Sep
Cooked Play Dough
After I made the video clip for this post, I came upstairs to write the actual post. I had used up all the cornstarch when I made the batch of salt dough I talked about. And being the compulsive garbage-thrower-outer that I am, I tossed the box. I figured, “No big deal…I’ll just look up the recipe on the internet.” That proved a whole lot harder than I expected. I couldn’t find the one that had been on the box. I searched fruitlessly for over an hour, and honestly I’m a pretty good internet searcher. (And I swear I was only a little bit distracted by some non-related webpages…promise!)
The next morning after dropping off the kids at school, I visited two different supermarkets looking for that brand of cornstarch…except I couldn’t remember exactly which brand it was. I was hoping to recognize the box. I didn’t. So I looked at all the boxes, and I still couldn’t find the recipe I wanted. When I whined to my husband, he told me that is what I got for being so bad about throwing things out that we might potentially someday need. He said it was served me right for getting rid of his holey t-shirts that he still wore. Uhm…yeah…the same but different.
Anyway, I went back to the internet looking for recipes that I hoped would be similar. I spent the day trying out three different play doughs that require cooking. The kids had a great time after school playing with my day’s output, but I was still frustrated with the results and wanting that original recipe. Finally, I decided to search again. I typed everything I could remember about the recipe into the search box. It was the ugliest search I’ve ever done, and I’m embarrassed to even confess to it. In any case, the stars aligned, the bits and bytes of Google love me, and there it was! My recipe!
And here it is for you. I’ll also include the other three recipes with my commentary afterward.
The Recipe for Cooked Salt Dough That I Like
1 1/2 C Corn Starch
1/2 C Flour
1 C Salt
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 C Water
Optional coloring or scent
Mix all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Stir constantly while cooking over medium heat. After approximately 6 minutes the dough will gather on the stirring spoon and form a ball. Dump out onto waxed paper. (I just dumped it on the counter.) Let it cool until you can handle it. Form it together into a ball and let your kids have at it. Great texture for a dough! Just the right firmness and softness and smoothness. Turns a little rubbery over time, but can be softened again by letting it come to room temperature (I assume you store it in the fridge like me) and kneading in a little water.
Salt and Cornstarch Dough
2 C Salt
2/3 C Water
1 C Cornstarch
Additional 1/3 C COLD water
Optional coloring or scent
Mix salt, 2/3 C water and any optional colorings or scents in a sauce pan and heat until fairly warm. Remove from heat. In another container, mix together cornstarch and 1/3 C COLD water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the salt water, stirring constantly. Return pan to heat and stir until the mixture forms a smooth mass. Cool and play.
Commentary (because you’re dying to know what I think): I scented this dough with a hefty splash of vanilla extract. My kids said it smelled like cookies. They didn’t really like this dough though. It’s texture is rough because of all the salt. It’s sticky to work with, but it doesn’t stick to your hands. In fact, your hands end up with the satiny feel of cornstarch. The dough is also very soft, so it doesn’t work terribly well with cookie cutters or spatulas. All in all, probably my least favorite of the doughs I’ve tried.
Baking Soda and Cornstarch Dough
1 C Baking Soda
1/2 Cornstarch
3/4 C Water
Optional coloring or scent
Mix the baking soda and the cornstarch together in a saucepan. Mix the coloring and scent into the water and then pour into the pan, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat while still stirring. When the mixture gathers together, remove from heat and let cool. Knead into a ball and give it to the kiddos.
Commentary: This play dough is more like a soft clay. It was very smooth and nice to the touch, maybe slightly sticky at first. This dough has one major challenge. If you overcook it at all it becomes crumbly or prone to cracking. You can smoosh it back together, but it doesn’t really hold as well as a traditional play dough. Even knowing this, I think I overcooked it a bit.
We had a really good time smashing the dough flat and then writing in it with toothpicks. Dylan practiced spelling words and Anya wrote numbers and drew shapes. Anya also spent a good deal of time putting this dough through my garlic press and making worms, pasta, and hair–a grand combination.
I colored this batch with a black cherry Kool-Aid packet. It fizzed when I added it–probably some kind of chemistry thing going on with the acid in the packet and the baking soda. But it didn’t seem to have any particular effect on the outcome of the dough. My kids definitely liked the deep pink color and the cherry smell. To sum up: second favorite dough.
Flour and Salt Dough
3 C Flour
1 1/2 C Salt
6 tsp Cream of Tartar
3 Tbs Oil
3 C Water
Optional coloring or scent
Dissolve salt in the water in a large pot. Add the other ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. When cool enough to handle, knead for 2-3 minutes until it resembles the texture of Play-doh. Store in a sealed container. Should last for 3 months.
Commentary: This recipe started off rather badly for me. I couldn’t ever really get the salt to dissolve in the water, even after I brought it to a boil. Finally, I became worried that I was loosing too much liquid as steam, so I added in the other ingredients. Then it was pretty much instantly cooked. I really do think that I lost too much fluid.
This was a smooth dough that was pretty stiff and firm. It was also fairly dry to the touch and not at all sticky. I added in about 2 tsp of cinnamon and a scant teaspoon each of ginger and cloves. My kids said it smelled like a candle. It was a nice brown color from the cinnamon.
My gripe about this dough is mostly that the recipe was rather hard to do. Also, the longer the kids played with it the drier it got. So toward the end, the dough was kind of hard to smash all together again and reincorporate into a single lump. Again, I’m pretty sure this is due to loosing too much water at the start. Over all, not a huge fan.
Do you have another recipe I should try? Let me know. You know how…leave a comment. 
