Spicy Christmas Ornaments
Submitted by cheryll
Cinnamon applesauce Christmas ornaments: scented dough ornaments made from cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and applesauce. Not edible, but they smell like Christmas for months.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
0 minREADY
3 daysThese are not cookies. Don’t eat them. They look like holiday cookies, but cinnamon-applesauce ornaments are a 100-year-old craft tradition where ground spices and applesauce form a clay-like dough that air-dries into rock-hard, fragrant decorations. Hung on the tree, tucked in a drawer, or strung as garlands, they perfume your home for the entire holiday season and last for years.
The ratio is what makes them work: roughly 7 ounces of ground spices to 1 cup applesauce. The applesauce binds the dry spice powder into a workable clay-like consistency, then evaporates during drying to leave a hard, scented disc. Cinnamon is the bulk spice (4 ounces), with cloves, nutmeg, and ginger providing depth and complexity.
The drying process takes 3 to 5 days at room temperature. Turning every 12 hours prevents curling and ensures even drying on both sides. They’re done when they’re hard and don’t bend when pressed. Adding a dab of cinnamon oil revives the scent if it fades over time.
Kids love making these. Perfect family activity with rolling pins, cookie cutters, and zero baking required. Just remember to drill the hanging hole BEFORE drying, not after.
Pro Tips
- Buy spices in bulk from a spice shop. The amounts called for would be ruinously expensive in supermarket jars.
- Roll on aluminum foil so you can transfer ornaments without breaking them.
- Pierce the hanging hole while dough is wet. Trying to drill dried ornaments cracks them.
- Store between layers of tissue paper when not in use.
Variations
- Add 1 tablespoon glue (Elmer’s) to the dough for extra durability.
- Press whole cloves, dried orange peel, or star anise into the surface for visual interest.
- Tie with raffia, twine, or ribbon for rustic country tree decorations.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine everything and blend with your hands until dough is smooth.
Add more applesauce if necessary.
Divide dough into quarters.
Sprinkle counter with cinnamon and roll out portion of dough to ¼ inch thick.
Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to cookie sheet.
Pierce with skewer to form hole for hanging.
Turn ornaments every 12 hours and examine until they are dry.
This takes 3 to 5 days.
When the ornaments lose their scent, dab on oil of cinnamon.
Note: Roll out dough on aluminum foil and move the foil onto the cookie sheet.
It will help the ornaments keep their shape.
Note: You can alter the amounts as long as you use about 7 oz ground spices to 1 cup applesauce.
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