Kelly, Author at The Nourishing Home

Favorite Homemade Holiday Gifts-in-a-Jar Ideas

Homemade Holiday Gifts in a Jar

As you’ve certainly noticed by now, I get a bit over-excited about making homemade gifts for Christmas. I honestly can’t help myself – they are truly so much fun to make! In fact, I can even get my boys to help (especially if there’s something edible in it for them).

So … I’m at it again today, sharing more great ideas with you. This time, I’ve put together my very favorite list of The Best Homemade Holiday Gifts in a Jar and I’m sharing it over at Keeper of the Home. This special holiday post not only includes my own personal gift ideas, but a ton of recipe links and ideas from many of our real foodie friends across the blogsphere.

My hope is that this will help you to create some thoughtful homemade gifts of your own! And the great thing is, homemade gifts aren’t only for Christmas, they can be made throughout the year to celebrate any special occasion, or just because.

Wishing you much joy this Christmas Season, Kelly

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Cookie Dough Bites Gift-in-a-Jar (GF)

By Kelly · 3 Comments

Continuing with our theme of beautiful and thoughtful homemade gifts in a jar … I’m sharing a super simple cookie recipe that totally went viral. Yes, my Raw Cookie Dough Bites have been, and continue to be, one of the most viewed recipes on this site. And for good reason … they are in one word, “YUMMY!”

And they make a delicious and nutritious gift, especially for those who are living a gluten-free or grain-free lifestyle. But again, these certainly should not be reserved for just those who are GF. I’ve found that even the most skeptical healthy food phobes find these little gems absolutely irresistible!

Looking for even more great grain-free gift in a jar ideas? Check out “The Best Homemade Holiday Gifts-in-a-Jar” – my special guest post at Keeper of the Home.

Raw Cookie Dough Bites in a Jar (Grain-Free)

Simply layer the ingredients in a wide-mouth half-pint (1 cup) mason jar in the following order:

• 3 tbsp unsweetened finely shredded coconut
• 3 tbsp organic raw cacao nibs
• 1/3 cup, plus 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Finishing the gift:
Cut out festive paper in circles the same size as the jar top; place paper on top of the circle seal and then screw the lid over the paper. Add decorative ribbon and a gift tag.

Be sure to include the baking instructions (see below).
I like to print the directions out and place them into the Christmas card we give along with the gift jar. To make it extra festive, I place both the card and gift jar in a recycled gift bag.

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Instructions for Making Raw Cacao-Coconut Cookie Bites
You will need the following ingredients to make these delicious & healthy grain-free raw cookie dough bites:

• 1/2 cup creamy unsalted raw almond butter (or sunflower seed butter)
• 1/4 cup pure raw sage honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, mix together the raw almond butter, honey and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
2. Next, dump the contents of the jar into the bowl and use a large spoon to mix together until well blended. Then, using your hands, knead the dough to further combine all the ingredients together.
3. Scoop out teaspoon-size portions and roll into balls using your hands to form the cookie bites. Place cookie bites on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Refrigerate cookie bites for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. Or, place the entire baking sheet of cookies into the freezer for about 2 hours. Once frozen, you can transfer the cookies to a freezer-safe container and simply thaw-out the desired amount of cookies for a couple of minutes prior to serving. Enjoy!

Storage: This gift-in-a-jar can be stored in the pantry for 2-3 weeks. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen cookie bites.

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Fruit & Nut Bars in a Jar (GF)

By Kelly · 17 Comments

One of my most popular recipes this year, these mock-KIND fruit & nut bars are not only healthy and delicious, they also make a beautiful, thoughtful homemade gift-in-a-jar! I simply modified the recipe a bit so the ingredients fit nicely into a one pint mason jar.

So delicious – and chock-full of protein and healthy nutrients – this beautiful gift will most certainly be appreciated (and devoured) by your favorite health nuts. (silly pun intended)

For another great grain-free gift idea, check out “Grain-Free Cookie Dough Bites in a Jar.”

Grain-Free Fruit & Nut Bars-in-a-Jar Gift

Simply layer the ingredients in a wide-mouth one-pint (2 cup) mason jar in the following order:

• 1/2 cup rough-chopped unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries (or cherries)
• 1 cup rough-chopped unsalted whole nuts of your choice
(I use: 1/2 cup almonds, 1/4 cup cashews and 1/4 cup pistachios)

As shown in photo at right, rough-chop the whole unsalted nuts first (as well as the dried fruit and coconut flakes). Then measure out the ingredients as noted above.

Note: If substituting any or all of the nuts with seeds (such as pepitas shown in photo above), there’s no need to rough chop them first.

In a small snack-size ziplock baggie, add:
• 1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp coconut flour (or ground flaxseed)
• Pinch of sea salt

The ziplock baggie should be sealed and folded. Then placed on top of the nut mix before sealing the jar.

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Instructions for Making Fruit & Nut Bars
You will need the following ingredients to make these delicious & healthy grain-free Fruit & Nut Bars:

• 1/4 cup pure honey (mild honey such as sage or clover are best)
• 2 tsp all-natural nut butter (mild nut butters like almond or cashew are best)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trim parchment paper to line a 9×5-inch loaf pan, leaving parchment paper to hang over the two shorter sides of the pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the honey and all-natural nut butter until smooth and creamy.

3. Next, dump the contents of the small packet inside the jar into the bowl and use a spoon to mix together until well blended. Then, dump the remainder of the jar’s contents into the bowl. Stir well until thoroughly combined.

4. Place the bar mixture into the parchment-lined baking dish. Fold overlapping flaps down and evenly press the top of the bar mixture firmly to pack-in the ingredients so they hold together better after baking. Then, peel back the parchments flaps from top of bars.

5. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Then remove from oven and allow to cool on stovetop for approximately one hour (or until bottom of baking dish should is room temp).

6. Place in freezer to continue cooling. Once cold, but not frozen (about 20-30 minutes), remove dish from freezer. Then, run a knife along the two edges without parchment. Using the parchment paper ends, lift the bars from the baking dish and place on a cutting board.

7. Cut into 5 bars and individually wrap and store in the fridge or freezer. (Bars are best kept cold in order to hold the bars shape.) Enjoy!

Storage: This gift-in-a-jar can be stored in the pantry for 3-4 weeks. Yield: 5 bars

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