Cooking Mommy: Homemade Playdough

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Homemade Playdough

I found this recipe for homemade playdough on a website, and it really does have the consistency of real playdough. There were quite a few, but I liked this one b/c I had the ingredients on hand, and it's allergen free for Daniel. I made it for the kids in nursery at church, and they had a lot of fun playing with it, and I didn't have to worry if the little ones ate it. I know this isn't something you can eat... well you can, but trust me, I tasted it, and you don't want to eat it. But I thought it would be fun to post it on here. :-)

Ingredients
-1 cup flour, plus a little for kneading
-1 cup water
-1/4 cup salt
-2 Tbsp cream of tartar
-1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
-2 tsp food coloring (optional)

Directions
In a medium sized pot, mix the flour, salt, & cream of tartar. Add the water, oil, & food coloring. Stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minute (stir constantly, do not leave this). Once the dough forms a ball (and it will be a whole ball, taking up everything in the pot), remove from heat. Allow to cool. This takes a little while... maybe 30-60 minutes. Knead on a floured surface several times. Store in an airtight container or sealed plastic bag and place in fridge until needed. This has a high salt content, so keep away from pets.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Allergies and Intolerances

My son, Daniel previously had allergies to egg whites and peanuts. I am lactose intolerant. My nephews have allergies to many foods. I will try my best to label things to help those with allergies since I know it's difficult finding recipes sometimes when someone in your home has common food allergies. Make sure you check labels yourself. If it's marked soy-free or nut-free, it only means it doesn't have the soy or nut protein in it, not necessarily the oils. Look for dairy-free, egg-free, gluten/wheat-free, nut-free, and soy-free labels.

Egg replacements

If you need an egg free recipe, I have some great egg replacements. Now these really won't work in recipes that require a lot of eggs, like a meringue or cheesecake, but they do work well in most recipes I've ever tried.

Egg replacement #1: use 1 Tbsp ground flax seed and 3 Tbsp of water in place of 1 egg. Why this works? I don't know, but flax seed is extremely healthy for you, full of lots of omega fatty acids, so this is my preferred substitute.

Egg replacement #2: Boil 1 cup of water and 1 packet of unflavored gelatin together. In it's liquid state, use 3 1/2 Tbsp of this in place of 1 egg.

I have found sometimes one works better than the other. The flax seed seems to work better overall, I believe, but my mother-in-law made Christmas cookies with the gelatin and you couldn't even tell the difference.