I made these as Christmas gifts this year for close friends and family. I found one of the top rated brownie recipes on allrecipes.com, cut the portion in half to fit a quart size mason jar, and made the labels on Avery.com

What you’ll need

1 Quart size mason jar with lid (I bought cases of 12 online, Kmart has the cheapest if you sign up for the free membership but otherwise Michaels has individual ones)
Ribbon
Paper for labels, or look into Avery products for easy design and printing
Measuring cups and spoons
5 Paper plates (or a Funnel if you have one)
Metal Spoon

Ingredients for Jars

1 1/2 cups White Sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips (feel free to use more to fill the jar up completely)

Directions

1.  Measure out each ingredient onto individual paper plates.

2.  Fold the plates to create a funnel and pour in each layer. The order I used was 1) Sugar 2) Cocoa Powder 3) Flour 4) Salt 5) Chocolate Chips. After each layer, use your metal spoon to try to even it out and make a smooth line. Flour and Cocoa are the hardest because it sticks to the sides, just make sure you funnel those in as far as you can so it lands in the middle so you can spread it out.

3.  Just add your ribbon and label and you’re done! Don’t forget to add the rest of the directions.

Directions for baking

You will need:
Brownie Mix
3 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 Stick Butter (Melted)
2 eggs
1 9×9 baking dish

Instructions:
1. Mix jar contents in a large bowl.
2. Add 1 stick melted butter, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 2 beaten eggs and mix.
3. After you’ve mixed it well, transfer to a greased baking pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes.

The original recipe before my tweaks can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/brookes-best-bombshell-brownies