Cornbread Mix-in-a-Jar ~ Hostess Gift ~ Prepare Your Own Pantry

"Laura peeked, and hid, and peeked again, while the Indians ate the cornbread that Ma had baked. They ate every morsel of it, and even picked up the crumbs from the hearth…. when every crumb of cornbread was gone, the Indians rose up."

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie

Our family is going to be having some extended overnight guests and I love preparing in advance for them. One thing that always goes with the cooler weather (which is also economical) is bean dishes and soups. Cornbread is the quickest way to get a fresh "bread" to the table which compliments these foods. This is where a homemade mix comes in handy! It only takes a few minutes to make...

Prepare For Your Pantry:

Convenience mixes is another wonderful way of stocking your pantry. Simply prepare an assembly line of clean jars and start measuring. Being this recipe includes some whole wheat flour, try and use the mixes up within 6 months (visit our shelf life basics post for more information). 

Happy Hostess Gift:

This would also make a helpful hostess gift (just make sure the family isn't gluten-free) if decorated with ribbons and cute labels. We are sharing our printable below which features round labels and a direction label which can double as a gift tag, etc.

You may also be interested in these fun and sweet "happy harvest gifts".

Home Education/Crafting with Children:

Children would also enjoy making these and can decorate them (art) and make their own direction labels (copywork). Little ones can practice hand/eye coordination by cutting and pasting our labels (basic skills). This would give you a fun but useful home economics, math (fractions when measuring) and craft lesson for your homeschool.

How to Make:

It is important to use the wide-mouth jars because you will need to pack the ingredients down as you go and most hands won't fit into the smaller openings. Also, the ingredients may not fit in a regular-mouth jar.

Direction label for quart sized jar.

For quart sized jars (which makes a 9 by 13 inch pan of cornbread), add the following to a clean jar (shake gently to settle each layer) ~

• 1 c. cornmeal
• 1 c. all purpose flour (unbleached is best)
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt
• 1 c. whole wheat flour 
• Pack ingredients down until firm then continue to add:
• 1 c. all purpose flour 
• ¾ c. cane sugar (use the natural sugar for the light brown color)
• Pack down as you add the sugar and there should be just enough room.
• Attach label and instruction tag.

Direction label for pint sized jar.

For pint sized jars (which makes an 8 by 8 inch square pan of cornbread), add the following to a clean jar (shake gently to settle each layer) ~

• 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• Pack ingredients down until firm then continue to add:
• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 3/8 c. cane sugar (use the natural sugar for the light brown color)
• Pack down as you add the sugar and there should be just enough room.
• Attach label and instruction tag.

Options:

You can add the ingredients in a different order providing you pack them down half way. I do suggest closing with sugar because it is more sturdy and packs down the best at the very end (flour would make a mess if added last).

Printables:

We have included a set of printable tags and labels for you to be creative with. Simply download from the menu below and print. The cute corn graphic is courtesy of the Graphics Fairy. 

You will find the original recipe for the cornbread in a printable version here in case you would like to add to your recipe book or give with your hostess gift.

Notes: 

• Everything will fit perfectly if packed tight enough.

• If giving them as gifts, consider the sizes of the family when deciding which jar to use.

• Make sure you attach the proper instruction tag for the proper sized jar.

• You will find other printable homemaking projects here.

• Homemaking is a lot of fun. I encourage you to give it a try! :)

PRINTABLE GIFT KIT Cornbread-Mix-In-a-Jar .docx by JES

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Whatever You Want Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.