Apple Pie Playdough

Last fall, when my family tried pumpkin pie playdough, I thought for sure that no other playdough could smell as good as that. Well, this year I followed an impulse and came up with something that smells even better! Apple pie playdough!!! While looking through some old family recipes my aunt recently passed on to me, I began reminiscing over the various dishes that made up our family's Thanksgiving table, especially the desserts... especially the apple pie. Since I'm the only person in my house who eats pie, I figured that making something that just smells like apple pie would be more practical. I decided to dig through my cupboards and try to find something to make apple pie playdough. Adding the apple scent was going to be the hardest part because I had to make sure it wouldn't get too sticky or spoil quickly. I thought about boiling some water with apple slices and adding that to the dough like when we made cranberry playdough, but I didn't think the scent would be strong enough. That's when I came across the box of hot spiced cider mix. It was perfect! I played around with the dough, adding ingredients here and there until it was just right, and it turned out beautifully! Now all I have to do is make the apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cranberry doughs together for a playtime that smells like Thanksgiving!

This is the recipe I came up with:
3/4 cups boiling water
Approximately 1 1/2 cups plain flour, divided
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 packet hot spiced cider mix
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix 1 cup of flour, salt, cream of tartar, spiced cider, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add vegetable oil and boiling water and stir until well-mixed and a sticky dough forms. About a tablespoon at a time, add the remaining flour and knead until the dough is no longer sticky.