Saturday, November 12, 2011

How To Make...Bath Bombs

First off, fear not. I have not left the foodie-world. I am still baking, cooking up a storm, etc. In fact, I made these tasty Millet Muffins from Heidi Swanson's cookbook, Supernatural Everyday. I don't usually buy cookbooks, but this one is quite excellent. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to post my variation on her quinoa cakes. 


Anyways, since the holiday season is coming up, I have forayed into the homemade gift world, and I love to share my success (less so my failures for obvious reasons). These homemade bath bombs are a definite success. 


Totally not mine. Picture pulled from the web, but that's what
they look like from the store usually.
What are bath bombs? They are those balls that you buy in the store, and you toss into your tub...they fizz, add moisturizer, nice smell, and generally relaxation-ness to your experience. They're quite wonderful...and exorbitantly expensive. Fret not! They're super easy to make at home. 


Here are mine, I didn't want to add any coloring, so they're plain white, but you're welcome to color yours. 



Bath Bomb Recipe
Adapted from petitelefant.com


0.5 cup corn starch
0.5 cup Epsom salts [get it at your regular grocery store]
1 cup baking soda
0.5 cup citric acid [get it online, or I bought mine at Whole Foods]
0.75 tbsp. water
3 tbsp. olive oil
Essential Oil [totally optional, but it adds a nice smell. Get it at Whole Foods]
Small ice cream scoop, shot glass, or something to shape the bombs


First, grind up the Epsom salts super fine. I used a blender, you can use the back of a large spoon, mortar and pestle, or whatever you have to grind something up. 


Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (corn starch, salts, baking soda, and acid). 


In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients (water, olive oil, and essential oil). Yep, has to be in a separate bowl because when you add water to the dry ingredients, the baking soda, a base, reacts readily with the citric acid, obviously and acid. Anyways, mix the wet ingredients together nicely. Then quickly add it to the dry ingredients. 


Mix the whole sha-bang together with a whisk or your hands (we used hands), until it's the consistency of slightly wet sand. 


Fill up whatever you're using to shape the bath bombs, and it down hard. I used an espresso cup, filled it up, and pushed down with my finger tips. Then flip it upside down on a cookie sheet, or wherever you want to put the bombs, tap the back with your hand hard, and viola out it'll come! 


If it falls apart, don't worry, just put it back into the bowl and try again. 


Let these suckers dry overnight, and you'll have some lovely bath bombs! Try them in a tub, or pack them individually in saran wrap and then put them in a cellophane bag with the pretty ribbon and you have a lovely gift! 


PS -- anyone on my gift-giving list, you're totally getting these! 

No comments:

Post a Comment