Decorative cookies. NOT EDIBLE!
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.
Read MoreTo 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!
Read More 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.
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.
Great, easy recipe! My kids and I both enjoyed making these, and the cookies took less time to dry than stated in the recipe. I added a pinch of cinnamon for a speckled look. They are easy to decorate with craft paint, and I even glued tiny beads on some for a little sparkle. They look great on the tree!
Made these with the children today. I used a straw to make the holes, baked at 250, for about an hour...the results were NO puffing at all. They started to crack so I put a pan of water in there like you do for a cheesecake, and that stopped them. They turned out SO cute! They made about 8 3-4" ornaments, with the recipe halved.
I really liked this recipe. The only problem I had was that the ornaments puffed up a little. I had varying thicknesses (from 1/4 inch. thick to about 1/2 inch.) and they all pretty much puffed up. I did do something fun though. I added food coloring to little portions of some of the dough and used the colors as accents. Example: white snowman with blue and orange scarf, black and red hat, and black eyes and buttons. It just brushed the snowman with a little water when I was ready to apply the pieces. They came out super cute!
I wanted to do an "under the sea tree" for my youngest grandchildren, they love the ocean, so I added some cinnamon and nutmeg to the basic dough recipe here, I'm cutting out the shapes using "coloring" templates I found in the net, and painting then varnishing with Damar, using a thin sea green ribbon to hang them, and using teal and blue tiny light on a real tree, with some sea green bows. I uploaded a photo of the first coat of paint on some Beluga whales and some sea blue candy canes. I love this. I have done so many themed trees since my now 40ish darling daughters were small. They made their own then, I made them now for the wee ones, they think they are "magical". And they care extremely cheap to decorate an entire tree. A little flour, a little acrylic paint, and some ribbon and it's a go. Thanks so much for posting this recipe so others can find their inner artist.
The kids enjoyed this. I colored an additional half batch using various paste colors, wet the surfaces with a little water before adding colored pieces. Made a LOT of ornaments (about 50 for the 1.5 batches). Used a straw to make holes. Baked at 200 degrees for a couple of hours, no puffing. They didn't spread at all.
I used a similar recipe but with more salt. 2 cups flour to 1 cup salt with 1 cup warm water. It was very easy to make and rolled out very well. My kids loved making and decorating these.
This recipe worked out great! I used my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook to mix and it whipped right up. My 8 year old son and I had a blast making these ornaments. I baked them at 300 for 1 hour, 10 minutes in an electric stove oven. No issues whatsoever! And I did use a straw to make holes for the decorative ribbon for hanging on the tree. Very happy with this recipe!!!
Awsome Recipe!! It's fun, fast, and very easy. My 7 year old daughter and I had lots of fun coloring them with markers and glitter glue.
I gave this recipe 3 stars because after about 15 minutes the dough became unworkable and we had to throw half of it away. If you're going to make these roll em out and cut them quickly!
My ornaments came out great but I followed some of the advice, I cooked at 200 for an hour+ and I ended up having to use a bit more water than a cup and a half. I think the low slow prevented the puffing. I also flipped the cookies half way through to prevent them from curling up. I covered them in glitter and they look stunning. Hope this helps!
Absolutely perfect for a weekend ornament project for my kids and their Bumpa. Spot on with measurements and just super wonderful to work with. Watch the baking time, one hour was a little too long. 40 minutes was just right for us.
If you have a dehydrator, use it! I did and I have the best looking salt dough ornaments ever. Took about 3 hrs on the fruit setting. Zero puffing. :)
I used half the recipe and it made about 10 good sized ornaments. I baked them at 200 degrees for about 2 hours and flipped half way through. They didn't puff at all but they did curl a little -no biggie. I made them the same day we painted them but next time I'll make them at least a couple of days in advance so they fully dry and harden before painting. We decorated them with craft paints and sharpie markers and sealed with mod podge. The kids loved painting them!
