Basic Cooked Playdough

We do a lot of playdough play here, in fact we usually try to vary up our playdough play every month or so. Although there are a lot of different non-cook playdough recipes out there, we're still a big fan of a basic cooked playdough.

All of our playdough recipes stem from this basic recipe, which we've finally decided to share!

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: 

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large cooking pot, whisk ingredients together. 

2. Mix the wet ingredients in a measuring cup or bowl. (When I want to color our playdough I typically add the food coloring in with the wet ingredients.) The vanilla not only adds a slight nice smell to the playdough, it seems to help with the consistency. 

3. Add the wet ingredients to the pot and stir until fully mixed. Place on the stove and turn the heat onto medium. Stir continuously as the playdough cooks. 

4. Continue stirring until the dough begins to lump together. When it is fully formed together as a large, sticky, ball remove the pot from the heat. Let cool for several moments and then turn onto a smooth surface and knead until smooth. (If you decide you want to add glitter this is the point I usually add glitter in.) 

5. Let cool a little bit longer and then it's ready to play with! Store in an airtight container or a sealed ziplock bag. Our playdough usually lasts for about a month if it is stored correctly. 

Looking for some great ideas on variations of our basic cooked playdough? Check out these posts below: 

Fall Spice Playdough

Build-A-Road Playdough

Spring Flower Playdough Play

Vanilla Surprise Cake Playdough

This post may also have been shared at some of these terrific link parties.