Healthy Make Ahead Cookie Mixes
Make these healthy shelf-stable, make-ahead cookie mixes to store in your Main Working Pantry or your Extended Pantry.
Servings: 3 Batches of Cookies per Jar with each batch making approximately 18-24 cookies
Equipment
- Five 64-ounce jars with lids
- Five food-grade silica gel packs, optional
Ingredients
Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Make Ahead Mix
- 3 3/4 cups Whole grain flour I used whole wheat flour, but you can substitute any whole grain flour, including sprouted flour.
- 3 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 2 1/4 cups Whole sugar such as Sucanat You can substitute whole "sugars," including maple sugar, coconut sugar, etc. You can also substitute white sugar.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Make Ahead Mix
- 4 1/2 cups Whole grain flour I used whole wheat flour, but you can substitute any whole grain flour, including sprouted flour.
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp Baking powder
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 3 cups Whole sugar like Sucanat You can substitute whole "sugars," including maple sugar, coconut sugar, etc. You can also substitute white sugar.
- 3 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Mix
- 2 1/4 cups Whole grain flour I used whole wheat flour, but you can substitute any whole grain flour, including sprouted flour.
- 4 1/2 cups Old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tbsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 cups Whole sugar like Sucanat You can substitute whole "sugars," including maple sugar, coconut sugar, etc. You can also substitute white sugar.
- 3 cups Raisins
Peanut Butter (or other "nut" butter) Make Ahead Cookie Mix
- 3 3/4 cups Whole grain flour I used whole wheat flour, but you can substitute any whole grain flour, including sprouted flour.
- 2 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 3 cups Whole sugar like Sucanat You can substitute whole "sugars," including maple sugar, coconut sugar, etc. You can also substitute white sugar.
Snickerdoodle Make Ahead Cookie Mix
- 2 1/2 cups Whole grain flour I used whole wheat flour, but you can substitute any whole grain flour, including sprouted flour.
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 4 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar You can substitute with equal amounts of baking powder. HOWEVER, the cookie will not have the distinctive Snickerdoodle flavor. Please see RECIPE NOTES below.
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 2 1/4 cups Whole sugar like Sucanat You can substitute whole "sugars," including maple sugar, coconut sugar, etc. You can also substitute white sugar.
Instructions
How to Make Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies using the Make Ahead Mix
- Mix 3 cups of the Sugar Cookie Make Ahead Mix with 3/4 cup of softened butter using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer. Beat on high speed until well combined, which will take about 2 minutes. Add 1 large egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or almond extract to the mixture and beat on high for 1 minute. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between mixing. Remove dough from bowl and divide into two equal portions. Wrap the dough in wax paper, parchment paper, or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Once the dough is well chilled, remove one portion at a time from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly flour a flat surface and then sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough (or cover with wax paper or parchment paper). Roll out the dough to 1/4 thickness and use cookie cutters to cut out the desired shapes. Transfer cookie cutouts to a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing cookies 2 inches apart, and bake in 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are completely cool, you can decorate them with icing.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies using the Make Ahead Mix
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of Make Ahead Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix with 1/2 cup unsalted softened butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. You can do this in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, but it is easy to do by hand with a wooden spoon. If you mix this by hand, it will take approximately 4 minutes to combine. Once the butter and extract are well combined with the mix, add 1 large egg and mix well again until fully incorporated, which takes about 2 minutes. Using a tablespoon, scoop rounded cookie mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing the scooped amounts two inches apart. Bake in a 350°F oven (See RECIPE NOTES below) for approximately 8-10 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven, allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
How to Make Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies using the Make Ahead Mix
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of Make Ahead Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Mix with 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. You can do this in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, but it is easy to do by hand with a wooden spoon. If you mix this by hand, it will take approximately 4-5 minutes to combine. The oats require using a bit more "elbow grease" than if you were just mixing in flour. Once the butter and extract are well combined with the mix, add 1 large egg and mix well again until fully incorporated, which takes about 2 minutes. Using a tablespoon, scoop the rounded cookie mixture on to a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing the scooped amounts two inches apart. Bake in a 350°F oven (See RECIPE NOTES below) for approximately 12-14 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven, allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies using the Make Ahead Mix
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, mix 2 1/4 cups of Make Ahead Peanut Butter Cookie Mix with 1/2 cup of softened butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. You can do this in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, but it is easy to do by hand with a wooden spoon. If you mix this by hand, it will take approximately 4 minutes to combine. Once the butter and extract are well combined with the mix, add 1 large egg and mix well again until fully incorporated, which will take about 2 minutes. Next, add 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky) to the mixture and mix well until the peanut butter is thoroughly incorporated with the mixture, which takes about 2 minutes. (If you prefer, you can substitute with another "nut" butter such as almond butter.) Using a tablespoon, scoop the rounded cookie mixture on to a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing the scooped amounts three inches apart. Using the tines of a fork, slightly flatten each round of cookie dough with a hash mark. (If the tines of the fork stick to the dough, you can dust the tines in flour.) Bake in a 350°F oven (See RECIPE NOTES below) for approximately 8-10 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven, allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
How to Make Snickerdoodles using the Make Ahead Mix
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of the Make Ahead Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix with 1/2 cup of softened butter. You can do this in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, but it is easy to do by hand with a wooden spoon. If you mix this by hand, it will take approximately 4 minutes to combine. Once the butter is well combined with the mix, add 1 large egg and mix well again until fully incorporated, which takes about 2 minutes. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar (Sucanat or another whole sweetener can be used as can white sugar) with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Set aside. Using a tablespoon, scoop the rounded cookie mixture into your hand and roll into a ball. Next, roll the cooking dough ball in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place the cookie dough ball onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with the scooped amounts two inches apart and flattened slightly with your hand or the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle more of the sugar-cinnamon mixture on top of each flattened cookie dough ball. Bake in a 350°F oven for approximately 8-10 minutes until the cookies look just baked. "Just baked" means that the edges of the cookies will look firm but will not be golden brown or crisp around the edges. Be careful not to overcook Snickerdoodles. They are meant to be soft and chewy, NOT crispy. Remove from the oven, allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
A Note About Oven Temperature: Please note that some of the cookie recipes require preheating the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit but baking the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This is correct. The initial higher preheat allows the cookies to initially crisp up around the edges when first put into the oven, but the lower baking temperature allows them to say soft and chewy in the center.
A Note About Snickerdoodles: If you do not have cream of tartar and do not want to using baking powder as an alternative, prepare the Make Ahead Cookie Mix as directed, including the baking soda. When you are ready to bake a batch of Snickerdoodles, add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice per batch of cookie dough after blending in the egg. Mix well and continue with recipe. The final texture of the cookie will be slightly different than a traditional Snickerdoodle but it will have the distinctive tangy flavor.
Cookie Preparation: To prepare each mix, blend the ingredients for each mixture together and store the resulting Make Ahead Cookie Mix in its own container. (See the video to see how to blend each ingredient mixture together.)
The instructions provide you with steps to make the recipe that corresponds with each Make Ahead Cookie Mix.
The recipe directions for each mix are condensed into one paragraph so you can print them out and attach a copy of the directions to the appropriate storage jar for each mixture. Alternatively, you can post the directions in your pantry where you store these mixes.
When using whole grains, the shelf life of these mixes is approximately 6 months.
Find this recipe and video at https://marysnest.com/how-to-make-5-healthy-make-ahead-cookie-mixes/
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