Popular Amish Gift: Oatmeal Chip Cookies in a Jar

By Kevin Williams

As the calendar turns to October, people who are organized and ahead of the game begin to think about holiday gift giving.  Holiday gift giving among the Amish varies greatly from community to community and sect to sect, but in most middle-of-the-road to progressive churches, at least some gifts are exchanged.  Amish moms often send gifts to their children's schoolteachers or make some baked goods for family and friends to give away.  Here is a creative gift and it does make some sense.  If you bake someone some cookies, but 10 other people are also doing the same thing, a person can end up with a glut of baked goodies.  For me, that is not a problem, I'd just eat them all!  But for some people with more sensible self-control, such a glut could result in waste (as opposed to waist!).  That is what makes the gift of a "mix" such a great idea.  The person can easily prepare the yumminess on their own timetable. I guess the only drawback is that the recipient has to then do the work themselves, dirty some dishes, etc, so there is a trade-off, but this is a popular gift for Amish to give.  By the way, if you just want the cookies, simply follow the instructions below and skip the part about packing the dry mix into a jar!

OATMEAL CHIP COOKIE MIX IN A JAR

⅔ cups all-purpose flour

1 /2 teaspoon baking soda

1 /2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 /4 teaspoon salt

1 /3 cup brown sugar

1 /3 cup white sugar

3 /4 cup chocolate chips

1 1 /2 cups quick oats

1 /2 cup pecans, chopped

Optional M & Ms
Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt . Place flour mixture in a 1 quart jar. Pressing down firmly layer remaining ingredients in order given. Top with lid and decorate with fabric or ribbon if giving as a gift. Recipe to attach to the jar:

Beat 1 stick softened butter, 1 large egg, 1 /2 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl until blended. Add cookie mix, mix well breaking up any clumps. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. Yield 2 dozen cookies