What's better than soft, flexible homemade playdough? Homemade playdough that smells like CHOCOLATE! This recipe has the consistency of sugar cookie dough, but not as sticky as the tubes of cookie dough that you can buy in the refrigerator section at the grocery store.
We decided to just stick to plain chocolate, but you could easily add a teaspoon of vanilla or peppermint extract to this recipe without impacting the texture. Keep in mind that the scent will linger on your hands after playing, so if that's a concern it may be best to just stick with plain chocolate. The smell isn't as strong with that.
All of the ingredients in this recipe are edible, so if you are working with children who like to put things in their mouths, this is a safe option. However, I would still watch carefully because of the content of salt. While the recipe smells good, it tastes like salty flour so it shouldn't encourage consumption. Because of the good smell, this could even be an opportunity for a child who has seen growth with oral fixation as an additional challenge.
We used a stand mixer to incorporate ingredients, but a large bowl and spoon would also work fine. I measured out each of the ingredients beforehand because my helper was 4 years old, but we purposely kept the measurements simple if you are working with a child for whom measuring each item would be developmentally appropriate.
I think it helps to drizzle the oil over the dry ingredients as opposed to dumping it in one spot, but as long as you mix the dough enough, it really shouldn't matter. I added the boiling water in myself while the mixer was going to prevent my little helper from scalding herself, but again use your judgment of what's developmentally appropriate for the child you are working with. Be sure to check the temperature of the dough before you start kneading with your hands.
The resulting dough should be soft, but not sticky. Even after playing with it for a while there wasn't much residue on our hands or on the counter. Cleanup was a breeze!
This dough has enough structure to cut out shapes, but it still soft enough to write in or press designs into rolled out dough. Lots of opportunities for fine motor skills
Store this in a plastic bag and try to squeeze out any extra air so that it doesn't dry out. The salt does act as a preservative, but I would still only keep for a week. When I left a portion of it in a ball on the counter, the dough developed a bit of a crusty exterior after 20 minutes or so, but it quickly dissolved into the rest of the dough as we worked with it.
Chocolate Playdough
2 cups of all-purpose flour ½ cup of cocoa ½ cup of table salt 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar 1 ½ cups of boiling water 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil Add vanilla extract or peppermint extract, optional. Place all-purpose flour in a bowl; add cocoa, salt, cream of tartar and mix until combined thoroughly. Drizzle oil over dry ingredients. Slowly add boiling water and stir quickly by hand or use low speed on a stand mixer. **Note: use caution with boiling water, consider having an adult do this step.** Take the dough out of the bowl and knead the dough until the texture is smooth. For a firmer consistency add four. If the dough is too sticky add a few drops of vegetable oil. When finished playing store in a small plastic container with lid or plastic sandwich bag and store in a cool dry place.
