Traditional Salt Dough Recipe
Salt dough is by far my favourite quick and easy homemade clay to use with the kids. I always have the ingredients to hand and can mix up a batch really quickly. I love using this classic salt dough recipe from my own childhood which my mum used to mix up and was given to her by my godmother who used to use it in her classroom back in the 1950’s
This traditional salt dough recipe was originally written in oz but I have converted it to grams (you can find the oz version at the end) as that is what my scales use. It does air dry but will take between 24 hours and a week depending on what your child decides to make, the humidity and the air temperature. With larger models, we tend to air dry but I have used the oven-dry method as well.
Ingredients for the Classic Salt Dough Recipe
500 g plain flour – self raising flour will make the salt dough bubble as it dries especially in the oven.
250 g table salt – any fine cooking salt will work
125 ml warm water
These measurements make around 24 ornaments of a medium cookie cutter size.
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Try these Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments or Christmas Decorations made using this recipe.
How to make Salt dough with Kids
- Mix together the flour and the salt in large bowl
- Add the warm water slowly mixing together at the same time
- When combined turn out onto a lightly floured surface
- Knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic
- This dough can be stored for a couple of weeks in an air tight container or ziplock bag with the air expelled
- Once your ornament is made either leave to air dry or
- Place in the oven at 150C for around 1hr and check it may need longer
Once you have your salt dough made, why not use it to create some beautiful salt dough stained glass stars.
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How Long Do you Cook Salt Dough For?
This is one of the most asked questions here on Rainy Day Mum, how long do you cook salt dough for exactly and the answer isn’t exact I’m afraid.
For a cookie cutter ornament around 1/2cm thick it’s about 1 hour, however, it varies depending on the amount of water that you needed to use for your flour as well as your oven, thickness of the ornament or model that you are drying. So just check it and if it needs longer then put it back in.
Is your Salt Dough Puffing up? Want to know how you can store salt dough or whether it will air dry we have all of these questions answered on our Salt Dough Questions Answered article.
Salt Dough Recipe for Ornaments and Decorations
Recipe Video
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Baking Tray
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 500 g Plain Flour *All Purpose Flour
- 250 g Table Salt
- 125 ml Warm Water Hand Warm
Instructions
- Mix the salt and flour together
- Gradually add the warm water as you mix it together by hand
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface
- Knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth
- Shape and mold as you wish
- Air dry OR bake in the oven for 1 hour+ at 300F (150C) until dry
Notes
More Salt Dough Recipes you may like
Check out these variations on this recipe to make with kids
Cerys Parker
Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.
We used the recipe and needed to add a lot more water to get the dough to form. We used 1.5 cups and it worked perfectly. The dough had a lovely texture. We also experimented with using rock salt to give the ornaments more texture which worked well too.
Thank you for your input, we’re finding that different humidities and flours are needing more or less water this year.
I’m just wondering how long the classic recipe takes to air dry? Thanks
Hi, that really depends on how thick the decoration you’ve made is and how humid and hot your room is. A warm dry environment with a cookie cutter ornaments can dry within 24 – 48 hours but things like Diva’s and sculptures can take up to a week because of the thickness.
Hi! How many dinosaur fossils can you get with one batch of the salt dough?
Hi, it really depends on the size of your dinosaurs that you use to make the fossil. With the small ones, we have in our collection, this batch made 6 “chunky” fossils. If you were careful and not making with toddlers you could use less salt dough per fossil and stretch out the mixture more.
I’m really curious why the ratios for the microwave salt dough and the classic salt dough are different. Here the flour and salt are in equal quantities, whereas the microwave one the salt and water are in equal quantities. I wonder what the science is behind it
I tried out the classic dough in the microwave but for some reason, it ended up soft never really dried almost pastry like on the bottom (as the fabulous Mary Berry would say it has a Soggy Bottom!) It also bubbled more readily so not great for ornaments. However, the microwave dough recipe does also work in the oven and has no problems.
Absolutly love this recipe even when i was a little girl, years on and I have tought my little girls it tweeking a little by adding colouring and small amount of oil they play with it for days like play doh thank you.
Wondering if I can make it a day or so ahead of the lesson… If so how would I store it airtight container? In the fridge? Room temperature?
Hi, Yes I’ve made the salt dough up the night before. I actually stored it in big ziplock bags to take into school. Just sprinkled with a little water in the bag so it didn’t dry out and then inside my work bag to go in the next day.