Be the amazing Mama or Grandmama who pulls out this gingerbread scented play dough for the kids to make gingerbread man (or woman) decorations with! 
Grandmothers have a special kind of magic.
They just seem to think of everything and it’s the little touches done out of love that mean the most and have the longest lasting memories. I truly believe that making this gingerbread scented play-dough will be one of those memories for you.
Pretend to Make Cookies
Most of the fun for kids in making cookies is rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. Katy and I both sat down at the table this week and had fun playing with our Gingerbread Play Dough and I just imagine what a cool grandmother I’ll be when my grandkids come over for Christmas and I have their own cookie kit just waiting on them that they can make again and again.
Mamas and Grandmamas think of everything.
This also makes excellent gifts for kids, grandkids, and school friends. One recipe will make about two 8oz jars. I package it up in 8 ounce mason jars and tie a cookie cutter to it with a ribbon. Of course you can still make real cookies with them also, but the fun can also continue long after the cookies are baked and even when they go home. This inexpensive recipe takes just minutes to make.
Don’t ya just love it when being the fun mother or grandmother who “thinks of everything” only takes a few minutes?
To make Gingerbread Play Dough you’ll need: Vegetable oil (just a smidge), Salt (iodized or non iodized, just grab some salt), All Purpose Flour, Cream of Tartar, Ginger, Cloves, Allspice, and Cinnamon.
Now, if you don’t have the Cream of Tartar you’re gonna need to go buy that because it is pretty important in this recipe. If you’re anything like me, you have it but have to dust it off before using. Yup. It’s one of those :). If you don’t have all of the spices, though, you can just improvise. Add nutmeg in place of cinnamon, leave out the allspice and double the cinnamon, etc. Toss in a little pumpkin pie spice if you like. Just play around with it. I’m giving you my exact measurements to make life easier for those of us who tend to kinda go by the book on things.
Look how cute, I just lumped myself in with folks who follow the rules. 🙂
Okay, I generally do about big things like laws and such (I currently do at least, although the no chicken ordinances in my town will eventually turn me into a criminal. Just wait for it – and set aside a jar of change to go towards my bail fund if you’ve a mind to).When it comes to the rest of my life, I figure there are real things to stress about in this world and seasoning play-dough is not one of them.
Place flour, salt, cream of tartar, and spices in a sauce pot.
Stir that up kindly good.
My Grandmama used to say “kindly” in place of “kinda”.
I can hear her voice in my head now saying “Get it kindly mixed up real good.”
In these pictures you see me mixing this up in a mixing bowl. Y’all, that is stupid. I just dirtied up a bowl for no apparent reason. I am just so used to grabbing that bowl when I mix up things for photos that I did it out of habit. My instructions to you are to mix it up in the pot you are going to cook it in, otherwise there will be thousands of needless dirty bowls around the world resulting from this post. Possibly millions. did you know that 300,000 people come to SouthernPlate.com each day? I sure could dirty up a lot of kitchens if I’m not careful.
Add your water and oil.
Stir it up as best you can.
You’re going to think this is so watery that there isn’t any way it could ever turn into anything that wouldn’t slip right through your fingers.
But then you’re going to start stirring it over heat…
Put this over medium heat and stir constantly as it begins to warm. You’ll notice big old glops form and start to stick to your spoon. At this time, use a heavier hand and start scraping the bottom and sides as you stir until it all comes together in one big old ball.
Seriously, it will happen. I promise.
Be patient and keep stiring.
Mine comes together in a little over 5 minutes. Yours may take ten or even 15 and that is alright. Time is relative to the amount of heat you are using, the thickness of your pot, etc. You’re good so don’t be all “mine isn’t working like Christys is, I must have done something wrong.” You just gotta tell yourself, I got this.
Look at that big old glop! See? I told ya!
You really should have more faith in me… 🙂
Put it in a bowl and let it cool a few minutes before covering it up and letting it cool completely.
After it’s cooled completely, I stick it in a gallon sized zipper seal bag and give it to Katy to knead. It just needs a few minutes of kneading the very first time until it is all ready to go. Store it in an airtight container such as a bag or mason jar to keep it fresh.
Have fun!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
Instructions
- In medium saucepot, combine all dry ingredients. Stir to mix. Add water and oil. Stir well. Will be very watery.
- Place pot over medium heat and stir constantly with a sturdy spoon. After a few minutes, glops will begin to form. Keep stirring until the entire mixture comes together into a big ball, 5-10 minutes.
- Remove dough from pot and place in bowl. Allow to cool slightly and then cover and allow to cool completely. Once completely cooled, knead until fully blended. Dough is now ready to be stored in an airtight container and played with.
Nutrition
You don’t know what the day holds for you, none of us do. But go out there with an open mind and a heart for joy and you’d be amazed at the riches you’ll bring home.
~me, Christy Jordan 🙂
Christy, is it okay to use self-rising flour? I was wanting to make some for my grandkids to play with tomorrow and all I have is self-rising.
In this case, I think it would be just fine. I haven’t tried it personally, but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. 🙂 HAVE FUN!!!!
Oh my!! Thank you Christy!! My grand kids will love this!! I know what we all will be doing this weekend here!! I love your recipes as well. We may try our hands at one of those as well. I am so glad I found you!! Thank you!!
Good grief Christy! Is there anything you can’t do??? Could you run for president? We could use someone who can do anything and has good common sense ( and uses it ) running this country! Thanks for this recipe.
Blessings on your Christmas,
Stefanie
After rolling and cutting out the shapes does it dry hard so one may use them for ornaments to hang on the tree?
I haven’t tried that but it is the exact same texture as play doh, which gets crumbly when dry. So I’d think this would be crumbly as well. For what you’re wanting, I believe I’d make a salt dough ornament and add the same spices, and then bake it.
I made cinnamon ornaments with my students when I was teaching. They dry and hold up well, not crumbly at all.
32 oz. jar applesauce
16 oz. cinnamon
4 oz. white glue
Mix together to form a “dough”.
Roll out and use cookie cutters to make ornaments (make a hole at the top for a string).
Let dry (depending on the temperature and amount of humidity it might take longer than overnight).
The dough smells wonderful (but inedible because of the glue LOL).
This looks amazing! Definitely going to try to make a batch for the grandkids this weekend. And thank you for the side trip down the rabbit trail – wonderful words of advice!
Cute! I was wondering too if this is edible?
Technically it is, although it won’t be much for taste 🙂
I can smell it already. Is this eatable if the children eat it?
I’m sure it is! All of the ingredients are safe… If it smells good – I might eat it too!
It won’t hurt them to eat it, but I doubt they’ll want to take more than one bite 🙂