Just mix and bake
Prepare a jar of layered ingredients and include the instructions for the final preparations. It’s a tasty and useful gift for someone who likes to bake, but doesn’t have a lot of time.

Decadent chocolate brownie mix
Sift together 310ml cake flour, 5ml baking powder and 2ml salt. Layer in a jar with 165ml cocoa powder, 250ml brown sugar, 200ml white sugar, 125ml roughly chopped pecan nuts and 125ml white chocolate chips. Make a label that reads as follows: Heat oven to 180°C. Pour mix into a bowl. Melt 250ml butter and leave to cool. Whisk together with four large eggs. Stir into the dry ingredients. Pour into a greased and lined 30 x 20cm baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes and then cool completely before cutting into squares.

Healthy breakfast muffin mix
Sift 375ml cake flour, 10ml baking powder, 1ml bicarbonate of soda and 1ml salt together. Layer in a jar with 250ml quick-cooking rolled oats, 125ml brown sugar, 250ml chopped mixed dried fruit such as pineapple, goji berries, cherries or nectarine, and 90ml mixed nuts and seeds. Make a label that reads as follows: Preheat oven to 200°C. Empty the contents into a bowl. Beat 65ml melted butter, 250ml milk or yoghurt and 1 large egg together, then stir into the dry ingredients. Spoon into greased and lined muffin tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through.

Packaging instructions
Print or write the name of the mix on a small paper doily. Glue the doily in place on the glass jar and decorate with a piece of ribbon. Type or write the recipe on a gift tag and and punch a hole in the tag. Insert a metal eyelet with an eyelet setting tool. Thread a piece of string through the hole and tie the tag to the jar.

Text and image source: Ideas magazine