Salt dough mare, how am I getting this wrong

[saltdoughmare]

So. I am a reasonable good baker so understand the basic of this sort of thing, well I thought I did

I have tried twice,my recipe is one cup, one cup flour and half a cup of water.

Slowly introduce the water to the mix in the bowl. Kneed into a dough, roll the dough on parchment paper, using a rolling pin over another sheet of parchment paper. Bake for 1.5hrs.

They just keep massively rising when in the over, are they supposed to and the handprint sticks out, as that isn't working but I thought the handprint would stay moulded inwards and you would then paint.

Oh and if anyone has any good toddler recipes, ( for anything cake, muffin, bread, flapjack, funny faces on sandwiched) throw them in for good luck

2 flour to one water and salt.
Plain flour.
Leave for 48 hours before you bake

Shortbread is good for toddlers - it’s just sugar, flour and butter, maybe a bit of cornflour. Squidge it all together by hand then squidge into a tin to bake.

I find it rises if you bake it at too high a temperature. A cool oven, 100 degrees and a really long time, 12 hours at least. I usually start it off with a couple, of hours then take it out and let it dry out somewhere warm. A windowsill/conservatory/airing cupboard. On Christmas we had salt dough stars on all the radiators.

Don't be tempted to paint it. Tap it, does it sound hard all the way through? if you're still getting a dull sound it probably needs a bit more time to dry. Even with a start in the oven it can be a week or so before I think it's ready, especially with children who tend to use a lot of paint and get it wet again. I tend to give it another burst in the oven once it's painted.

If you want things to last they also need a couple of coats of varnish to seal them completely.

I think it works better if you make the salt dough the day before. Knead it again, and the salt will be less gritty. Let it dry out a bit before you bake it.