citrus: Edible play dough

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching some kids. We were playing with play dough, a favorite pass time of my little ones. When the neighbor kids watched in disgust as my 18 month old licked her play dough, the thought occurred to me that maybe I should try some of the edible play dough recipes. I began my search. There are lots out there, but none of them looked very appetizing...to me anyway. I didn't really want to waste my ingredients on a not-so-good recipe. How would I know which one was worth the effort?

Then last week the same neighbor kids came over. They convinced me to try several of the recipes and figure out which ones were the best, with their help of course. Here are our top two picks: the classic peanut butter play dough and the chocolate play dough. We were looking for two things, ease of molding without sticking to your hands or tools and taste. Both of these are yummy and fun to mold.

Peanut Butter Play Dough

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, using your hands. Dough should feel soft and pliable.

The kids loved this one mostly because it tasted so good. mmmm....s w e e t n e s s! It was easy to shape and not sticky at all.

Chocolate Play Dough

8 oz. semisweet chocolate

1/4 cup light corn syrup

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler). Stir the chocolate with a spoon until smooth, then stir in the corn syrup. The chocolate will stiffen almost immediately but stir until completely combined. Transfer the chocolate to a sturdy plastic bag and refrigerate until firm; the consistency will be that of play dough.

Another use of this recipe which I love is shaping the dough into a rope or braid that can be used as the outside edge on top of a cake or around the base.

One mistake we made with this one is we didn't wait for it to cool long enough. Even though the dough felt cool, it was still too soft. It left a residue on our hands. You really need to wait until it is firm yet pliable, maybe an hour or more. The chocolate play dough was nice for molding because it kept its shape. This was my personal favorite. mmmm....c h o c o l a t e!

We added a few other edible items for decorating. The kids had a great time and my 18 month old didn't get dirty looks for licking her play dough. Who says you can't play with your food and eat your toys?!