Friday, December 18, 2009

Play Dough Recipe



I have always wanted to make play dough with my daughter.  Today we decided to give it a try.  First we looked up a number of recipes online, all of which were the same.  We went to the cupboard armed with our mixing spoons, bowls, and fully dressed in our trusty baking clothes. A simple list of very few ingredients.  This was going to be a cinch!

Ya right.  As we collected our needed supplies, my thought process quickly changed.  "Uh oh.  What the heck is cream of tartar?  I thought I had cream of tartar.  Of course I have no cream of tartar.  Who has cream of tartar anyway?  Damn you cream of tartar."  Instant panic!  I knew my three year old was not going to understand if I said that we wouldn't be able to make the play dough because mommy forgot to check for the ingredients.  hehe

So, I decided to substitute.  Vinegar for cream  of tartar. It worked.  The play dough is great.  I'm even going to make a batch for my kindergarten. And I know everything in it is safe, in case someone gets curious and takes a little sneak bite.  It was fast, easy, and cheap.  The texture is great and she spent two hours playing and creating while baby sis napped on. :)

Now if I could only find all of the holiday cookie cutters I bought last week!!!


Play Dough Recipe:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
6 tablespoons of vinegar (if you have cream of tartar use 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring (I used neon)

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Heat on medium, stirring for about 5 minutes. Dough will become tricky to stir and form a ball like clump.
Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes with your hand.  While kneading add a couple of drops of food colouring. Store in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

4 comments:

  1. I do have cream of tartar! LOL When my oldest daughter was in SK I made playdough for the class...it was one of my at-home-volunteer duties. It is very easy and fun!!

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  2. I've never heard of replacing the cream of tartar with vinegar. Glad it worked! Another tip is to use Kool-aid packages instead of food colouring. It makes the playdoh smell good.

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  3. Let's see if it's still intact tomorrow. :)

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  4. Thanks for the recipe, that's something I want to try with the boys soon. I do have cream of tartar too, but I really don't remember why... One thing I definitely don't have is the food colouring, but I love the Kool-aid idea!

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