I use to sell Bread Dough Ornaments, so here's some "professional" advise. Use cut up paper clips (each clip will give you 3 units) for the hangers, easier than making holes and looks better too. Also you can use cake food coloring paste to color the dough instead of painting it afterwards. Keeping dough in zip lock bags work for a few days and then just add either water or flour to freshen up. It's not necessary to roll out flat. I did some pretty thick ornaments and used a lower degree (200) for a longer time. Less puffing. Use a garlic press to create hair & beards. Lots of fun!!!
I am not a "pro" but here are some tips:
1.) Use food coloring in dough so no need to paint! Food coloring fades with baking, so make dough several shades darker.
2.) Roll dough in one direction (up-up-up or down-down-down) When rolling "up-down-up-down" it makes an uneven surface of hills & valleys. Rolling in one direction gives a nice level cookie surface. 3.) Thicker rolled cookies puffed more, but if you let them sit out an hour before baking, it puffed much less. Ideal thickness 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. Baking at 275-300 for a longer time also decreased puff. Not all puff was bad, some of our shapes looked great puffy, like our tree & ornament shape, like a 3D effect. 4.) Keep dough in a ziplock and pull out only what you need.
5.) Puffy paints great for "icing".
6.) Straws were perfect for making holes. Holes shrink a bit w baking, straws are pefect circle size.
7.) Bake on a non-stick or parchment paper so they slip off easily and don't break.
8.) Several thin layers of Mod Podge brand were great sealant, do this after you finish painting decorations, etc..
9.) Add 2 - 4 tsp of allspice to dough for a beautiful speckled appearance
10.) Squeeze a pea-sized dollop of glitter glue onto ornament & smear w finger. Gives ornament a pretty sparkly sheen.
11.) Paint & seal on top of waxpaper sheets. Easy clean-up, no sticking or ruined ornaments.
GREAT EASY RECIPE. MADE 25 ORNAMENTS AND THEY WERE ABOUT 1/2 INCH THICK EACH. BAKED IN ABOUT 40 MINS NOT 1 HOUR. EASY FUN RECIPE MY DAUGHTERS PRESCHOOL CLASS LOVED PAINTING AND DECORATING THEM! THANKS!
To make these without them "puffing" up, reduce heat to 300 and cook for a bit longer. I made 2 batches. 1st batch was at 325 for a hour and they puffed up...alot..I threw them away and made a second batch... 2nd batch was at 300 for a little over a hour...came out PERFECT!
Try adding cinnamon to this recipe it adds for a great holday smell. I used to make these when I was little but I forgot the base recipe portions. So I googled and was brought to your recipe. It works great. My kids had a blast making them. Thanks.
I used this recipe today with my 4 year old. They turned out great.Cooked in less than an hour. Made more than 15 ornaments too.
Lots of fun! Our puffed a little but still held their shape. I though they turned out really cute. We used fabric markers (worked great for details) and craft paint and glitter glue. Use a straw instead of a toothpick for the hole - toothpick hole too small to put raffia/ribbons/twine through. We used spray polyurithane to preserve and it seems to have worked well. - Very very cute and relatives loved getting these from the kids.
Because I was making gingerbread man ornaments I used wheat flour. It gave them a nice tan color. I did have to use a bit of extra water though. Because I was afraid of cracking and puffing I baked mine at 300 degrees for 45 minutes and let them air dry the rest of the way. That seemed to work. I did have trouble with mine sticking to the pan though....I think I would spray it with Pam the next time. Will make again.
These turned out great for the kids we cooked on 300 to help with the puffing and used thick spaghetti to pierce the hole instead of a toothpick.
