A tried-and-true, easy Gingerbread House Recipe with a well-tested gingerbread house template, and lots of tips on how to construct and decorate it. Best of all, the gingerbread house cookie is delicious to eat, with all the warming spices, and it's not overly sweet.Intermediate - While the gingerbread house recipe is very simple, the process of assembling and decorating the house is long and may need some patience and familiarity. This recipe takes multiple days to set up. Please read the blog post for the timeline and all the helpful tips. Here's the link to the gingerbread house template.This recipe is enough to make 1 gingerbread house, with about 18 servings.
You will need a stand mixer for this as there is a large amount of dough to handle. You can easily halve the recipe if you wish to make it with a hand mixer (or even with the stand mixer).
With the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium high speed for about 5 - 10 minutes until fluffy and pale in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway to ensure even mixing.
285 g unsalted butter, 300 g dark brown sugar
Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between the addition of eggs.
150 g eggs
Add molasses and vanilla, and mix until well incorporated.
360 g fancy molasses, 10 mL pure vanilla extract
On stir speed (or low speed), add flour in increments. Pulse the mixer (on and off) to initially mix in the flour to prevent the flour from flying everywhere. Mix on low speed until the flour is almost incorporated. Add the next increment while you can still see some white streaks in the dough. This helps to prevent overmixing. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl from time to time.
Once all the flour is added, mix on low speed until a dough is formed. If the dough is very wet, add the 100 g of flour that was reserved earlier until the flour is mostly incorporated.
You may need to use your hands to knead the dough at the end to make sure it's well-mixed. Remove the dough from the bowl and gently knead it a few times to form a smooth ball (dust the work surface with flour if necessary).
Divide the dough into 4 portions. To make sure the portions are equal, weigh the dough and portion by weight. Lightly dust each portion and form it into a disc. Either wrap each portion with plastic wrap, OR place the dough inside a sandwich-size ziploc bag. Seal the bag 80% of the way and then flatten the dough to fill the sandwich bag and to remove excess air. Then seal the bag completely.
Chill all the discs of dough for at least 1 hour in the fridge, up to 2 days.
Dusting flour
Mix the flour and spices together and use this to dust the surface you will be rolling the cookies on. You can make more of the dusting flour (you will need more) as needed (optional).
60 g all purpose flour, ½ tsp ginger, ½ tsp cinnamon
Prepare and bake the cookies
While the dough is resting, prepare the gingerbread house template.
Print the template and stick the print outs onto cardboard. Then, using a craft knife or scissors, carefully cut out the pieces needed (1 x Front, 1 x Back, 2 x Side walls, 1 x Roof, 4 x pieces for chimney).
Preheat your oven to 325°F / 170°C.
Remove one dough disc from the fridge, and remove the cover. Place the dough on a lightly floured (with dusting flour) parchment paper and flour the top of the disc. Place another parchment paper on top, and roll out the dough with a rolling pin.Make sure to check on the dough and flip the dough over as needed to get a smooth surface. Pinch/press the dough together if any cracks appear.
To ensure that you achieve an even thickness throughout the dough, use two 5 mm dowels on either side of the dough (or you can use thickness guides or rolling pin rings). The rolled out dough should be able to fit inside a half sheet pan.
Place the dough (while it's between two pieces of parchment paper) back in the freezer for 30 minutes to let it harden. This will make it easier to cut the templates.
Remove the dough from the freezer. Then place the template pieces on the dough and cut out the shapes. Do not remove these cut out pieces from the dough. 1st portion - The front of the house + 1st side wall of the house. 2nd portion - The back of the house + 2nd side wall of the house. 3rd portion - Half of the roof.4th portion - Other half of the roof.
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the leftover scraps of dough. Cut the windows and doors from the gingerbread house pieces, but do not remove them (this is because the dough expands slightly as it bakes). I prefer to cut them out after they are baked.
OPTIONAL - You can remove the scraps around the cut pieces of the dough, re-roll the scraps and cut more cookies if you like. OR you can bake the cookies without removing the scrap dough. The cookies will expand more if you remove the scraps before baking, so the edges may not be as straight. However, you will also need to work quickly to cut out the cookies if you bake first, before removing the scrap dough (i.e. before the cookies cool down and harden).
The dough scraps - lightly fold over the dough scraps to form a rough disc and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and re-use.
Place the gingerbread dough on a half sheet baking pan (lined with parchment paper). If the cookies are being baked without the scrap dough around it, then leave about 1 ½ inches of space between the cut out cookies. Transfer to the freezer for another 10 -15 minutes, or the fridge for 30 minutes.
Bake in preheated oven, for 15 - 20 minutes for larger cookies, or about 20 - 25 minutes for the entire dough sheet. Less that 15 minutes for smaller cookies. The time can vary, so bake the cookies in the oven until the edges of the dough JUST start to brown.
Once baked, remove the cookies from the oven. Carefully transfer them onto a cutting board, and using a very sharp knife or craft knife, quickly cut out the cookies from the baked dough while it's still soft. Also cut out the windows and doors. You can also use a cookie cutter to cut out windows and doors from the baked gingerbread.
Then transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.
