Chocolate Cake In A Jar

1 stick plus 3 T. butter or margarine
3 c. white sugar
4 eggs
1 T. vanilla
2 c. applesauce, unsweetened
3 c. white flour
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Prewash 8 pint-sized wide mouth canning jars (be sure to use the kind that have no shoulders) in hot, soapy water. Rinse well, dry and let them come to room temperature. Grease insides of jar well with butter.
Beat together butter, and half of sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs and remaining sugar, vanilla and applesauce.
Sift dry ingredients together, and add to the applesauce mixture a little at a time. Beat well after each addition.
Pour 1 c. of batter into each jar, and carefully remove any batter from the rims.
Place jars in a preheated 325 oven, and bake for 40 mins.
While cakes are baking, bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and carefully add jar lids. Remove pan from heat, and keep lids hot until ready to use.
When the cakes have finished baking, remove jars from oven. Make sure jar rims are clean. (If they're not, jars will not seal correctly)
Place lids on jars, and screw rings on tightly.
Jars will seal as they cool.
Cakes will slide right out when ready to serve.
Eat within 1 month. White Chocolate Pretzels

1 pkg. long pretzel rods
1 pkg. almond bark, or vanilla candy coating
Decorations, such as red and green sprinkles, holiday M&Ms or crushed up candy canes
Place the candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl. Make sure you do not get any water in the bowl. Any water at all will cause the candy coating not to melt properly and separate.
Microwave the candy coating for 1 min., then stir and microwave an additional min., until it is completely melted and smooth.
Stick a pretzel rod into the chocolate, and with a spoon, cover about
3/4 of the pretzel with chocolate. Let the excess drip back into the bowl.
Sprinkle the chocolate with either red and green colored sprinkles, crushed up peppermints, or stick red and green M&Ms to the chocolate.
Place the decorated pretzel on a piece of waxed paper or aluminum foil, and let it dry completely, about 1 hr. Gently pull the pretzels off the paper.