Salt Dough (2024)

FAQs

How do you know when salt dough is baked enough? ›

Bake the dough at 250 degrees F or about 2 hours. You want to bake them until they're hardened. They will harden a little more once you remove them from the oven and let them cool but you want them to have a good hard texture before you remove them from the oven.

Use a paper lollipop stick or a skewer to make a hole to hang as an ornament. If making ornaments, bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours; if baking handprints, bake for 2-3 hours. Continue baking both ornaments and handprints as needed until they are until just firm to the touch, checking every 20 minutes.

Your finished salt dough sculptures can either be air-dried or oven-dried to set.

Bake the Salt Dough Ornaments

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the sheet of ornaments in the oven and bake for 2-3 hours turning them over halfway through.

If you overcook them, they tend to bubble up.

Without salt, your dough will rise faster than it normally would, leading to less flavor development and a weaker structure. To incorporate the salt, mix it with a few teaspoons of water. Return your dough to the mixer, tear it into three to six pieces, and drizzle the liquid on top.

Note: The dough should be soft and not too stiff or sticky. If it's difficult to work with, adjust the texture by adding a spoonful of water (if it's too stiff) or a spoonful of flour (if it's too wet or sticky) at a time.

Knead dough for 10 minutes. Wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. Transfer dough to a floured work surface and knead until soft and pliable. Roll out to a thickness of 1/8 inch; cut desired festive shapes with cookie cutters.

The dough will look and feel almost like playdough when it's all combined. If the dough is a little too sticky, add a little more flour until it's the right consistency. You can shape the salt dough just like clay and playdough. Roll it out thin and use cookie cutters or make your own shapes and figures.

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.

What to do if salt dough is too sticky? ›

If your dough feels too sticky, you've likely added too much water. Go back to the mixing step and add a 4:1 mixture of flour and salt, a little at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky. You can also try rolling the dough out between sheets of parchment paper.

You can let salt dough air dry or bake it, but microwaving it is the fastest way to dry the dough.

Once baked, they will harden and can be painted and decorated after they cooled down! The baking time for salt dough depends on the thickness of the dough. In general you need to bake the salt dough creations over two hours on a temperature no higher than 120°C. As you're baking it keep checking your creations.

Sealing your salt dough ornaments prevents them from becoming moldy and or cracking/crumbling. Any environment can cause salt dough to mold, even when extra precautions are taken. Once sealed, they are guaranteed to last a lifetime. This way, you can continue to enjoy your families memories, year after year.

Microwave. The quickest method to dry dough is in the microwave, but the dough will probably rise a bit. If you want a speedy technique and your kids aren't fussy, it takes about 1 minute – check it every 10 seconds.

In general you need to bake the salt dough creations over two hours on a temperature no higher than 120°C. As you're baking it keep checking your creations. Overcooking the salt dough creations could lead to bubbles or cracks.

Salt absorbs water, so left unsealed, the salt in the dough is just going to absorb the water from the air around you. In places with high humidity, your salt dough gift could be soggy in a few days!!