you’re mailing it. Perhaps throw in an oven mitt?