Gingerbread House

The holidays just aren't the same until there's a gingerbread house involved. This homemade gingerbread house recipe is easy to make, fun to decorate, and delicious to eat. Making a gingerbread house from scratch is so much better than using a kit. The cookies are soft and chewy, yet crunchy and sturdy with crisp edges. It is sure to delight whether you're building it as décor for the window or dessert after the big holiday dinner. This classic gingerbread house recipe with template gives you a step-by-step guide for both the gingerbread cookie structure and the royal icing to hold everything together.

Why You'll Love this Gingerbread House

• A fun holiday activity. One of my fondest memories during the holidays is making and decorating gingerbread houses. It's a great activity that brings family snd friends together, and so much fun to do with the kids year after year. You will need time and patience to bring it all together, but it's so worth it.
• It has the best texture. This classic DIY gingerbread house recipe delivers soft and chewy yet crunchy cookies that leave a delightful crumble in every bite. Fresh gingerbread cooked are much better than ones from a gingerbread house kit. Hands down.
• The festive holiday flavors. Gingerbread is a rich and buttery holiday favorite full of holiday spices like ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. These flavors pack a punch to create the most delicious gingerbread you've ever had.
• It's been around for 500 years. Gingerbread houses are a holiday tradition that has been around for about 500 years! Although this Christmas tradition began in Germany, it's now a worldwide phenomenon that's especially popular in the US and Canada.

Ingredients and Substitutions

To make a festive Gingerbread House, you will need the following ingredients (full quantities in recipe card below):

• all-purpose flour
• holiday spices - ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground all spice. As long as you keep the ginger, you can play around with the other spices by adding one or the other or none. You can also add in some nutmeg.
• salt
• baking soda
• egg
• butter
• brown sugar
• molasses
• water - to help thin out the batter a bit.
• jolly ranchers - or substitute with any hard candies such as life savers.
• royal icing - I used a traditional royal icing here using egg whites and confectioners' sugar. I also added a hint of cream of tartar (optional for flavor). For a non-egg version, try our meringue-based royal icing I used in our Christmas Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing. For icing that is a little thicker than what you might end up there, add in more sugar until desired consistency is reached.

Baking Tools and Equipment

You will need our Gingerbread House Template and the following kitchen tools and equipment:

• measuring cups and spoons
• mixing bowls
• hand mixer (or stand mixer)
• rolling pin
• pizza cutter and knife
• half sheet baking pan and silicone baking mat - I would not recommend using parchment paper because the hard candies tend to stick to the parchment paper. If you decide to not add a glass effect to the windows, then parchment paper will work just as fine.
• wire cooling rack
• piping bags
• couplers - for securing the tips to the piping bag.
• no. 5 round tip for "gluing" the gingerbread pieces together and no. 1 round tip for fine details.

How to Make the Best Gingerbread House

First, print out our Gingerbread House Template and cut out the gingerbread shapes. Set aside.

Then, make the gingerbread house dough.

1. Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, all spice, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, add egg, melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, and water. Use a hand mixer to beat on medium speed until combined, about a minute.Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until just combined, and there are no dry flour particles.

2. Chill the dough. Use your hands to form the ball into a dough and divide into two balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap tightly with plastic cling wrap. Chill overnight (or at least for 2 hours).

3. Roll the dough. On a large piece of parchment paper, roll out one dough disc at a time to ¼-inch thickness. If the parchment paper is slipping around too much, place it on a silpat baking mat to keep it in place while you roll.
4. Cut out the gingerbread house pieces. Cut out the shapes from the Gingerbread House Template and use it to trace and cut out the Gingerbread House components. Use a pizza cutter for the edges and a knife for finer details like the windows.
   • For the front of the house, cut out the circular window. Trace the shape for the door but don't completely cut it. You will cut it after baking to better hold its shape.
   • For the back of the house, just cut the outline. You do not need to cut out a window or door.
   • For the chimney piece that you need to make 2 cuts for, cut once, then flip the stencil over and cut it that way.
5. Add hard candies (optional). Carefully transfer the cut pieces onto two the half sheet baking pans lined with a silicone baking mat. Place a whole jolly rancher into each of the windows. For the circular window in the center, use just half of a jolly rancher. These hard candies will melt to give a stained glass window effect.

6. Bake. Bake in a 375 F preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges have set. Within the first couple of minutes, use a knife to cut out the door and set it aside on the baking sheet.
7. Cool. Allow the gingerbread to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

How to Make Royal Icing

1. Beat the egg whites with an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer) for 10 seconds. Add cream of tartar and beat in. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, about ½ cup at a time. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes until the icing is very stiff.
2. If the icing is too wet, add a little more sugar. If it's too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time until desired consistency is reached. You want icing that will easily come out of the piping bag but that will keep it's shape (not runny).
3. Keep the bowl covered with a wet towel when not using as the icing dries up very quickly.

How to Assemble a Gingerbread House

1. Make a base for the gingerbread house. I cut out a piece of cardboard and wrapped it with aluminum tin foil. I then placed it on a wooden serving platter that I have.
2. Attach one corner of the house. Use a piping bag with the no. 5 round tip secured to pipe a thick line along the side of the front piece of the house. Take a side piece and attached it together. Hold it upright onto the base. Then, run thick line of royal icing along the bottom of the two pieces of the house on the inside to help attach it to the base. Hold the two pieces together for a minute or two while the icing sets partially.
3. Attach the other corner of the house. Run a thick line of royal icing along the exposed side edge of the side piece and attach the back of the house. Then, run another thick line of royal icing along the exposed side edges of the back of the house and front of the house and attach the other side piece. Run a thick line of royal icing along the bottom of these two pieces on the inside of the house. Run a thick line of royal icing along all corners of the house from the inside. Hold together for a minute or two while the icing sets partially. You can use a glass or cans to help prop it up if needed. Let it set for one hour before adding the roof.

4. Add the roof. Run a thick line of royal icing along the left top side edges of the front and back, and left side piece. Place one of the roof pieces on top and hold it in place for a couple minutes. Run a thick line of royal icing along the right side, and along the center of the attached roof and add the other roof. Run a thick line of royal icing along the center where the two roof pieces meet, if necessary. Hold it in place for a couple of minutes.
5. Make the chimney. Use royal icing to attach the chimney pieces together. Then run a thick line of royal icing along the bottom of the chimney (where the slanted pieces are) and adhere them to the roof. Hold in place until slightly set, a couple minutes.

6. Attach the door. Run a thick line of royal icing along the left side of the door piece and attach it to the house slightly ajar. Hold it in place until slightly set.
7. Seal it together. You can pipe an extra layer of royal icing along the roof and along the edges in a dripping pattern to make it look like snow. Allow everything to set before decorating, about one hour.
8. Add patterns. Secure a no. 1 round tip to the piping bag. Pipe a scalloped pattern on the roof to resemble shingles. Outline the windows and add decorative dots and squiggles.
9. Add snow. Take some confectioners' sugar and use a fine mesh strainer to add "snow" on the top of the roof. You can also sprinkle some shredded coconut on the base to resemble snow on the ground.
10. Decorate with candy. Pipe a thick layer of royal icing along the edges or wherever you want to stick candies on. Then stick the candies on top.
11. Add lights (optional). Place a little battery operated light inside and watch your gingerbread house glow up.

More Holiday Recipes

• 30 Best Christmas Cookies
• 30 Best Christmas Dessert Recipes
• Gingerbread Cookies
• Gingerbread Bundt Cake with Maple Cinnamon Glaze
• Christmas Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
• Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

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