Easy Holiday Decorating: Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

And this is a recipe that has been around for as long as the internet...well pretty much *laugh*, but it is so insanely simple to make, really cheap overall (buy bulk cinnamon pretty much anywhere...even Fred Meyer has it, as does any of your bulk stores for cheap) and the ornaments smell awesome for years and are really rustic and pretty on the tree.  OR if you don't have to worry about your kiddos munching said ornaments (like I do), you could paint one side of these with acrylic paint to make them pretty and then leave the other side unadorned to give you that wonderful holiday scent.

Ready for the easiest ornaments you'll make this year that will give you a real "wow" factor on your tree?  Here you go.  You will need two ingredients.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Equal Parts:

• Powdered Cinnamon
• Applesauce

I would suggest starting with 1 cup myself as it makes a decent amount of ornaments.  You can also add about 1/4 tsp. of ground ginger, nutmeg and/or allspice to make the ornaments smell a bit different, but still wonderful.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees

1.  Combine the two ingredients together and then mix in enough cinnamon (if needed) to make a workable dough (the texture should be pretty close to play dough).  Roll the dough (be prepared as this IS a bit messy as the cinnamon gets all over things) out to about 1/8 inch thickness (dust your rolling surface with cinnamon to make life easier). 

2.  Cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutters (I stuck with Christmas trees and anything with a good amount of bulk to the body of the shape.  Read on as to why).  Take a drinking straw and cut out holes where you'll string your ribbon later (thus why you need a decent amount of bulk to the body of the ornament).  Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper dusted with cinnamon.

3.  Bake for about four hours, turning the ornaments several times throughout baking so they dry evenly on each side.  You could also do this in your food dehydrator I'm sure and just check on them after about 4 to 6 hours, but I haven't tried that yet.  Or you can just place the baking sheet with the ornaments on it on top of your fridge or somewhere safe to dry and just leave them for 24 to 48 hours, turning them once or twice, but I'm never that patient and nor do I have the space to do that in my kitchen right now :).

4.  String ribbon through the hole in your now dried ornaments and hang on your tree as is or paint them pretty and hang them.  These ornaments can be used year after year.  Just package them away as you would glass ornaments (as they are a bit delicate) and if the smell starts to fade over time just drip a few drops of cinnamon essential oil onto the porous side of the ornament (if you made painted ones, if not just drip right on the ornament wherever).

Enjoy all!