Tic-Tac Dough Cookies: A Fun Baking Activity for Kids
Here is a creative baking activity that kids can make, play with and eat? These Tic-Tac Dough Cookies turn a classic game into a delicious hands-on project.
There is no limit to what you can create with cookie dough. For this project, we used our favorite sugar-cookie dough and added cocoa powder to a portion of it to create contrasting colors. The finished cookie board is simple to make, fun to play with and—best of all—delicious to eat!
This activity combines baking, creativity and play in one easy project. Children can roll the dough, shape the game board and cut out or just shape the X’s and O’s. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, everyone can enjoy a few rounds of tic-tac-toe before eating the game pieces.
It’s a wonderful activity for a rainy afternoon, family baking day, playdate or school vacation.
Â
What You’ll Need
- sugar-cookie doughÂ
- Cocoa or Food Coloring
- Alphabet or X-and-O cookie cutters
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Ruler
- Knife or pizza cutter
- Baking sheet
- A 6-inch square paper template, optional
Â
How to Make Two Colors of Cookie Dough
Prepare your favorite sugar-cookie dough and divide it into two portions. Leave one portion plain and gradually mix cocoa powder into the second portion.
Add the cocoa a small amount at a time so the dough remains smooth, soft and easy to roll. If you add too much at once, the chocolate dough may become dry or crumbly.
You can also add food coloring to the dough.
Â
Time to Play—and Eat!
Place the X’s and O’s beside the cookie board and let the games begin. Players can take turns placing their cookies on the board, just as they would in a traditional game of tic-tac-toe.
After playing a few rounds, everyone gets to enjoy the sweetest part—eating the game!
Â
Creative Variations
You can easily adapt this project to match a holiday, party or family celebration. Try tinting portions of the dough with food coloring, adding sprinkles or decorating the cooled pieces with icing.
You can also make individual mini boards so every child has a game of their own.
Â
A Baking Activity Everyone Wins
Tic-Tac Dough is more than a cookie recipe—it’s an activity, game and treat all in one. It’s an easy way to spend creative time together while making something the whole family can enjoy.
Looking for more sweet inspiration? Check out our collection of fun sugar cookie decorating ideas, including stamp cookies, marshmallow paint, festive shapes and other creative designs the whole family will enjoy!
How to Make the Tic-Tac Dough Board
- Roll one color of cookie dough directly onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Cut the dough into a 6-inch square. You can measure it with a ruler or place a 6-inch paper square on top of the dough and cut around it.
- Carefully remove the excess dough surrounding the square.
- Roll four thin ropes of contrasting dough, each approximately 6 inches long.
- Arrange two ropes vertically and two horizontally across the square to form the tic-tac-toe grid.
- Transfer the parchment paper and cookie board onto a baking sheet.
- Bake according to the directions for your cookie-dough recipe. Allow the board to cool completely before moving it.
Make the X’s and O’s
Roll out the remaining dough and use alphabet or X-and-O cookie cutters to create the game pieces. For a two-tone game, make the X’s from one dough and the O’s from the other.
If you don’t have the right cookie cutters, simply roll thin pieces of dough and shape the letters by hand.
Bake the game pieces according to your recipe and let them cool completely.
Â
This article originally appeared in Family First.
Photography by Hudi Greenberger
