Play Dough

I love cooked play dough.  I think because my mom used to make it for us on a rainy day and we would sit at the table and play with it all afternoon.  Plus, I love how warm it is when you begin to play with it.

 So here is my mom's cooked recipe.  To make it pumpkin pie play dough, I simply added a couple of teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice to the dry ingredients, and colored it orange.

In a medium pot stir together:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Now add and mix:

1 cup water
1 TBS vegetable oil

Cook over medium heat stirring until it forms a ball.  Remove from heat.  Dump onto a lightly floured surface and knead until no longer sticky.

Separate into balls (however many colors you would like).  Push a finger into the ball to create a well to drop food coloring into.  Then mix by hand.  This was my favorite part as a kid.  My mom would "let" us do this part and our hands got all colored.  If you don't want that mess, then simply add the food coloring in with the wet ingredients while cooking.

Note:  If you want to make a larger batch, it really is best to just remake the recipe instead of doubling it, because you'll end up with lumpy dough.