Can you imagine how sweet these cinnamon dough ornaments smell? Rich, dark brown ornaments imprinted with leaves and scented with apple and cinnamon couldn’t be a more suitable craft for the holidays! Cinnamon dough ornaments are very easy to make, and with a few tips you will have the perfect consistency of dough to transform into decoration.
It’s a shame that you can’t smell these cinnamon dough ornaments through your screen because the aroma is amazing: tummy-warming sweet spiced apples. It wafts throughout the house as you make them and will continue to scent the Christmas tree for years to come.
I love this recipe so much more than the traditional salt dough ornaments. They appear so much more rustic to me, especially with the leaf imprints. Plus, salt dough lacks the key part of what makes these ornaments so amazing…the cinnamon smell!
CINNAMON DOUGH ORNAMENT RECIPE
If you are looking for a Christmas ornament crafting project this year, you won’t be disappointed. Designed to resemble gingerbread, this cinnamon dough ornament recipe only requires three ingredients.
Since they are made of only non-perishable ingredients, they will last for many Christmases. But don’t be fooled by the smell! This cinnamon dough is not edible as this recipe includes glue to help hold them together.
Since you won’t be eating this dough, don’t waste your money on expensive spices. Besides cinnamon, you can also use allspice, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice if those scents are more up your alley!
Materials
Makes approximately 10 ornaments. See the recipe card at the end of this post for exact measurements.
- Ground cinnamon
- Natural unsweetened applesauce
- White glue
- Rolling pin
- Mason jar
- Evergreen leaves
- Straw
- Dehydrator (optional)
Make It!
Mix together the cinnamon and applesauce. Then add the glue. At first, the mixture may feel dry, but set aside the spoon and get in there and mix the dough with your hands. The more you mix and knead the cinnamon dough, the better the consistency.
Mix the dough into a smooth surface that has a light dusting of cinnamon and knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Roll the ball out to 1/2-inch-thick circle.
If the edges are splitting, knead the dough again and roll it out until the edges are smooth. Use cinnamon as you would flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or rolling pin.
Press evergreen leaves into the dough and gently roll over them with the rolling pin to get a strong impression.
Use the mason jar to cut circle shapes out around the leaf imprints. You could also use cookie cutters to cut out different shapes.
Use a straw to make a hole in the ornament for the string.
Set the ornaments on the trays of a dehydrator for 6-10 hours. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can dry them in the oven at 200 degrees for a few hours.
Keep an eye on them to make sure they dry and don’t bake. They can also air dry, but it will take much longer. This is a wonderful project to do before you have guests coming over because it makes the house smell Christmassy!
Thread some baker’s twine through the ornaments when they are dry, and they are ready to hang on the tree or give as gifts. I like to include them with the gift tag on presents for an extra, delicious-smelling touch. By the way, here are some of my other favourite eco-friendly ways to decorate gifts.
FAQ About Cinnamon Dough Ornaments
When you’re ready to pack up Christmas, you can store your ornaments to use again next year. While they are fairly sturdy, they might crack and crumble if handled roughly. To store them, wrap and layer them in tissue paper and place them in a zip lock bag.
Cinnamon dough ornaments can last for years as long as you properly store them. If they begin to crack or fall apart, you can always make a new batch. Personally, I like making a batch every year just because I love the smell. It’s also a fun activity to do with the kiddo!
Over time, you may find that your cinnamon dough ornaments lose their potency. If you want to refresh the scent of cinnamon, you can use cinnamon leaf or bark essential oil. Since the scent is quite strong, you don’t need a lot. With a dropper, drop 1-2 drops on the ornaments and let them sit until dry. If you want a different scent other than cinnamon, other great options include all allspice, anise, clove, ginger, juniper, peppermint, pine, wintergreen, spruce, vanilla, and frankincense.
More Christmas Projects
- DIY Gift Idea: Natural Beauty Projects to Make and Give
- Natural and Recycled Gift Wrap Ideas
- Christmas Simmering Spices
- How to Make Wax Melts with All-Natural Ingredients
Cinnamon Dough Ornaments
Supplies
- 1 cup ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp white glue
- Rolling pin
- Mason jar
- Evergreen leaves
- Straw
- Dehydrator optional
Instructions
- Mix your cinnamon and applesauce. Once mixed, add in your glue. The more you knead the dough, the better the consistency will get.
- Dust your countertop with cinnamon. Knead the dough into a smooth ball and then roll it out to a 1/2 inch circle. If edges split, put it back into a ball and re-roll until smooth. Use cinnamon as you might flour to avoid keeping the dough from sticking.
- Press evergreen leaves into the dough to create imprints. Roll them gently with the rolling pin.
- Use a Mason jar (or cookie cutters) to cut out the shapes around the leaf imprints.
- Make a hole for the string with a straw.
- Use a dehydrator and set ornaments on a tray for 6-10 hours. Alternatively, place them in an oven at 200 degrees for a few hours. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't dry out or bake.
- Thread twine through the ornaments once dry and hang them on the tree.
This was also an epic fail for me. Followed the recipe exactly as written and ended up with a mess. It was way too moist and resembled something I’d rather not knead (even though I tried!) Not sure if type of cinnamon or temperature of applesauce affects it… so bummed!
Hi Salena, it does take some time in the kneading process for it to combine well. Many folks have used this recipe over the years with success, it’s older than I am! I used a big jar of costco cinnamon, basic unsweetened applesauce, and Elmer’s glue. There is always a point when I’m making them that I get kneading fatigue and feel like the dough wont come together, but it always does. Just takes time to knead it. Cinnamon is ground bark, and so it takes a while for the apple sauce and glue to mix in around all the particles.
Great recipe! I’ve chosen the oven method to dry them, but I’m wondering if a few hours means three hours in the oven at 200 degrees?
It depends on so many factors like how thick they are, overall size, spacing on the tray, oven, etc… but at 200 degrees just set a timer to check them every hours and you will know when they are done.
Some applesauce is thinner than others. I make smaller ornaments for small trees. I dry mine in the air. I line a cookie sheet with foil then wax paper as the cookie sheet will absorb the cinnamon smell if you use it to bake. It takes a few days maybe a week for the ornaments to dry. I still have some old ornaments left in zip bags and they still smell great Over the last 25 plus years I have made close to 2000 ornaments. Hope this helps everyone.
I’m looking for a more brownish colored ornaments, any suggestions on what I could use?
Do not want something that is to strong as a smell.
Also can you add paint to these?
maybe look up salt dough ornaments?