Today, Yehoshua (3), Eliyahu (1) and I made some homemade edible play dough!

I have had the recipe saved for over a year, but either didn't have the ingredients, the time, or the energy to actually try it. I have been going through my mountains of torn-out "must try this one sometime" recipes, trying to save only the ones that we'll actually try someday (which is a big folder full, even still!).

When I found the play dough recipe, I decided that today would just have to be the day. :)

Here was our recipe -- taken from last year's No Greater Joy calendar. :)

Edible Play Dough

1 cup honey
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups powdered milk

Directions: In a mixing bowl, combine honey and peanut butter until smooth. Add enough dry milk powder to form a dough. Knead and add additional milk powder if necessary. Play and enjoy! :)

Yehoshua and Eliyahu loved helping me make the play dough. They got to taste the peanut butter as I measured it. Then we measured the honey.

Yehoshua stirred for me, and did a great job of it, too! Eliyahu tried to get into the peanut butter jar. Then we added the dry milk.

This was where things got a little tricky. I had to use my hands to knead the dough because it was getting stiff, but it was still sticky. I think that perhaps the honey I used made a difference, because mine was raw -- dark and thin -- honey from someone local, as opposed to the thick, very light-colored honey I've bought in the store.

At any rate, I had to add at least double the powdered milk to make a dough. My hands were full of peanut butter by the time I realized that I needed more milk powder, so I had Yehoshua pour from the really-full-and-really-heavy box. Most of the milk did end up in the mixing bowl, though our kitchen floor did feel a little crunchy afterwards. ;) And obviously, I don't have any photos from that part of the making. ;)

Both boys loved playing with the dough, and they even ate a fair amount, too -- especially Eliyahu, who stuffed his mouth full and then asked for more. :)

Overall, I thought the dough worked well for play dough. I didn't care for the taste (probably since I had needed to add so much extra powdered milk!), though I'm thinking of using some flaked coconut for part of the powdered milk next time. I also wish I would have only made half the recipe, because it looks like a lot of play dough for us to get eaten, especially since I don't like it myself. ;)

But hey, if the children end up actually eating it all, I guess it's a frugal little project for them... and smells a lot nicer than play dough from the store. :) More frugal links, posts, and tips at Crystal's blog -- check them out! :)