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INGREDIENTS

4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

SUPPLIES

Large Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Christmas Cookie Cutters
Large Cookie Sheet.
Christmas Cookie Cutters

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Gradually mix in water and oil. Mix until the dough reaches a stiff, elastic consistency. If the dough is too sticky add more flour. If the dough is too dry, add more water.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and need to a firm consistency. Roll dough to ? inch thickness. Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes. To help the cookies keep their shape, roll the dough directly in the baking pan, this way you can remove the excess dough and leave the cookies untouched until after baking. Use a tooth pick to make a small hole to use for hanging the ornaments. Or you can wait until after baking and drill a hole with a small drill bit.

Baking times vary depending upon the thickness of the dough and can take several hours at 200 degrees. Be patient and don't try a hotter oven; you don't want the dough to brown around the edges and warp out of shape. You want the dough to dry slowly. Remember, you are really dehydrating the cookies, not baking them like you would a regular cookie.

You can test doneness by removing a cookie from the tray and allowing it to cool. If it's hard and there are no soft spots, you can remove them from the oven. To hasten the cooling process, place cookies on a wire rack.

If cookies are still soft after drying, simply put them back in the 200 degree oven and cook longer. After cookies are completely cooled, use acrylic paints to "frost" them or paint designs. Or use tubes of "puff paint" (available at any Wal-Mart) are excellent for decorating these cookies because they give a frosting like texture.

Once paint is completely dry spray the entire surface (front, back, and sides) with polyurethane.