Gluten-free play dough
115g gluten-free flour
or rice flour
115g corn flour
115g salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
230ml water
1tsp canola oil
Food colouring
Method
Mix dry ingredients together in a small saucepan. Slowly add water and oil. When the mixture is smooth, add your food colouring drop by drop to achieve the desired hue. Cook the mixture and stir it on low heat for approximately three minutes or until mixture forms a solid ball. Remove it from the pan, and allow it to cool. Play!
TIP: Double the recipe and divide the mixture prior to cooking it, so that you can make more than one colour.
Chill-out dough
600g plain flour
115g salt
350ml boiling water
3 tbsp of canola oil
Food colouring
1-2 drops of one of the following essential oils: lavender/chamomile/grapefruit/sweet orange
Method
Mix 450g of the flour with the salt in a saucepan, and then add the boiling water, colouring and cooking oil. Stir it together well and let it cool. Once cold, add the drops of essential oils mix and knead the mixture with your hands. Empty it onto a floured surface and add the remaining flour to create the correct consistency (the kids love this bit), making sure it’s not too sticky. Essential oils are concentrated, and only a tiny amount is required to scent the dough. Also, children should not eat the chill-out playdough.
TIP: Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you don’t have any essential oils. Spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon also make the dough smell great.
Super-easy play dough
Makes a large batch for a playdate
650g plain flour
325g salt
6 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp canola oil
750ml water
Food colouring
Method
Pour all ingredients into a large pot. Stir it constantly over medium heat until a dough ball forms by pulling away from the sides (you need strong arms for this one). Knead dough until the texture matches play dough. It should only take one to two minutes to achieve this.
TIP: Make this batch in white, divide it into balls, and let the kids knead in several different colourings. Gel food colours are less messy than liquid versions. Add glitter to make a prettier variation. Keep it well wrapped and in the fridge to help it last longer.
Potato dough
5 large potatoes
500g plain flour
Food colouring
Method
Bake the potatoes in their skins until they are soft inside. Peel and then mash the potatoes (get rid of the skins) and add a few drops of food colouring. Then add the flour bit by bit, kneading as you go, until you have a good dough consistency. The nice thing about this dough is that mum can set aside half of the uncoloured dough and boil it to make potato dumplings rather like gnocchi.
TIP: This dough won’t keep long, and it will dry out quite quickly too, but its lots of fun and very edible.
Peppermint cream dough
500g icing sugar
1 egg white
Juice from half a lemon
Peppermint essence
Food colouring
Method
Place the ingredients (minus the colouring) into the food processor and use the pulse feature until you achieve a dough-like consistency. Divide the mixture into three balls and add a different food colour to each ball. Knead the balls until the colour becomes consistent. Add more icing sugar if the mixture becomes too sticky. The let the kids loose with it. Their sugary creations can then be placed on baking paper and left to harden in a cool, dry place.
TIP: Once the peppermint cream dough dries out, you can dip the pieces in melted chocolate and leave them to set. Yummy!
Peanut butter dough
225g smooth peanut butter
500g icing sugar
115g honey
Method
Mix everything together to create a dough-like consistency. At first, it might seem too dry, but the warmth from your hands will soften up the dough to the perfect consistency. It’s great to play with and eat too.
TIP: You can cut out shapes using cookie cutters and set the ‘peanut-butter’ treats in the fridge too.
