This week my quest to find the weirdest culinary concoctions the web has to offer enters the world of play foods as I try my hand at making peanut butter playdough.

When I was a kid I loved playdough. All I needed was a tub of that and some Lego and I could keep myself occupied for hours, building everything from dinosaurs and spaceships to flowers and plates of fish and chips. I was a strange child!

However, like most curious children, there is that inevitable moment when, after many hours of model building, you decide to try and find out if playdough is edible and soon discover that it is not. As a child I remember thinking that this seemed unfair, it has the word dough in its name, and it’s brightly coloured, so at the time my childlike reasoning dictated that it should have been tasty and edible. How wrong I was!

Even now I still occasionally get a hankering to make models with playdough, despite my ineptitude at it. There is something deeply satisfying about spending time making a model from scratch, perfecting it, squashing it and starting again.

So when the mood to have a go at making some models takes me, I decide to make my own playdough. However, after ferreting through the cupboards to find the ingredients I need, I am suddenly struck by another thought, why not try making a playdough that is not only great for modelling but also edible?

Enthralled by what seems to me like a great idea, I take to the internet to try and find a recipe and soon come across an incredibly simple one for edible peanut butter playdough.

The recipe seems too good to be true so, excited by the prospect of not only getting to make a model but also eat it, I decide to give it a try.

I start by creaming some peanut butter and icing sugar in a bowl and then add some clear honey and powdered milk. I stir the mixture and then begin to knead it until it sticks together and forms a large lump. I then place the mixture into the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes.

I am surprised at how simple this recipe is and, having kneaded the dough, the consistency seems to be perfect. I just hope it stays like that after its time in the fridge.

After 15 minutes it is time to take it out and have a play. It definitely looks the part and as I start ripping bits off to make my model (I have decided to go with an owl as I don't think I can mess that up!) it soon becomes clear that, despite being a bit greasy, it is also fantastic for modelling. I wouldn’t suggest making stop motion animation models with it but it’s definitely good enough for youngsters and rainy day creatives.

However, will it pass the taste test? Given my previous experience all those years ago, I am a bit apprehensive as I take a bite out of it but, to my surprise, it is actually quite tasty. It has a similar taste to peanut butter nougat and is nowhere near as sweet as I had imagined it would be. It is not just edible, it moreish. My cunning plan has succeeded!

So if you are bored one afternoon and fancy combining a creative activity with a tasty snack then give this recipe a go. You won’t regret it.

If you would like to try making peanut butter playdough follow the recipe below.

 

3 dessert spoons of smooth peanut butter

4 dessert spoons of icing sugar

3 dessert spoons of clear honey

3 dessert spoons of powdered milk

 

1 Cream the peanut butter and icing sugar together in a bowl

2 Add the honey and mix together

3 Fold in the powdered milk and mix together

4 Knead the mixture with your hands until it forms a dough like consistency and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes

5 Let the fun begin!

I made an owl with my playdough but, if you think you can do better, why not email me photos of your models.

 

If you have got a weird recipe that you would like me to try email me. Alternatively, if you have tried making this recipe, why not let me know how you got on by leaving a comment in the box below.

Happy baking!

Click here to read my Weird World of Food: microwave biscuits blog