If the edges of the cookies expand and are not straight - You can either straighten them using a micro planer once the cookies are cooled and hardened, or just cover it up with royal icing when you stick the cookies together to build the house.
Store the gingerbread cookies in an airtight container until you're ready to assemble the gingerbread house.
Royal icing
Make sure to use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, or mixer attachment of your hand mixer to mix in the powdered sugar when you make this royal icing. You do not want to incorporate too much air.
Place the meringue powder and water together in a bowl. Whisk together to dissolve the meringue powder. Add the cream of tartar and whisk the mixture until it becomes foamy.
1 tbsp meringue powder, 60 mL water, ½ tsp cream of tartar
Add the sifted confectioner's sugar (⅓ at a time to prevent a sugar storm!), and mix on low until all of it is incorporated. Mix on medium-high until the royal icing becomes thick and glossy. Keep mixing until the royal icing forms stiff peaks, where it's spreadable and pipeable, but will hold its shape too.
500 g confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
Add vanilla or other flavoring if you like, but this is not required. If the royal icing is too runny, mix in more confectioner's sugar. If the royal icing is too stiff, add a little bit of water (a little at a time) to get the right consistency. Place the royal icing in a pastry bag and twist the top closed. You can also place the royal icing in a ziploc bag and remove as much of the air in the bag before sealing it. Or keep the royal icing in a bowl and cover the surface completely with plastic wrap to avoid crusting.
2 drops vanilla
Snip off the end of the piping bag or ziploc bag, and use it to pipe the icing where you need it to stick the gingerbread cookies together.
To color royal icing - portion the royal icing and mix in a few drops of the color(s) you prefer. Gel coloring or powdered coloring is the best way to color royal icing without thinning it out.
You will only need between 400 - 600 g of royal icing to assemble 1 gingerbread house. To decorate the gingerbread house, you will need to make twice the amount. This thick but pipeable consistency is best to use as cement and to stick candy to the gingerbread house and to the base. For more intricate decorations, thin out the royal icing with water to get the consistency you need.
Assembling the gingerbread house
Use royal icing or melted chocolate to stick the pieces of the house together. If you use royal icing, you will need to leave it to dry for at least 8 hours at room temperature, until it completely hardens up. I usually keep it for 24 hours.
Choose a base that is big enough to assemble the gingerbread house, and will be sturdy enough to hold and carry the gingerbread house safely.
Pipe a thick line of royal icing on the board and stick one of the gingerbread side walls to the icing. Use a glass or box to prop up the cookie. Pipe another line of royal icing on the base to place the front or back part of the house perpendicular to the wall. Then use the royal icing to stick both parts to each other along the side.
Repeat with the other two parts of the gingerbread house (other side wall and back). You should end up with the four base walls of the gingerbread house glued together (and to the board) with royal icing.
To reinforce the walls / joints, pipe the royal icing on the inside of the house where the cookies join together.
Allow the cookies to set for at least 2 hours, or until they're mostly hardened. This time can vary depending on the ambient weather and temperature.
Next, pipe more royal icing along the top edges of the wall and front and back panels to stick the roof. Use an object to prop up the roof from the side of the house, so that it does not slide down before hardening. Finally, pipe the royal icing along the top of the roof to connect the two roof panels. Allow the entire house to completely harden and set up before decorating.
Once the frosting has hardened, cover the cake with plastic wrap to prevent the cookies from going stale.
Now the gingerbread house is ready to be decorated with your choice of candies, chocolates, and colored royal icing.
Your favorite types of candy, gel food coloring
Notes
Recipe notes
If you're using liquid egg whites instead of meringue powder, use 65 mL of egg whites (or 65 g), which is 2 egg whites. The amount of royal icing in this recipe is enough to assemble the house. Please make more royal icing to decorate the house. Make sure to keep the house covered with plastic wrap and /or a box to keep it from going stale. This will prolong the shelf-life of the cookies. If you're using raw egg whites, this will shorten the life span of the royal icing. Instead of royal icing, you can also use melted chocolate to stick the cookies together. The gingerbread can be consumed if the cookies are not stale and the royal icing was made with meringue powder. It should be good for 7 days if properly stored. Store pieces of the gingerbread house in an airtight container once you break down the house to eat it.
Work flow suggestions
Day 1
Make the dough.
Roll out the dough.
Cut out the templates.
Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and place in the freezer. You can stack them as well.
Bake the cookie pieces and cut out the doors and windows and/or the whole template (if you bake the whole sheet).
Let the cookies cool and store in an airtight container.
The work on day 1 can also be split into 2 days for convenience. The dough can be wrapped and stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. Or once the cookie dough is rolled up, it can be stored in the freezer overnight (or up to 2 days if wrapped with plastic wrap). Day 2
Make the royal icing.
Assemble the gingerbread house walls and let it dry (can take about 2 hours, but more if your kitchen is warm and humid).
Assemble the gingerbread house roof and let it dry.
Day 3 (or late day 2)
Prepare candy for decorating, and different-colored royal icing. Keep the royal icing in containers or piping bags or small ziploc bags, making sure that the icing is not in contact with any air.
Decorate the house with candy, either on the evening of day 2 or next day.