Gingerbread Salt Dough Cookie Ornaments

We hosted a Woodland Holiday Tea Party last week at the park where explorers were invited to mix their own tea using lavender, mint and cranberries. We put all the tea bags in a communial tea pot and took a stroll down to our play space so it could steep.

Our literary guide, Miss Naomi, read us a new favorite story, Bear's Winter Party by Deborah Hodge, while sipping on tea and munching on cookies friends brought to share. The Gingerbread Salt Dough Cookie Ornaments (a mouthful) were SO cute, fragrant and even more beautiful once painted. Explorers decorated them with "frosting," using paintbrushes and piping bags then placed them in a holiday cookie tin to dry + hang at home.

We couldn't resist sharing the salt dough cookie recipe with you - it smells so good, somehow even more fragrant a week later!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup table salt (i've also used kosher salt because it's what I had on hand, and both works.)

1/4 cup ground cinnamon

2 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup water

In a mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Slowly add the water and mix until ingredients are fully combined. You want the consistency to be just like cookie dough and not sticky. You can adjust by adding more flour or water as needed. I've mixed by hand and with a mixer; it depends on your preference.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness and cut with cookie cutters. If you'd like to turn them into ornaments, poke a hole in them using a straw.

Re-roll until you have enough to fill a sheet pan (lined with parchment) or a wire rack and bake in the oven for about 2 hours or until hardened.

Cool completely before handling or decorating, hang with twine or whatever string you have aon hand!