Around this time of year, we think often of the sights and sounds of Christmas. We see twinkling lights, Nativity scenes, red and green everything, Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes and styles. We hear constant holiday classics on the radio, jingling bells, maybe even a crackling fire. Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas album features strongly in the soundtrack of my childhood’s Decembers, and these days Spotify helps me fill the house with Advent playlists.

But let’s not forget that we also smell Christmas. It’s interesting to me how some of the “normal” aromas, when experienced in the atmosphere of holiday sights and sounds, suddenly become quintessentially Christmas. I thought of that this week when making salt dough ornaments with a friend, when the scent of cinnamon and ginger permeated the house. I use those spices all the time, but now they are imbued with layers of cheer.

Cinnamon spice and everything nice

Cinnamon was imbued with layers of shock and humor on a different day this week, when I turned around for three seconds while Benson was apparently within arm’s length of the shaker. With incredible speed he dumped copious amounts of cinnamon into his bowl — I mean to the point where the cinnamon to oatmeal ratio was nearly equal. I was alerted to the situation when he started crying after taking a bite. We all love cinnamon in this household, but that was too much even for us.

The gingerbread salt dough ornaments we made didn’t have quite that much cinnamon, but they do pack an aromatic punch. If you’re not familiar with salt dough, it’s basically what it sounds like: a nonedible dough made of flour and a high proportion of salt, easy to make and model. It can be formed and shaped, baked hard, and thereby preserved to be used as ornaments or other trinkets.

The practice of making salt dough can potentially be traced back to ancient Egypt, and gingerbread baking is recorded in Germany as early as the 1500s; at some point the two ideas must have converged. Gingerbread-scented cinnamon salt dough ornaments are now associated with Christmas memories for many of us.

Start making cinna-memories now

But while I think many of us remember making these ornaments, I also think it’s not a common current practice. It’s time to dig this activity out of the memory banks, and mix it up in our kitchens. It’s easy for me to think I’ll make something a tradition and then to realize I’ve forgotten about it when the time rolls around again, but at least right now, I have high hopes for this one.

As you’ll see from the recipe, the dough is incredibly simple to prepare and uses only pantry staples.

The friend who suggested making it brought her grandson, and he and Benson had a right good time measuring, mixing, and rolling. And of course, smacking, squishing, and sampling; they are boys, after all. The dough is fortunately also non-toxic and all food ingredients, even though it is supposed to be non-edible. You would think one taste of its fierce saltiness would be its own lesson, but no, it seems Benson likes salt as much as he likes cinnamon.

The festive aroma of cinnamon and ginger did perfuse the house while the ornaments were baking, and I loved it. The smells of Christmas will enhance its sights and sounds, the cinnamon lingering while the ornaments add cheer to the tree and carols play in the background.

Here’s to hoping Benson doesn’t sniff them out and chomp on them like he did the candy canes.

Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments

I know this is not technically the right kind of recipe for a food column, but I figure it’s all food ingredients so it counts. Plus the fun in baking is often in the making, and this is no exception. Get creative with shapes, since almost anything feels Christmasy if you throw a ribbon and some stars on it (case in point, the cows).

Prep tips: the ginger, cloves, and nutmeg add depth to the aroma, but if all you have is cinnamon, don’t let that keep you from making these. There are different types of cinnamon...which maybe I’ll go into later, but whichever is your preference will be fine.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup salt

¼ cup cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice

½ cup water

Stir together all dry ingredients, then thoroughly mix in the water. Turn dough out onto the counter and knead until soft and pliable. Lightly flour the counter, and then roll dough out to a ¼” thick and cut into shapes. Use a straw to punch out a ribbon hole near the top of each shape, and decorate with stamps/ink if you want — have fun with it. 

Bake at 250° for 2 hours, until totally dry and hard. Let cool, then tie on ribbons. Hang on your tree and give to others for theirs.

Amanda Miller lives with her husband, almost-two-years-old son, and whoever else God brings them through foster care on the family dairy farm in Hutchinson. She enjoys doing some catering, teaching cooking classes, and freelancing, but mostly chasing after her kid(s). Reach her at hyperpeanutbutter@gmail.com.