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Salt dough recipe

3-ingredient Easy Salt Dough Recipe

An easy salt dough recipe that everyone can make with toddlers and big kids for ornament, handprint or just for fun!
5 from 17 votes
Author: Carine

Materials

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 cup Table salt
  • 1 ½ cups Water lukewarm 37C/98F

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C) in conventional mode, not fan-forced.
  • In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add flour and salt. Give a good stir.
  • Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the lukewarm water.
  • Stand mixer: start kneading the dough with your stand mixer's hook attachment on speed 3 for 5 minutes. The dough is ready when it forms a ball, and it doesn't stick to the sides or bottom of the bowl. If it does, dust more flour until the dough is soft and consistent.
  • Hand mixing: start stirring the dough with a silicone tool then, when it starts to be difficult, knead by hands for 1 minute in the bowl, then keep kneading on a lightly floured surface for 4 minutes until the dough is soft, white, and doesn't stick to your fingers.
  • If the dough is too crumbly, add a splash more of water, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. On the other hand, if it's too wet, dust some extra flour on on the dough and knead to incorporate.

Rolling salt dough

  • Divide the dough ball into 4 smaller balls. It's easier to roll small quantities.
  • Roll between pieces of parchment paper to avoid transfer marks from the rolling pin to the dough - this happened more with wooden roller pins. If you have a glass or silicone rolling pin, you don't need the paper.
  • Roll into a thickness of about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. The thicker the dough is, the longer it bakes, but for handprints, it's better to have a thicker dough, or the handprint won't show very well.
  • Cut out round pieces of dough with a cookie cutter and then use the piece of salt dough to make handprints, dinosaur fossils, or ornaments of choice.

Drying salt dough

  • For thick ornaments or handprints, leave them dry at room temperature overnight or for 3-4 days before transferring in an oven. Make sure the room is not too humid, or the dough will soften.
  • If your creations are small in size (less than 2 inches in diameter) and not too thick (1/4 inch thick), you can bake them immediately.

Oven baking

  • Transfer your creation on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for about 90 minutes, checking every 20 minutes after 60 minutes of baking time to see how the drying process goes. The dough should become white and harden on the edges first, then in the center.

Painting

  • Cool down for 3 hours on a cooling rack before decoration with acrylic paint.
  • Dry the paint and seal the creation with Mod Podge to protect it from the air and keep in for years.