Mine didn't puff up at all. Due to the fact they were a little thicker then I would of liked, I lowered the heat to 200 and left them in for 2 hours. This worked perfect for me. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be using it again :D xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
These were very easy to make, but I had to add quite a bit more water throughout the process to keep the dough at a workable consistency. They did start puffing quite a bit in the oven so I turned the heat down to 300 and all was well. I also only baked them for about 40 minutes (and mine were about 1/2" thick). Turned out very cute decorated with fabric paint. I will make these again, thank you! :)
This recipe is perfect...I had to add a touch more water but otherwise it's great... To get rid of the puffiness just place the ornaments on a sheet pan and then place another sheet pan on top during the baking process...keeps them flat! ;-)
Worked well. I baked them at 300 in a convection oven. I make these every year with my many kids. It is their favorite tradition. I have tried many recipes. These worked well in that there was not much poof.
cooked a half recipe for my 2 and 3 year old, made about 12-14 cookies, baked 300 for about 40 minutes, turned out great!! kids loved decorating them!
I have made these 3 years in a row for my daughters Montessori class. I make 3 batches and end up with 90-100 ornaments. To reduce puffiness I cook at 275 for 1h 20mins and turn them halfway thru. I put a shallow pan of water on top shelf to prevent cracking. When rolling, if the dough starts to dry out I just wet my hands with warm water and knead smaller portions (including reworking the cut off remnants for additional pieces). I usually roll my dough to a quarter of an inch thickness. Bake on parchment paper to avoid sticking. Great recipe that I've had loads of success with.
300 degrees for 1 hour + 30 minutes cooling. I decorated these with Sharpies and glitter. They turned out really cute because I used miniature cookie cutters!
I am going to find the recipe I used last year. I found this one stiff and half of the ornaments puffed up. Why is that? I'll add the recipe I used last year when I find it.
This was a fun and easy project. I halved this recipe and found I needed a touch more water to yield a nice, smooth dough. I mixed mine up in the kitchenaid, so I didn't have to knead by hand. It rolled out nicely with a touch of flour. I made small hearts with my boys and we did some with holes punched with a straw, and some with the paperclips that Cheryl (1st reviewer) suggested. I think I like the clean look of the clip as a hanger. Then just painted then and added 2 coats of mod-podge to seal and get a nice finish. They were fun to do and so cute. We are giving them as necklaces with our valentines cards this year.
fun to make and easy to decorate! we used fabric paints to decorate them and they looked wonderful on the tree.
Easy to prepare. I easily made 12 hearts for Valentines Day. I probably could have made 10 more from the left over dough. Mine didn't puff up but I baked them at 250 degrees for 3 hours. Important to know: Do not use glossy acrylic paint. It would not adhere properly. The regular acrylic paint covered nicely.
This was such a fun project to do with my 3 yr old and our neightbor friend that's 4, fun and easy!!
We tried these twice and ended up with very puffy ornaments. The third time we used hot water, kneaded very well for about ten minutes, and let sit on the counter for an hour before baking. We took the temp down to 300 and baked them for almost an hour, and they came out great.
This was perfect. Came out exactly as expected. My kids (4 & 6) had a blast! We made prayer hearts for valentines day - painted them, wrote names on them and will pull one out every day to pray for someone. Did some teacher gifts too. Very cool! Easy and no mess!
I loved this recipe. Am making a second batch today for my 19 yr old daughter and her friends to decorate tonight. I did find you have to add more water as you go but i think i will try to put them in plastic seal bags in portions so that will help illiminate the adding of too much water. I like the straw idea for the holes too. Thanks for this recipe it is fun doing crafts again. Also, i sprayed them with glitter spray after decorating and it is just the perfect thing to seal and top them off.
my son and I made these for Christmas the other day and we had a blast. I added cinnamon to the dough and it smelled wonderful.. They made really cute ginger bread boys to hang on the tree. Thanks.. Will use again..
