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Project: Cinnamon Schtick
My mom gave me the recipe for these cinnamon ornaments a while ago and this is only the second time I've made them. The first batch I made are stored in my Christmas ornament box, and let me tell you, when I open the box it smells like Christmas. As Pat so quaintly says, "It smells like a cinnamon stick farted in here!" These ornaments are also non-toxic so just in case someone in your household decides to nibble on them, you won't be taking them to the vet/emergency room on Christmas Eve.
What you'll need:
- 3/4 cup of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons of ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon of ground nutmet
- 1 cup of applesauce
- cookie cutters
- rolling pin
- baking sheet
- cling film or wax paper
Mix your dry ingredients first, add the applesauce and then mix. Don't be tempted to add more apple sauce until after the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. It'll look pretty dry at first, but then the apple sauce starts taking over.
Keep mixing that stuff together until it resembles some really nice dirt- not too sticky and not too dry. If it's too dry, add a little bit of apple sauce, if it's too wet, add more cinnamon. It should be able to hold its shape when you smoosh it in your hand. Place the cinnamon mixture in-between two pieces of wax paper or cling film and roll it out until it's approx. a quarter of an inch thick.
Find an appropriate cookie cutter and cut out your shapes. You can take the remaining scraps, ball them up and roll them out again to make more. This is a great project for kids, just as long as they're old enough to be able to handle the fact that they won't be eating these when they're finished baking!
If you want to make them into ornaments that hang, make a small hole with a chopstick before you dry them. To dry them out, stick them in an oven set at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours (flip them halfway through drying) or let them dry out in the open for 2-3 days...you decide. Your kitchen will smell fantastic either way.
When they finished drying I strung them together using some embroidery floss and an embroidery needle. I think they'd work well as Christmas ornaments on the tree, threaded on a garland, tied to Christmas presents...or you could also just let your kid play with them.
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