Gingerbread Scented Salt Dough Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you add scent to salt dough? ›

Simply add the salt and flour together and mix to form a soft but not sticky dough. If the dough feels too wet you can add in more flour, alternatively if it feels dry just simply add in more water. Next you need to add your scent and colour. You can use any herbs, flowers, spices or essences and oils for your scents.

The salt dough worked perfectly for making mini gingerbread houses. If you wanted to make larger houses, you would have to adjust the baking time, and might want to make the dough slightly thicker so it would be stronger. Thicker dough means even longer baking time.

Salt dough is very simple to make, basically just flour, salt and water, and when you bake it it becomes very hard and will last forever if you keep it dry and clean.

Simple Scented Bath Salt Recipe

In a mixing bowl, add drops of the essential oil to the bath salt and mix well. Store in a glass jar. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the scented salts to a bath for a soothing, luxurious experience!

Mix together flour and salt in a bowl. Stir in water and drops of essential oil - combine until smooth. Use some extra flour to lightly dust countertop. Roll out dough until it's around ¼ inch thick.

The great thing about it is that the salt dough sculptures will harden if you leave them out to dry at room temperature. Depending on the size of the pieces, it will take 2 to 7 days to dry completely. Turn the pieces from time to time for faster drying. Oven dry the salt dough pieces.

Mineral-rich sea salt or Himalayan salt is much healthier to eat but doesn't work as well for DIY salt dough ornaments. Regular, cheap table salt from the cardboard canister at the store makes the best salt dough.

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

Sadly, it's unlikely that you can repair a salt dough piece to look like it did before, says crafter and longtime Martha Stewart Living contributor Silke Stoddard. Much like trying to repair a baked cookie—you can't go back to the dough the way it was unbaked.

Once you've formed your salt dough, you can cook the creations in the oven to make them set. Once baked, they will harden and can be painted and decorated after they cooled down!

What do you seal salt dough with? ›

Mod Podge.

It's important to seal your ornaments once they're dried, so that they don't absorb moisture from the air. Use Mod Podge (in matte) to seal the dough and give them a more finished look.

Molasses and honey hardens gingerbread, but as the sugar absorbs moisture, it will get softer.” Cookbook author and ”Great American Baking Show” winner Vallery Lomas likes a gingerbread cookie that's packed with flavor. “I want to taste a lot of the spices ― especially ginger,” she said.

A typical gingerbread has molasses and possibly sour cream also, the bicarbonate not only balances the acidity of the molasses and sour cream flavorwise, but it leavens the gingerbread in the process.

Make sure your oven is set to 150°f. This is SUPER IMPORTANT. I have seen others use hotter temperatures but I haven't been able to do so without getting puffiness. So, plain all-purpose flour, 150ºf oven and 1/4 inch thickness = no puffy ornaments.

If you want to make scented ornaments, add some essential oil to your dough. I added 5 drops of Lavender oil. You may want to use gloves if you are mixing with your hands since some oils can be irritating to the skin, if undiluted.

Let the dough cool slightly and then add 30-40 drops essential oil. Here are some essential oil options, but you can use any essential oil you'd like: 30 drops cinnamon. 30 drops peppermint.

Also, if you have used alcohol inks, watercolors, or acrylic paint on salt dough, I highly recommend a light spray sealant as your first coat. This helps seal the color, and prevents bleeding or smearing. You can then apply a second and/or third coat of sealant as desired.

Add the cooking oil to make the dough soft, pliable and smoother. Put some of the dough on the baking paper, use your rolling pin and use your cookie cutter to make various shapes for hanging decorations or napkin rings. You can also mold the dough to make figurines or sculptures.