Sourdough Discard Playdough (Cooked)

Soft, rollable, homemade playdough made with sourdough discard. A fun creation to make for kids and a great way to use up some old or new sourdough discard you may have on hand.

Homemade playdough can last up to 6 months if stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag. The amount of time it is out being played with will also determine the length of time that it will last. I have had my sourdough playdough for 5 months now, and it just started to dry out a bit. You can always add water a little at a time to bring it back.

In the first few days of making a new sourdough starter, if you are discarding half of your starter, it is not recommended that you use any of the discard for baking. But instead of throwing it out, mix up a batch of playdough for the kids! If you want to make a sourdough starter without discarding, check out my post about making a No Discard Sourdough Starter.

A look at the ingredients:

Sourdough Discard- The discard that I used had been sitting in the back of my refrigerator for a while. In fact, I know that it was almost 5 months to the day since it had last been fed. I poured the liquid, known as hooch off, that had formed on the top and used the thick starter underneath. It can be very strong-smelling, but the baby oil added will help mitigate some of that. Discard can be dangerous when consumed in large amounts, especially for dogs. So keep that in mind. This is not for consumption.

Salt- The salt acts as a preservative to prevent mold or bacteria. However, ingesting large amounts of salt can be dangerous. Obviously, playdough is not for eating, but still, I want to point that out.

Baby Oil — I use baby oil in this recipe; it adds a soft, pliable texture to the dough. I personally have not tried vegetable oil, but I have read that it can be another option to use in place of the baby oil. I, however, wanted to use baby oil to give the playdough a pleasant smell and help mask the sour discard smell.

Cream of tartar- this also acts as a preservative and gives the playdough a nice, soft, smooth texture. Not only does cream of tartar help the playdough last longer, but it also makes it stronger and stretchier. Cream of tartar is an acidic ingredient that helps to stabilize the mixture, preventing it from becoming too dry or sticky.

Food Coloring- I tried using cinnamon and turmeric spices right out of my cabinet. The amount you use depends on the size of your dough. For a half-cup-sized lump of dough, I used roughly 1/8 tsp of cinnamon or turmeric. I also tried mixing both together, and it made a richer, earthier color. There are other natural dyes you can use; I tried the ones I had on hand. I highly recommend wearing gloves for mixing in the spices; it made it so much easier.

The cinnamon added a nice warm smell that helped to mask the sourdough smell even better.

I also used both gel food dyes and regular food dyes, and they both worked equally well. The gel is concentrated and thicker, so you may not need as much for a good, strong color. Using food coloring is optional, but if you decide to add it, I would again recommend wearing gloves if you choose to mix the color by hand. I did not use gloves, and four days later, my hands are still stained with dye.

Let’s make some playdough!

Ingredients you will need:

2 cups or 650 grams of sourdough discard ( pour off the hooch if their is any)

3/4 cup or 220 grams of salt

2 Tb or 22 grams of baby oil ( I used Johnson’s brand of baby oil)

1 Tb or 11 grams of cream of tartar

Mix the sourdough discard, salt, baby oil, and cream of tartar in a medium size saucepan.

Over medium heat, cook the playdough mixture, stirring continuously until it begins to thicken. Keep a close eye on it, or it will cook on the bottom. Once it becomes very thick and difficult to stir, remove it from the heat and let it cool a bit.

Once it is cool enough to the touch, turn it out onto a clean, dry surface and knead it until it’s smooth. If the dough is too sticky, you may need to add flour a little at a time, or if the mixture is too crumbly and dry, add warm water a tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you like.

Add any food coloring at this stage. Divide the dough into 4-6 portions and add in your desired dyes. The brand and type of food coloring you use will determine how much you need to add to the dough. I did 10-15 drops or 1/8 tsp worth of the gel food coloring and 20-30 drops of the regular food coloring. If you want to use natural dyes, a few I have tried are cinnamon and turmeric. There are lots of other natural dyes; those are the ones I had on hand. I highly recommend using gloves for adding any dyes.

Storage:

Store in an air-tight bag or container. Homemade playdough can last up to 6 months, depending on how much it is used and how well it is stored.

One month later, and the food colored ones are still going strong 🙂 The colors have dulled a bit, but the playdough is still surprisingly soft.

I have a batch that is currently 5 months old and just starting to get a little dry around the edges.

If the playdough starts to get dried out, like pictured below, you can add a little warm water to give the playdough back some moisture. Simply knead in small amounts of the warm water until it becomes soft and pliable again.