The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe
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The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

I shared my popular regular white flour playdough recipe a few weeks ago. It’s taken me a few weeks to come up with the best gluten-free playdough recipe. My daughter teaches preschool and she makes regular playdough all the time. But, she needed a recipe to make some gluten-free playdough for a few of her students. I remember a reader trying to make my regular recipe with gluten-free flour 1:1 ratio packages, and she said it didn’t work.

Well, I learned a few things. Red unsweetened drink mixes don’t work for either recipe, and I don’t know why. I kept adding more flour to try and make it work but finally gave up. Green apple unsweetened drink mix works great, and so does blue raspberry. Today, I tried grape flavored and it worked great too.

I also learned that King Arthur’s brand 1:1 gluten-free flour does not work in my recipe. But, Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 flour does work. Who would have guessed, right? A girl in one of the preschool classes mentioned her mom only uses Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour. I ordered some and went to work to figure out the right recipe. So, here it is my friends!

In case you missed my other post, The Best Homemade Playdough Recipe

Don’t forget the cookie cutters, the kids love playing with different shapes as they “play” with their playdough. Oh, and mini rolling pins are always a big hit!

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

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Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

Step One: Gather Ingredients

Gather your ingredients so you can start your recipe.

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

Step Two: Mix All Ingredients

Mix all the ingredients (no cooking required) in a mixer (I use my KitchenAid or my Bosch). 

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

Step Three: Mix Until Thickened

Keep mixing the playdough, it will thicken up. If you think it’s not thick enough, add a little more flour, 1/2 cup to one cup at a time.

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

Step Four: Check Consistency

This should be the consistency shown below. Not too dry and not too runny.

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

Final Product

The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe

5 from 1 vote
The Best Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe
Gluten-Free Playdough Recipe
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
0 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
Course: Activity
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 people
Author: Linda Loosli
Ingredients
  • 6-8 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour
  • 1 cup Salt
  • 2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar
  • 2 cups water, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 packages, unsweetened drink mix, any flavor
Instructions
  1. Mix all the ingredients (no cooking required) in a mixer (I use my KitchenAid or my Bosch). Knead like you would your bread and store in plastic bags or airtight jars. You can add more food coloring if the dry unsweetened drink mixes don’t give you the color you want. I like my play dough “bright” in color so I sometimes need additional food coloring. I pull out chunks of the dough and put them in separate bowls and add the food coloring to the dough in the mixer. I keep adding coloring until I achieve the color I like. You do not have to use any unsweetened drink mixes. The kids think it's really awesome if the play dough has a little grape, pink lemonade, lime, or fruit punch fragrance. It's optional, just so you know.

Where did Play-Doh start?

I quote Wikipedia: “Play-Doh is a modeling compound for young children to make arts and crafts projects at home. The product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s. Play-Doh was then reworked and marketed to Cincinnati schools in the mid-1950s.”

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Is playdough different than modeling clay?

Playdough, or Play-Doh as manufactured, tends to crumble. This recipe is actually better than the original Play-Doh, in my opinion. because it doesn’t dry out as fast. Modeling clay is oil-based and is perfect for children older than 2-3 years old. Modeling clay is hard to clean up, it sticks to everything. Playdough crumbles and you can clean it up rather quickly.

What makes playdough so awesome for kids?

It’s extremely soft and is perfect for little fingers and hands, and it’s cheap to make. The clean-up is so easy. Some people think they need to buy the latest toy(s) or electronic gadgets to keep their kids and grandkids happy and occupied. I watched the group of kids at my daughter’s preschool today as they got involved using her homemade batch of playdough. I was amazed at how they found creative ways to use the mixture, the shapes that came to life, and the easy time to clean it up and put it in various containers.

How long will the playdough stay soft?

If you store this recipe in an airtight container, it will last for months. If stored properly, you won’t be needing to make multiple batches of the playdough, just get it out of your storage area, pull it from the container, and away you go.

Do I need food coloring to make this recipe?

This is why I LOVE this recipe. The KoolAid not only gives us a yummy fragrance, but also color without having to use a whole bottle of food coloring. With the wide variety of colors/flavors available from KoolAid, you have so many choices to fit the occasion you have planned. Consider making it more of an adventure by getting the kids involved in making it before they start playing with it. Double the fun from start to finish. It’s a win-win for me.

Final Word

I’m so glad I finally figured out a gluten-free playdough recipe that would work for those who need gluten-free ingredients. Here’s another recipe to teach our kids and grandkids how to make something fun and pretty much from scratch. May God Bless this world, Linda

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Linda:

    When I read the title of this recipe I asked myself why you would need to make gluten free play dough and then I realized preschool kids put everything in their mouth. I am not thinking anymore.

    1. Hi Jackie, I help my daughter with her preschool and she has a few students that cannot have gluten. I HAD to come up with a good recipe. I learned you cannot use Kind Arthur’s 1:1 flour. I love learning new stuff. Linda

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