Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Our home is on cinnamon overload.
This morning I worked on our favorite inedible cookie ornaments. These are such a mess to make and yet so fun. I don't recommend letting the kiddos help with the cookie cutting part. The cinnamon burns if you have any cuts on your hand and heaven forbid if they were to touch their eyes. Ouch. Plus it takes a few hand washings to get the smell off. Once this cute cookies are dry it can be family fun decorating time. I always keep mine simple.

There are so many ways you can decorate these cookies. In the past I have used colored sugars and glitter. This year I took some Stelline (star) pasta and spray painted them gold to use as buttons on the gingerbread men. Craft paint was used to resemble royal icing. If you want to use royal icing drying time will take longer. The moisture from the icing is absorbed by the cookie. I then made a hole with a straw so I can string them on raffia to match my country Christmas theme. If you want a more delicate hole you can use a toothpick.

Ingredients
3 cups cinnamon
3 cups applesauce
*note* You can make more or less just keep the cinnamon/applesauce ratio the same. Don't use homemade applesauce as it may be more watery than store bought. You don't need to use all cinnamon you can add nutmeg, ground cloves, whatever your heart desires. *
Directions
Preheat oven to 150⁰F. In medium bowl, combine cinnamon & applesauce. Work the dough with your hands for 3 or 4 minutes until dough is smooth and ingredients are thoroughly mixed. If the dough is a little crumbly, add a tablespoon of applesauce at a time to it until it is smooth and a bit sticky.

Roll out dough to 1/3 inch thickness. It will be sticky, so be careful with it. You can use cinnamon like flour on your pin and rolling surface to stop it from sticking. Cut dough with cookie cutters.

Simple shapes like hearts, bells, trees and gingermen are easier to work with than cutters with complicated shapes. Using a straw make a small hole in the top of ornament. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 150⁰F for 2-1/2 hours. Remove from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack. Loop a ribbon through the top.