25 days of crafts: Bath cookies

Put aside the snickerdoodles and gingersnaps and bake a different kind of holiday treat. These “cookies” are made to melt in the bathtub for a soothing, fragrant soak. They're a perfect craft for kids — 3-year-old Mary Madeleine helped us mix the dough and create hearts, flowers and stars with cookie cutters.

Supplies:

2 cups sea salt

½ cup (or more) cornstarch

2 tablespoons almond oil

1 teaspoon vitamin E oil

1-2 eggs

6 drops essential (fragrance) oil

A few drops of food coloring or craft coloring for soaps

Cookie cutters (any shapes)

Old cookie sheets

Directions:

Mix together ingredients with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. We found that each batch took both eggs to work, although we had to add a little more cornstarch to both so the mixture was not too wet to shape with the cutters. The dough may be wetter depending on how much coloring you use.

Take a small amount and pat it flat. Cut out shapes and repeat until the “dough” is gone. You also can roll into balls and flatten it like round cookies.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Allow to cool.

Note: We had a little trouble getting them off the cookie sheets, so you may want to very lightly coat it with cooking spray.

Place one or two cookies in the tub when bathing. These keep for several months wrapped in airtight packaging or sealed in an airtight container.

Difficulty: One snowflake (out of four)

— Staff writers Betsie Freeman and Melissa Matczak

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