Make Gift-Worthy Bread Mix In A Jar - Great for Your Own Pantry Shelf Too!

You might think that this mix-in-a-jar is just for holiday gifts, but they have a place on your own pantry shelves too.

"Gifts in a jar" made their appearance many years ago - Mason jars full of the ingredients for a batch of cookies or pan of brownies.

In fact, on my last trip to the grocery store I saw an endcap with pretty jars of chocolate chip cookie mix, complete with a cute printed tag with directions. We don't even have to assemble the jars ourselves anymore.

However, if you make up these mixes in a jar yourself, you can customize the ingredients and make any variety of cookie or cake.

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Or you can assemble a jar of homemade bread mix, include the directions, then the recipient (or you) can bake a loaf of bread whenever they wish, for a delicious accompaniment to a bowl of soup or the best snack in the world.

This oatmeal-molasses bread is my favorite bread mix in a jar; it's easy to assemble and the bread is delicious.

Use a pretty jar lid (the one pictured is from a set of The Pioneer Woman jar lids from Amazon) or add a fabric cover to the canning jar (you'll find instructions for the easy fabric jar covers below), then tie on a tag with the directions and you're set!

Instead of molasses, you can substitute honey or maple syrup in this recipe. Each choice gives a different, delicious flavor to the finished loaf of bread.

Molasses tends to make a denser loaf that might need to be baked a few minutes longer, but it's my favorite of the three choices. It reminds me of my favorite bread from a little sandwich shop in a small town in Maine where we were stationed for several years while hubby was in the Navy.

I use my bread maker on the dough cycle, which mixes the ingredients together, kneads the dough and lets it rise in the perfect environment. Then I remove the dough from the machine, knead it again, form it into a loaf and place it in a greased bread pan. I let it rise a second time in a warm place, then bake in the oven.

You or your intended gift recipient can let it mix, rise and bake in the bread maker instead, or even make the bread by hand if there isn't a bread machine in the kitchen.

Here's how to make a jar of Oatmeal Molasses Bread mix in just a few minutes. Or make several and give them to your neighbors and friends. Make a few for yourself too!

Use a canning funnel to add the following ingredients to a quart canning jar:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan salt)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

Was that easy or what?

Now print a tag to attach to the jar with the directions. You can hand-write the following or use your printer to print on cardstock, then punch a hole in the corner and tie the card with string, ribbon or twine to the top of the jar.

Feel free to copy and paste the following:

___________________________________________________________

OATMEAL MOLASSES BREAD
Makes one 1.5 lb loaf

In the pan of your bread machine, measure:
1 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp molasses, honey or maple syrup

Add the Oatmeal Molasses Bread mix to the bread machine, and top it with:
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Set your bread machine to the Whole Wheat, Bake setting. Enjoy!

___________________________________________________________

To make a pretty fabric jar topper, cut fabric into a 7-inch square for a wide mouth jar, or 6-inch square for a regular mouth jar. You can cut these into circles instead if you wish by tracing around an upside-down bowl.

Cover the jar with the fabric, making sure the jar is centered under the fabric. Use a rubber band to secure the fabric, then tie ribbon, twine or yarn around the jar to cover the rubber band and dress it up. Add the tag with directions to the twine before tying it around the jar.

No scrap fabric in your house? An upside-down coffee filter fits a wide-mouth jar very prettily. Use twine, ribbon or yarn as above to tie it on your jar.

Making your own bread machine mixes is quick and easy, and it's frugal too!

To make this bread by hand, you'd follow the usual bread-baking instructions like these from Taste of Home, and bake the loaf for approximately 30 minutes at 350°F.

If you use molasses as the sweetener, it might need to bake a few extra minutes.

Oatmeal Molasses bread mix in a jar from Oak Hill Homestead

The bread is finished baking when the color is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when you thump on the bottom.

Who will you give this bread mix in a jar to?

Are you looking for gifts you can make for your family and friends? You're in luck!

This post is part of a collaboration with a group of homestead bloggers bringing you our favorite gift tutorials. You'll find gifts you can make in an hour, others that will take up to a month, and plenty in the middle!

Take a look at the list below and visit each post for ideas, inspiration and how-to's.