Save Money AND Give Better Gifts! Fruit Crisp Mix

This year we all seem to be feeling or at least dreading the crunch on our wallets more than ever. Whether its fear of job security, more payments than usual, or a simple lack of money, one thing is clear : This is not what Christmas is supposed to be about.

Christmas is about family, love, a giving spirit, and that special holiday magic. Generosity of heart is the time honored tradition which outweighs generosity of wallet by far. Lets go back to an old fashioned Christmas and give gifts from our heart, rather than gifts from our credit cards.

This time of year, everyone looks forward to holiday baked goods, but some of us simply don’t have the time to bake 20 loaves of banana bread or umpteen dozen cookies. Why not streamline that by giving home made gift mixes? These mixes can be made now and last for several months (or longer), cutting out the last minute gift rush completely by allowing you to finish your homemade goodies before December even arrives!

Whats more, by giving a homemade mix, you are giving your friends and loved ones an opportunity to share something special with their family, even when they might not have otherwise had time to do so.

Today I am bringing you the second of my holiday gift mixes, an all purpose (and totally delicious) fruit crisp mix. I am including links to printer ready labels which you can include with this mix that have the directions on one side and the entire recipe on the back. If you missed my Chocolate Gravy mix last week, be sure to check that out for more packaging ideas (and printer ready instruction labels) as well!

This is a very versatile mix in that it goes with pretty much any type of fruit you have on hand to bake with! I generally stick to apples and peaches because you can get them canned all year long and they are relatively inexpensive.

Who doesn’t love a good fruit crisp? Served piping hot with vanilla ice cream slowly melting into the yumminess, fruit crisp makes the ideal dessert. You can often this mix for sale on the shelves of specialty shops, with an astonishing price tag! I have seen a single recipe of a crisp mix selling anywhere from $5.99-$7.99. If you want to add in an additional bonus (for around a dollar more), you can include a can of peaches or fried apples along with your gift mix. I have a cute idea on how your kids can help you package those later in the post.

This is the same recipe we have used for our fruit crisp for as long as I can remember. When I was a girl, this was the special dish that Mama always let me make. I remember being as young as five and stirring the oats, flour, and brown sugar together. I would carefully cut in the margarine (making a mess, I’m sure!) and then Mama would place an 8×8 dish with peaches spread over the bottom so I could begin sprinkling the topping over it to complete the dish. I loved the evenings Mama decided to have peach crisp for dessert because I always got such praise for my cooking skills at supper that night!

You’ll need: Brown sugar, cinnamon, oats, and all purpose flour.

You can add nuts in this if you like, but that makes your mix considerably pricier. If you only have self rising flour on hand, just use that and it will be fine. Likewise if you only have quick oats versus old fashioned or dark brown sugar versus light brown. This is a very forgiving recipe. Just remember: Fruit crisp loves you and doesn’t want you to make a special trip to the grocery store on it’s behalf. Just use what you have.

Place flour and oats in a medium mixing bowl.

Add brown sugar and cinnamon.

Stir and your mix is made!

What I do is dump this mix into a plastic zipper bag and then make several others while I have everything out.

Like this!

What I did to package this one (and again, just see my Chocolate Gravy Mix if you’d like more packaging options – I’ll also have more in future gift mix posts!) was cut a rectangle of Christmas fabric with pinking shears and fingerpressed the sides inward.

Like this. Just turn the side over and press with your finger or nail along the fold. Isn’t it fun to be lazy? Keep that iron put up for another day.

Now just roll up the sides over your bag and then fold up the ends so that it looks like a sack…

Like this. I just tied mine with a scrap from the actual fabric.

Then, I inserted a Christmas Pick which I bought from Big Lots for a whopping fifty cents to make a beautiful presentation of my gift. You can simply print off my printer ready tags and attach them to have a completed gift with instructions on using the mix as well as the recipe.
(See bottom of post for links to tags)

If you’d like to make it even more special (and give your kids a chance to get creative), you can include canned fruit to use along with your crisp mix and let your kids make new labels for the cans! (Trust me, they LOVE this!)

My son and I made labels for apples and peaches.

You can then place them both in a gift basket, goodie bag, or gift box.

Or just give as is! This is a gift sure to be enjoyed and appreciated!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:137]

For the front of the tag, go here.
For the backside of the tag, go here.
(the tags include instructions on how to make the Fruit Crisp!)

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!
Gratefully,
Christy