Perfect Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

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Last year, my kids and I had a blast making salt dough ornaments. This year, my daughter requested we try cinnamon applesauce ornaments. And I was totally on board!

Not only do these smell amazing, but there’s no flour involved. No baking is required. And they are a cinch to make!

cinnamon ornament cutouts displayed with snow falling

All you need is some applesauce (I used the cinnamon kind because why not), some basic white glue, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

up close image of cinnamon applesauce ornaments

I love how rustic these ornaments look and the smell – Holy Christmas Kringle. Amazing!

This is a fantastic kids’ craft, but please remember that these ornaments are not edible. They smell so good, and they’re very tempting, but they’re for looks only.

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Let’s get started.

cinnamon mixture for ornaments with measuring cup

Recipe for Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

3/4 cup Applesauce
I cup cinnamon (you can buy in bulk from Amazon!)
2 Tablespoons White Glue (I used Elmer’s)
A few pinches of nutmeg or cloves

Other Tools Needed

Mixing Bowl, Wooden Spoon
Rolling Pin
Your Favorite Cookie Cutters
Baking Twine
Toothpick
Cooling Rack covered with wax paper
Blunt Needle (optional)

No-Bake Cinnamon Ornaments: Step by Step

cutting out shapes from cinnamon applesauce dough

The first thing you want to do is mix all the ingredients in a bowl. I used a wooden spoon to do this.
Once the mixture looks pretty well combined, use your hands to knead the cinnamon dough on the counter or table. I found that kneading is the secret to really perfect-looking cinnamon ornaments without cracks. Well, that and repeatedly rolling the dough out for each batch. (I’ll explain.)
Roll your cinnamon dough out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/4 inch thick or so.
Use your favorite cookie cutters to make shapes. My favorite? The gingerbread men cutouts!
Carefully remove cutouts and place them on your wax paper-covered cooling rack.
Use a toothpick or blunt needle to make a small hole in each ornament for threading. Now, just let them dry!

gingerbread man cinnamon ornaments - use needle to thread ornaments

bakers twine hanging gingerbread man cinnamon ornament

After The Ornaments Dry

Allow the cinnamon ornaments to dry on the cooling rack for 48 hours. You may have to flip them once or twice until fully dry.
After the ornaments are dry, take some baker’s twine and thread it through the hole in the ornaments. This will create a little loop for hanging on the tree. I used a blunt needle to help pull the thread through the little holes.

Tips and Tricks for Perfect Cinnamon Ornaments

I discovered a few tricks along the way. My initial ornaments were crackly looking on the top, and I ideally wanted smooth ornaments.

Why? Because I’m a perfectionist (and yes, I’m working on it). So, I kept trying to perfect them until I figured it out.

Secret #1: Knead, knead, knead. When I first made this mixture, I thought, no way were these crumbly ornaments going to work out. A-ha! I didn’t knead them enough! So keep kneading until you get a nice doughy consistency (really).

Secret #2: Work in small batches. When I tried to roll out a huge piece and make 10 cutouts at once, my ornaments cracked on me, and some were thinner/thicker. However, my ornaments were just about perfect when I kneaded a small bit of dough, rolled it out, and used my cutouts. I would then repeat this process until I was completely out of dough. Small batches work best!

Secret #3: Fragility. These ornaments can be a little fragile, so be careful when handling them too roughly. I used a blunt needle with my baker’s twine to make it easier to thread the twine through so I didn’t have to be too rough with the ornaments.

I hope that helps you guys get perfect cinnamon applesauce ornaments!

Take it a step further

I left my ornaments fairly plain, but all you need is some white puffy paint to make a lookalike icing effect. You can even get a cute ribbon and tie it around the ornaments or gingerbread men like little scarves.