Chocolates, holiday cookies, cocoa mixes and popcorn tins are common holiday gifts and festive reminders of the appreciation of friends, family and colleagues, although for those of us with food allergies, intolerances and dietary restrictions, these items are often full of ingredients we can’t have. This DIY, allergen-free cookie mix jar is just for us: It’s completely free of the top 8 most common food allergens, is easy to assemble, and makes gifting something delicious accessible to most (please note, this recipe does include coconut.)
This recipe is inspired by Erin McKenna’s Bakery‘s original Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from her Babycakes cookbook, although combining the ingredients in this order makes for a flatter, lacier version than the original. Still incredibly delicious!
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How to: Make Top-8-Free Lacey Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie Jars:
You’ll need 32 ounce mason jars with sealed lids, like these. I’ll include ingredients for one jar; if you’re making more than one at a time (which is very easy to do), just make sure you buy enough ingredients to accommodate for the number of jars you’re assembling, and place the amounts listed below into each jar. I used this festive string and these tags, if you want to go for the same look in the photos.
Some notes:
- Check your ingredients list twice: Always double-check the ingredients of the ingredients you use. For example, check your vegan, gluten-free, soy-free chocolate chips for allergens.
- Take photos of the ingredient labels of all of the ingredients you use, so that if someone you gift a jar to needs to see exactly what you used, you have that information close at hand.
- Clearly label the jar with the ingredients contained in it, and their brand names, in case someone receiving the gift is very allergic and wants to double-check for themselves before baking up a batch of cookies.
First, layer the dry ingredients into each jar, in this order:
- 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 All-Purpose Baking Flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup flax meal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 cup vegan, gluten-free, soy-free chocolate chips
Next, seal the mason jars, then fill out the tags, like so:
- Include the name of the cookies at the top of the tag: Top-8-Free Lacey Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
- Then write, “This jar contains” and list all of the ingredients in the jar, including brand names
- On the back, you can either reference this webpage for the instructions on how to make the cookies, or write this: “To make the cookies, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Pour this mix into a large mixing bowl, then add 1 cup liquefied coconut oil, 6 tbsp applesauce and 2 tbsp vanilla extract. Stir until combined (dough will be grainy and a bit oily). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil, and scoop 12, 2-inch rounds of dough onto each sheet. Bake for 13 minutes, rotating cookie sheets 180 degrees after 8 minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheets for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!“
- Affix the tags to the mason jars with string, and gift to friends, family, teachers, colleagues, front line workers, and anyone who could use an allergen-free pick-me-up.
