Edible "dirt" aka Cloud Dough or Moon Sand (2024)

February 12, 2014 by Nadia van Zyl 8 Comments

Have you ever heart about ‘Cloud dough’ and ‘Moon sand’? It is basically the same thing: it uses the same basic two ingredients namely flour(of some sort) and oil(of some sort). What type of flour and oil you use could make it Edible, Gluten free etc. And of course you can color it any color by using, for example food coloring or paint, and give it a scent by adding, for example vanilla essence. See this Pretty version by Blog me Mom.

The name ‘Cloud dough’ refers to it being so soft and it is mouldable to a certain extent. Personally I prefer the name ‘Moon sand’ because it feels more like a sand to me, a very soft type, like the ones you get on the beach of an island, or maybe the moon?

Now, we had a friend’s first birthday party, and bought him a Construction Truck . So I thought it a nice idea to add “dirt” to the present, but since he is one(and all one year old’s still love to a taste everything), I made it edible. It does NOT mean that it is intended to be eaten, but rather, that it is not toxic in case it is gets eaten. I was inspired by the Chocolate Dirt that Momma Doo made for playing in the sensory bin with cars and trucks.

What I did:
I found a tin of Milo that is almost getting hard(since it is summer here and we don’t drink it in hot weather), and mixed it with cake flour. The ratio is 1:1. I only used 1 cup of each, because that is what was left in the Milo tin. Then added drops of vegetable oil until I got the right consistancy, which feels like wet-ish beach sand. I actually can’t tell you how much I’ve used, I did not count it in terms of teaspoons, but use at least 4 teaspoons and then drops until you get it right.

I made a little card with the recipe for the mom to use in the future.

The dough I’ve put in a lock seal bag and in the truck. I’ve used a large gift bag, and made the child’s initial out of cardboard and tissue paper. Quick and easy!