Using my Mom's Cookie Jar

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

DaveGriffin

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Messages
10
Location
Marietta, GA
I ran across my Mom's cookie jar the other day. She's not with us anymore and I'm wondering if I can or should use it and if so for what. Presumably it would be to keep cookies, but it's an old ceramic jar, not a glass jar with a hard seal and certainly not a vacuum sealing jar.

So I'm betting my homemade cookies (don't have a recipe yet) wouldn't keep too long in such a jar? Or could I package them somehow in bunches and put the bunches in the jar? I tried looking this question up but all I got were eBay ads for old cookie jars or a business by the same name.

Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0974.jpg
    IMG_0974.jpg
    73.4 KB · Views: 397
You didn't realize it but you answered your own question in your description.

If the cookie jar was "used" by your mother, then cookies should be just fine. Besides, if the cookies are tasty enough, they won't last long enough to discover if the jar is suitable to keep cookies.

It's a delightful jar and I hope you enjoy dipping your hand in it to steal a cookie or two.
 
You didn't realize it but you answered your own question in your description.

If the cookie jar was "used" by your mother, then cookies should be just fine. Besides, if the cookies are tasty enough, they won't last long enough to discover if the jar is suitable to keep cookies.

It's a delightful jar and I hope you enjoy dipping your hand in it to steal a cookie or two.

Ha, yes and no. My mom wasn't an avid cook, she typically put store bought cookies in there and I did tend to eat them too fast. Now I'm older and I try to eat more sensibly so I may need them to last longer than they perhaps used to. Plus my understanding is that if I bake some cookies, even if I bake crisp ones, they tend to last a shorter time than store bought ones with preservatives. So I'm trying to work out a way to keep them fresh for maybe a week or two if that's possible. And if I could work my Mom's cookie jar into that strategy, that would be nice.
 
Ha, yes and no. My mom wasn't an avid cook, she typically put store bought cookies in there and I did tend to eat them too fast. Now I'm older and I try to eat more sensibly so I may need them to last longer than they perhaps used to. Plus my understanding is that if I bake some cookies, even if I bake crisp ones, they tend to last a shorter time than store bought ones with preservatives. So I'm trying to work out a way to keep them fresh for maybe a week or two if that's possible. And if I could work my Mom's cookie jar into that strategy, that would be nice.


In that case, if you are thinking about keeping cookies for a week or two, the jar should be fine. My only caution is that you pay attention to the environment. I see you live in Georgia and it can get quite warm there and, in view of that, I hope you home is air-conditioned. If it's not, then I would use the jar as a decorative item because heat and humidity are enemies of freshness. Enjoy your jar...with or without cookies.
 
Hi Dave, and welcome! :flowers:

That's a really cute cookie jar and it's awesome that you want to keep it out and use it in your mother's memory. I'm pretty sure she would love that. I have a 60 year old "bear" cookie jar that was my mother's and like yours, it has no seal. I keep cookies in a ziplock bag inside the cookie jar.
 
Thanks, the ziplock bag is an interesting idea. I'm thinking maybe a Gingerbread cookie. I love gingerbread and my understanding is that they keep for quite a while relative to some other cookies. I sometimes get myself into trouble in recipes trying to healthy them up some. I use Whey Low sugar (I'm a type 2 diabetic) and Morton Light Salt (less sodium) and I tend to try lighter material in things like scones. I haven't baked any cookies yet.
 
Um, what does the cover look like on the underside? Because you might be able to buy a rubber seal from the hardware store to go around the inside of it to make a cover that seals.

If you can't get a seal for the cover, you might want to try putting a slice of bread on top of the cookies to keep them soft. I have no idea if that would work, but it might be worth a try. My mom used to do that and to my knowledge, we never ate a hard cookie. Of course, we ate all the cookies as fast as we could.

I had a cookie jar for the longest time and never put cookies in it. Instead, I used it for seed envelopes I'd get throughout the year. It was a great storage place for seeds, dry and dark and if the open envelopes spilled, they at least didn't spill in a drawer. Plus, I always knew where the seeds were. I don't know, it just seemed to work.
 
Last edited:
OK, it may be possible to get a rubber seal to fit the flange on cover then (I don't know what else to call it). I have some canisters that have clear rubber seals around all of them. The original complaint about them was the cover popped up because of the seal, but I haven't had any problem with that. But that's how my canisters seal and it must work, because my brown sugar stays soft.

You may have to take the cookie jar and lid with you if shopping for a seal, though.
 
OK, it may be possible to get a rubber seal to fit the flange on cover then (I don't know what else to call it). I have some canisters that have clear rubber seals around all of them. The original complaint about them was the cover popped up because of the seal, but I haven't had any problem with that. But that's how my canisters seal and it must work, because my brown sugar stays soft.

You may have to take the cookie jar and lid with you if shopping for a seal, though.

Are we talking like Ace Hardware or somewhere like Lowes? Or some specialty seal company?
 
I have my mom's Red Wing cookie jar. She used to keep Lowery's Spaghetti Sauce pakages in it and it took years for that smell to go away. Spaghetti sauce as not her forte. :rolleyes:
 
Take a piece of Saran Wrap, put it over the cookie jar opening, and smush the lid on. That should help keep your cookies fresh.
 
Well, I must be around your mother's age because I had one like it, and if you were my son I'd be very happy you want to use it.
I kept mine filled with Snickerdoodle cookies for my boys and my day care kids, and it was filled to the brim. They never got stale enough to last a week.
 
I say use it, enjoy the cookies and the memories!

Try making a batch of these oatmeal cookies. This recipe can be made with endless variations by swapping around the "goodies". Try dried cranberries, chocolate chips, walnuts, peanut butter chips, M&M's, etc...

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Recipe | Quakeroats.com

This is a picture of a cookie jar similar to the one I grew up with!

47-01.jpg
 
Last edited:
Are we talking like Ace Hardware or somewhere like Lowes? Or some specialty seal company?

I would start with Ace Hardware. The only reason I know they have seals to go on jars like this is because I was looking at jars for canisters that were made about 30 years ago and in the ads, people would say they had just replaced the seals or that the seals needed to be replaced and it was no big deal.

Just do a Google search for "cookie jar gasket".

Here's one example - scroll down to under the product:

Amazon.com: Viceroy Rubber & Plastics Rubber Rings For Wide Mouth Canning Jar, 12-Pk.: Canning Jars: Kitchen & Dining



and this:

Cookie Canister Seals

Some of these are just rubber rings. The ones I'm thinking of is a flat ring that goes against the flange and makes a seal with the jar. I don't know how hard it would be to find one to fit your jar, but it may be possible.
 

Attachments

  • gasket.jpg
    gasket.jpg
    16.4 KB · Views: 288
Last edited:
I made some cookies (found a recipe that I had all the ingredients for -- basically a coconut, raisin cookie). I made them too big and the coconut was a little old but it actually came out decent. I put them in the jar to see how they perform. This is a kind of soft cookie so it's likely to go stale before a crisper one. We will see. I put some in the freezer just in case. They taste good anyway!
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    113.5 KB · Views: 295
I made some cookies (found a recipe that I had all the ingredients for -- basically a coconut, raisin cookie). I made them too big and the coconut was a little old but it actually came out decent. I put them in the jar to see how they perform. This is a kind of soft cookie so it's likely to go stale before a crisper one. We will see. I put some in the freezer just in case. They taste good anyway!

Nice! :yum:
 
It is neat cookie jar AND it was your mother's. There are many
cookie recipies AND you should be able to store them FINE.
ENJOY. Aria
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom