Please Forgive Me

I know it's only November, but I've got Christmas on my mind.  My past 3 workshops have been full of Christmas cards, and I have my final craft fair of the season coming up next weekend, so there's lots of Christmas crafting going on here at the Langton residence.  I've seen these gifts a million times over the years, but this is the first time I've made them.  I must say, I wish I had done this sooner.  I'm going to bring some to the fair next weekend, but I think I'll make up some more to give out as gifts this year.  Yes, Jen, I will make you one.  (Jen, my very best friend for the past 18 years, sucks at baking.  What better gift?  Just add the wet stuff and bake!)

You could go to town decorating the jar if you wanted to, but I'm pretty happy with just the tag (underneath the paper are the instructions, as well as the ingredients).

Feeling crafty?  Here's the recipe.  It fits perfectly into the 1L canning jars, but you REALLY have to squish the layers down to get it all in.  Make sure you tap the jar on the counter several times once the flour's in to let it settle.  Then once you get the brown sugar in, squish your heart out.  I found a vitamin container that fit in the mouth of the jar to do the main compressing, and then used a spoon to get in the edge.

1st layer:  1 1/3 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt.  Mix these in a bowl and then pour into jar.  (Don't forget to tap!)

2nd layer: 1 c oats (the nice big fat ones, not the quick type)

3rd layer:  3/4 c m&ms or Smarties

4th layer: 3/4 c chocolate chips (since the m&ms clearly weren't enough)

5th layer:  1/2 c brown sugar (SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH!)

6th layer:  1/2 c white sugar

7th layer:  1/4 c or so pecan pieces

Directions:

 Preheat Oven

to 350 degrees.

Stir dry ingredients in

a large bowl and add:

1/2 cup butter, (almost melted)

1 slightly beaten egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine Thoroughly.

Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls &

Bake for 10 minutes.

Hopefully you can just copy and paste those into Word and print them off.  They fit nicely into a Spellbinder die.

VERY IMPORTANT!  When you're buying the m&ms, buy more than what you think you need.  Somehow they seemed to disappear while I was making these jars.  And I ended up with a red tongue.  Weird.