Kool-Aid Play Dough

I’m pretty honest when I test out things I’ve seen elsewhere – whether it works or not, whether it’s as easy as people claim, etc.  I actually saw a LOT of variations on this recipe when I looked into it.  The one that popped up most often is the one I finally used.  As well as it worked out, I have to say – people must be using food coloring in their photos, because my dough came out a little dull, especially the yellow/lemonade one.

I opted for three batches: orange, grape, and lemonade.

Recipe:

1 packet Kool-Aid
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c. boiling water

I made up 3 batches in 30 minutes.  Because you use boiling water, it needs some time to cool before you can knead it properly with your hands, which is a great time to get to work on your next batch.  If I had made just one color, it probably would have taken me at least 20 minutes anyway.

Put your flour and salt into a medium-sized bowl, and stir in the Kool-Aid packet.  Sift these dry ingredients together really well.  The better it’s mixed when it’s dry, the less you’ll need to knead it to even out the color when it’s hot.  While I was stirring these up, I set 1 c. of water on to boil.  I honestly use my microwave, since it takes less than 2 minutes to boil, but I use this method often.  You do want to be careful if you use the microwave to heat water, because it can become superheated, and can cause your recipes to explode (which can burn you).  I could go into all the science behind this, but I’ll spare you – suffice it to say, if you don’t often use the microwave to boil water, be really careful or stick to the stovetop method.

Once your dry ingredients are really well-mixed, add your 1 c. of boiling water and 2 Tbsp. of oil.  Use a spoon to stir it – it’s WAY too hot to touch right now.

Once I got it about this stirred, I couldn’t make any more headway with a spoon.  I let it cool, worked on my other batches, and came back to knead it once it cooled off.

The texture is just right, and I liked that it didn’t require a trip to the store to buy cream of tartar like a lot of the recipes I saw.  Plus, the Kool-Aid makes it scented (though my husband thinks it still smells like clay, and not fruit).

I was so excited to let Raya try it out!  And wouldn’t you know it, Miss Skeptical wasn’t sure what to make of it.  This is about as experimental as she got:

 Oh well… I read it keeps for quite a while in an airtight container. :) Maybe she’ll be braver on another day.

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