Fast and Easy, Edible Play Dough
The other day my youngest wanted to play with play dough, but sadly ours was dried up. My mom used to make us salt dough as kids, but I’ve often thought that fondant would make great play dough and be much better tasting than salt dough. So I tried it!
Two of my daughters took a cake making class a couple of years ago, so we’re pros at fondant around here. I just throw all the ingredients in my Bosch mixer and the dough hook takes care of it all.
This stuff is completely edible — they do use it on cakes after all — which makes it great for tiny kids who happen to put everything in their mouths. My bigger kids loved it too, though! It’s soft, squishy, and so yummy smelling!
Combine the following in your electric mixer, using a dough hook:
- 1 c. light corn syrup
- 1c. shortening
- 2 lb. powdered sugar
Add the powdered sugar in slow increments, continually scraping the sides of the bowl. Before you add all of the powdered sugar, touch the play dough and, if it feels at all sticky, add the rest of the powdered sugar in. You may need a little more than 2 lb. because you do NOT want sticky, messy play-doh. It should be soft and pliable, but not at all sticky.
Separate the dough into however many colors and flavors you want to make. I made 3 different colors. Put one part back into the mixer and add a packet of flavor/color mix to it. I used a ‘Cherry Limeade’ Great Value brand drink mix for the red, a lemon jello mix for the yellow and a lime jello mix for the green. You can use whatever drink or jello mixes you have on hand — their purpose is to flavor and color your dough. The beauty of this play dough is that it’s quick and easy, and doesn’t require a trip to the store. Mix it until the powder is thoroughly combined. Our red and green turned out great, but I did add yellow food coloring to get a vibrant enough color.
Quickly clean the mixer and do the same thing for the next color. Repeat the process for however many colors and flavors you want.
Roll your play dough into sections and make sure they aren’t crumbly or sticky. If you accidentally added a little too much powdered sugar, don’t worry! Just sprinkle a little olive oil onto the play dough and knead! Problem solved!
Store your play dough in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator. When your kids want to play with it again, leave it out for 30 minutes to warm and reach room temperature because it will harden in the fridge. Once it’s at room temperature, add a little olive oil to the dough if necessary and it will be as good as new! Our dough balls shrank by the week as my kids pinched off “tastes” while they played, until it disappeared completely.
My kids’ favorite thing about this fun, fast, easy edible play dough was making and eating food stuff, like spaghetti with meatballs and donuts. Of course I wouldn’t let them eat fondant every day, or even every week, but it won’t hurt them occasionally.
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How fun! I love that you CAN eat it; makes it something younger kids could play with.
-Lauren
Absolutely! That’s the best part!
oh i am so excited to make this with the little ones!
Have lots of fun!
You know, I had always wondered what exactly was in fondant. I bet the kids would love this, thanks for sharing.
There are different types of fondant, too. This is the yummiest, in my opinion, though I’m not a huge fondant fan. My least favorite type is made with marshmallows. My kids really like marshmallow fondant, though, and I bet it would work well as play dough — I’m totally going to try it next!
I’ve never seen playdoh without flour! This looks so easy!
It’s totally easy, you should give it a try!
I love how this is edible! My 2 year old always tries to eat it and I’m so grossed out lol This is way less stressful.
Lol! Yep, definitely less stressful! 🙂