Cookies from a jar

I think I found my new favorite spot for taking food photos.

Because every plate of good food is the true present this holiday season, right? right?

ha ha ha

ok, enough cheese-in. I’ve been watching too much Glee. The apple slices and peanut butter were my pre-baking snack this afternoon.

Yep. Pre-baking.

In the three years of blogging I’ve reviewed custom: chocolate bars, cereal, granola, and protein bars.

Now it’s time to add custom cookie mixes to the list. 🙂

The Mason Jar Cookie Company contacted me last week about reviewing one of their custom cookie mixes for the blog.

The set-up for the website was pretty simple. You select a cookie base blend (I picked peanut butter) then your favorite cookie mix-ins (dark chocolate chips, toffee, and pecans) then you name your mix at check out.

The mix arrives in an adorable jar with custom tags and directions on how to make the cookies.

Creating the mix was fun and the packaging was cute, but when I pulled the jar out of the tube the first thought that went through my head was how much the cookie jars reminded me of the homemade ones people give for gifts.

If you’re in a pinch and need to order a last minute gift for a hard-to-shop-for friend or relative across the country, then I can see designing the mix online as a great option. They deliver pretty much the next day and the packaging really is too cute for words, but the price was a little steep for what it is and you could create a bunch of similar cookie mixes in a jar combinations at home.

Of course, those are just my initial thoughts. I guess the real question is, how do the cookies taste?

Courtney came over to help me figure it out.

We poured ourselves a couple of cold ones and got to work!

I’m slowly making my way through the pumpkin beer stash I built up in October (Derek calls me a beer hoarder). The Imperial Pumpking was pumpkin-y without being spicy. It was almost fruity in a way. Not bad, but not what I was expecting either.

Ok, cookie time.

We started by pouring the jar of mix (which contained all of the dry elements i.e. sugar, flours, baking powder/soda, mix-ins, etc) in one bowl.

And creaming the additional wet items needed (butter, peanut butter, vanilla extract, etc) in another.

Then blended them together.

All ready to bake!

The cookies came out of the oven looking and smelling delicious, but of course, even with Courtney’s help, it wouldn’t be a true Meghann baking adventure if something didn’t go wrong.

The flavor was there and they tasted great, but they were crumbly and missing the glue that holds cookies together AKA I forgot to add the egg. Fail! Of course, we didn’t realize this fact until we were chomping down on cookies from the first batch and the second was already in the oven.

The good news is that the cookies were good and all of the mix-ins were an excellent choice. They just crumble apart when you pick them up. Oh well. Better luck next time.

If you want to order your own Mason Jar Cookie Company Mix use the code TENOFF for 10% off at check out (the coke expires on January 21,2012). Dec. 19th is the cut-off for Christmas orders!

Dinner also wasn’t that big of a win.

I very loosely based dinner on this recipe for Cauliflower & Sausage Casserole, but it came out a little bland and I undercooked the veggies. There just wasn’t enough seasoning and the sauce was too thin.

It wasn’t very pretty either. Le sigh.

Can’t win them all.

Good Night!

What was your last baking fail?

Tonight wasn’t the first time I’ve forgotten an egg in a baking recipes and unfortunately it probably won’t be my last.