Turned out perfect! I used 2 cups of warm water though instead of 1 1/2 and I also heated up the water on the stove (on low) and then put the salt in that to let it dissolve a little. Then I slowly poured the water with salt into a bowl with the 4 cups flour. I kneaded the dough (added a tiny bit more flour to help knead) and the dough came out perfect and was very easy to work with. I also turned down the heat to 300 degrees F. These took about an hour in my oven, came out great!
Other than a little puffiness, this recipe worked. I let kids cut out heart shapes to make Valentine's magnets for their parents and these were light enough for that.
Me and my kids just finished making ornaments and they came out pretty good. They did puff up a little in the middle, but overall I would call it a success. I will definitely use this recipe again.
Quick and easy to work with. The dough shapes puffed up more than I expected/hoped though.
Came out great! They did puff a little in the center though, but I did follow the advice from some of the other comments to turn down the temp (250) and increase the time.
This was SO easy and SO much fun! I think I will have to make this a tradition with my kids! They had just a great time playing and cutting out the dough and especially painting them! They make great little gifts for grandma's and grandpa's!
I didn't count how many I made, but their cute! Forgot to use warm water so not sure about that difference. I used food coloring in them, Got a marbled look to some. They are Lavender and Pink. Tomorrow's more like Green and Red. One question: Storing the extra dough since only flour, salt and water I hope just a air tight bag would be okay for awhile. What's the suggestion for storage beyond the next few days? Dough is protected for the night at least. Thank you.
Fun and easy to do with my 3 yr old. However they puffed up a lot. I think I'll take advice from the others and cook at a lower temperature for a bit longer.
I took advice from others and turned down the temp to 200 -- it took about 5 hours, but they were done with no puffing. I even dropped one on the tile floor as I was taking them off the cookie sheet and it didn't break. My only other helpful critique is that this is a HUGE recipe. Enough for an entire preschool class at least. We made 20 ornaments, and still had about a third of the dough left. I just tossed it because I'm already not sure what we're going to do with 20 of these things!
My trick to lessen the "puffiness" was to reduce the heat to 200 degrees. I also turned them over & gently pressed them flat after about an hour. My best advice would be to make them a day before you have your decorating party, so you can have them ready for the little ones & they won't need to wait. All in all, lots of fun to make & decorate!
I loved this recipe. It was easy to prepare, I just had to use a bit more water. My 2 year old daughter loved helping me cut them. She especially loved painting them. Thanks.
Loved it! Dumped in some cinnamon for smell goodness and to make the "gingerbread" men brown. A couple did puff up but no worries :)
I used this recipe to make handprint Santas for my 12-month-old twins, and it turned out really well! I used a kitchenaid for the kneading, which saved a lot of work. I had to add a little more flour than was listed and the dough was still a tad sticky...refrigerating the dough, patting our enough for one ornament by hand rather than rolling all the dough, and oiling my boys' hands before making the prints really helped. I finished them with acrylic paint and a coat of mod podge and they look great.
Dry and crumbly! I googled other recipes and this one has way too much flour. Should reduce flour!
Recipe is fine but cook time and temperature are completely off. I would cook around 200 for a longer time. Mine turned out puffy and brown. Ruined.
Like other reviewers, I turned the oven down to 300 (probably could have gone a bit lower) and I added some cinnamon (didn't measure, just added what seemed right).
This recipe is aweful. I did prints of my daughters hand and the ornaments puffed up during the baking process. Too hot oven, for too long and wrong ingredients, cream of tartar has to be an ingredient. so disappointing.
had fun making these but they bubbled up on me i rolled them out to 1/8th of in. thick and some still bubbled up can you tell me what i did wrong. i think they are still cute. but hubby made fun of them lol
This recipe is great except I recommend drying these for a night or two depending on thickness, if you prefer flatter, smoother results. If you just can't wait, drop the oven temp as low as possible. They will expand a little in the oven and sometimes bubble. I added a 1/2 cup cinnamon and a little extra water because I love cinnamon. Another tip someone gave was to use a straw to make your holes, it works great. Have fun!
