Salt dough

Xmas stuff is finally getting going in this house. I decided the children were old enough to attempt some salt dough decorations this year and found a recipe here*.

Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

Ingredients
½ cup salt
1 cup flour
½ cup water
a few drops food colouring


Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 120 degrees Celsius (250 Fahrenheit).

2. Mix together, salt, flour, water, and food colouring until dough is formed.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.



5. Use cookie cutters to cut out whatever shapes you want.



6. Use a straw to cut out a little hole in each one... the straw will make perfect little circles.



7. Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.



8. Bake for 2 hours.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

10. Paint however you like.. you can even add glitter. The food colouring means you don't have to paint them if you don't want to. Allow to dry.




11. Seal with a final coat of pva glue or varnish. This seals in the glitter and means they will last longer.



12. Thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot to make a hanging loop.




We had lots of fun with this, and even made enough to give some as presents!



*as an aside I wrote this afew days ago, but was waiting on the photos. Before I got a chance to post it Poppy Mom posted the same recipe on her blog.... and she uses a straw to make the holes too!

Oaty Cookies

It's difficult to find snacks and biscuits for the family when The Comedian can't have wheat, Povey can't have dairy, and I'm not supposed to have either!

When I get a chance I bake them myself and these little oaty cookies go down well with everyone... hence the name "vanishing"! The original recipe was off a pack of oats, but I have adapted it over time to suit our tastes...dairy/wheat-free, less sugar, more cinnamon etc.

Vanishing Mini Oats and Raisins cookies

Ingredients:
½ pound/2 sticks/ 226g dairy-free margarine, softened
1 cup/220g firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups/180g Dove's farm gluten and wheat-free white self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups/ 150g Oats (uncooked)
1 cup/ 40g raisins

Steps:

1. Preheat Oven to 175 Degrees C.
2. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugar until creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time followed by vanilla extract, beat till well combined.
4. Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon, mix well.
5. Add oats and raisins, mix well.
6. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.
7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

I find that wheat-free cookies tend not to spread much when they bake, so require a little shaping before you pop them in the oven. They are also more crumbly than normal cookies, although that's improved if you can resist eating them before they're fully cooled! If you don't want to make them wheat/dairy free, then just replace the flour and margarine. Also this recipe makes loads of cookies, (as you can see from the photos... that last batch was 90 cookies!) so if you don't need that many just halve the recipe amounts.

Enjoy :)