Play Dough Recipe

Basic Play Dough Recipe

1 cup white flour, bleached, not whole wheat and not self-rising
¼ cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup water
Drops of food coloring (optional)

Kool-Aid Playdough Recipe

1 cup flour (see first recipe)
¼ cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 package Kool-Aid (Adds color and aroma!)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water

Stiffer Playdoh Recipe

1 cup flour (see first recipe)
½ cup salt
1-½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water

For all the recipes, combine the flour, salt, cream of tartar (and Kool-Aid) in a saucepan first. Stir in the oil and water.

Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. As soon as it starts pulling away from the sides and starting to form a ball, take off the heat. It will resemble store bought Playdoh. If the bottom thickens too quickly, turn the heat down and continue to stir. Don’t worry. The lumps will knead out. ;)

The green dough needs a little more cooking. Notice how the purple dough has stiffened up and is ready to knead. Knead it until it's smooth and elastic.

No Cream of Tartar? There are a few recipes out there that substitute with equal amounts of baking soda and baking powder for the cream of tartar. Amy contacted me to say that she used half baking soda and half baking powder in place of cream of tartar - recipe called for 1 tablespoon. And it seems to have worked just fine. It looks a little sticky but isn't and molds like normal! Thanks, Amy!

I learned that cream of tartar will make your play dough more elastic and smooth while extending the shelf life. You don't have to use it at all if you prefer, but I do think it makes a nicer play dough...just my two cents. :)

Update on Cream of Tartar: One nice reader emailed me to share her experience...I made a recipe a few weeks ago and ran out of cream of tartar in the middle of measuring it- and I subbed half baking soda and half baking powder- and at first it seemed to work, then later when I stored it in a Ziploc, I went to check it and it had become one big sticky yucky gooey mess, and I had to throw it out. Definitely, the cream of tartar keeps it smooth and more elastic! Thanks, Eileen!

To Store: Double wrap, first cover in plastic wrap, then place in a plastic bag. You want it as airtight as possible, otherwise it gets hard. Once it’s hard, adding water just isn’t the same as when you originally cooked it. (Speaking of cooked...have you tried the uncooked version?)

No need to store in the refrigerator. Keeps for months, if not years (if you wrap it back up as soon as you’re done playing with it!) We purchased a cheap plastic container for storing the playdough and all the fun toys in. Keeps everything together and makes for easy clean-up, too!

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