I got over 30 ornaments cut out but they puffed up more than I would have liked. I used cookie cutters and I baked them at 300 for 25-30 minutes.
This was a huge success in my preschool class. It was a very easy, forgiving recipe. We did need a little bit more water than the recipe called for. I found that if the dough is a little wetter/sticky to begin with it turns out smoother. We just sprinkled a little flour on it and kneaded it until it felt right and rolled well. Also, we used cinnamon to roll it out to give it a great smell. I am sure that part of the flour could be substituted with cinnamon, but we did it just for the experience while we were making it, because I am going to seal them and they won't smell anyway. They baked very hard, which is good, but they might be a little fragile. I was only concerned because we made them with 3-5 year olds and when we paint them I fear that they might break if dropped. One thing that I wasn't sure if I liked, was that they definitely do puff up and I cooked mine at 300 degrees for 50 minutes. In some ways I do like the 3d effect, but a few of the ornaments cracked, so I suggest making a few extra just in case.
so fun!
Over all, the recipe works well. I did need to add more water to keep the dough soft. I use small eye screws with a dab of craft glue as the hanger.
These worked okay...I would try them out again..but most of them bubbled up some. I don't know if they were in there too long or to short of a time...considering I got more ornaments than 12 out of mine?!?! I guess it just depends on the cookie cutter size. Anyway...maybe next time I'll use bigger cutters and see if I can get 12 to get the right results.
I followed the directions exactly, but found the resulting dough to be way too dry. The dough crumbled and cracked from the very beginning, was difficult to roll out and the shapes we cut have cracks in them. Major disappointment.
This is a great recipe for salt dough. The puffiness that other reviewers mention is why I prefer this recipe to others with more salt (as some have recommended). My 2 year old son makes gingerbread men and other figures that do not look nearly as cute when they stay flat. The puff from baking gives these little guys real dimension and character. We'll keep making these for years to come!
I made these 2 times the first one I followed step by step. The second time I did it differently..since the first dough was dry and hard to manage I used 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup water And added flour as needed so it wasn't a sticky mess. Kneaded it for 5 minutes. Baked at 325° (d)
I follow this recipe and I find that it puff too much . Some may like the puffiness but was not what I was looking for,
They occasionally bubble up. We decorated them with cookie die and water before hand with some and used paint on some when they came out. They looked pretty. Note: Do not use sugar on these for decoration. It does not turn out so well.
We really enjoyed doing this recipe. Next time I'll cook them on a lower temperature because of puffing but all in all it was great!
Used for a girl scout event at a retirement home. Great texture and so easy to use. They are air drying now since we used non-bakable decorations, but will varnish when hey dry completely.
Made recipe as described but ended up with large bubbles and very dark brown ornaments. Will try again on lower temperature.
I loved this recipe! They seem to be holding up really well. We added cinnamon to the mixture and then decorated with cloves for eyes and ornaments on our tree cut outs, etc. We separated an egg yolk and added food coloring to it to "paint" the tops of the ornaments. It gave them a beautiful/shiny/hardened finish. Can't wait to make them again- they're great gifts!
First, what fun to make with my kids! I also found that 3 hours and 25 minutes made them puff up, but we used straws to make the holes, as we had Christmas straws that are solid and were able to puff out the dough inside of them. They are cooling currently, and we will paint tomorrow. So, making memories will th my kids just like my mom did with me when I was little! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Came out great. I didnt bake them for no where near an hour. Make sure you keep an eye on them and pull them out before they brown up.
The tips for baking slower and at 300 instead of 325 were very helpful. The first tray i did at 325 and they are puffy!!! which looks okay on the snowmen, but the gingerbread men, not to much. Turning it down made for much less puff. Still a great easy recipe. Made way more ornaments that i will possibly need though!
I suggest baking at 275° ... the higher temperature created air bubbles in the ornaments.
The dough was a good consistency, but these puffed up way too much at 325. I did handprint ornaments with my daughter at Christmas, and her prints weren’t even recognizable. I had to trash the entire batch and look for a new recipe.
