A small, delicate gingerbread house that will make your home smell delicious this Christmas.
I made a taller gingerbread house back in 2015 which you can see here. This year I used a smaller, more classic design. I used all royal icing which gives it a more sophisticated and delicate look. Honestly, the reason I made a gingerbread house is because my sister and I made my Grandma’s Sugar Cookies, and I had a bunch of leftover royal icing!
I used the same gingerbread dough as I did in 2015 and the template from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I like this template because it’s a very manageable size to get to stand up and gives you ample room to decorate.
A couple of suggestions for making your gingerbread house…
- The gingerbread recipe below makes enough for two houses. If this is your first time making a gingerbread house from scratch, I would suggest making the full recipe of dough. That way you have enough dough to make pieces again if something turns out wonky.
- Roll your gingerbread dough out on parchment paper. If you roll it out on the counter, it will lose the precise shape when you transfer the dough from the counter to the pan and the pieces will not fit together nicely.
- To keep the gingerbread from puffing up in weird spots, place another baking sheet on top of the gingerbread while you bake it. This will create nice flat sides that will be a breeze to decorate.
- Decorate before assembling. Decorating while the pieces are laying flat makes it so much easier to create a sharp and neat design. I used #1 and #2 Wilton piping tips for the decorations. I like royal icing because it dries quickly so you can keep moving onto the assembly without having to wait too long for your decorations to dry.
- For assembly, I used a #5 Wilton piping tip to pipe on lines of slightly thicker royal icing. You’ll want to use a thick line of royal icing on each seam as well as to glue the walls to the plate. After applying a line of royal icing I held the pieces in place for 2-3 minutes while it dried a bit. Once I got the walls glued together with the icing, I let them dry for 30 minutes to make sure they were really sturdy before putting the roof on. While the base was drying, I decorated the roof. The roof is the most challenging part … do not try to have the roof piece overhang the wall. You need the support of the wall edge being right up against the roof piece’s edge.
- I used icicles to cover up some the seams. You can’t see them but I had some large gaps in the seams…. that’s what icing is for! Douse it in icing and say it’s a snow drift!
To keep things running smoothly, here is a good order to go in. While one step is drying, I work on the decoration for the next step.
- Make gingerbread dough. Chill for an hour.
- Make the royal icing while the dough is chilling.
- Roll and cut the walls then the roof and then the chimney. With this order, the walls are cool to start decorating by the time you are done cutting out the roof and chimney.
- Decorate the walls. Let dry for about 15 minutes.
- Assemble the walls. Let dry for at least 30 minutes.
- Decorate the roof. Let dry for about 15 minutes.
- Assemble the roof and add on any icicles to make the seams look pretty. Let dry for at least 30 minutes.
- Decorate the chimney. Let dry for about 15 minutes.
- Assemble the chimney and glue to the roof.
Enjoy! And happy holidays!
Gingerbread House
Ingredients
Dough:
- ¾ cup milk
- ¾ Tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
- 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
Royal Icing:
- 2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1½ Tablespoons meringue powder
- 3 Tablespoons of warm water
- Food Dye
Instructions
Making the dough:
- Measure lemon juice or vinegar and place in measuring cup. Pour milk into the measuring cup until you have ¾ cup and let sit for 5 minutes. Congrats, you just made buttermilk!
- Mix the buttermilk mixture, melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, and the egg with an electric mixer.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the baking soda, spices, salt, and 1 cup of flour.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture until it is fully incorporated.
- Add the remaining flour one cup at a time until you have a smooth, stiff dough. It should not be crumbly or sticky.
- Divide the dough into thirds, form into discs, and wrap them in plastic.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
Rolling and Baking:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Roll out dough ⅛ - ¼ inch thick on parchment paper with a lightly floured rolling pin. Do not try to transfer the dough to the pan without parchment paper. Silipats don't work well either because the dough sticks to it.
- Place the template on top of the dough and cut the shape out.
- Peel scraps away from cut outs and place the parchment on the baking sheet.
- Make sure you have at least 4 sides and 2 roof pieces.
- Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of the shapes and then place a second baking sheet on top of the second piece of parchment. So the order will be cookie sheet, parchment paper, gingerbread, parchment paper, cookie sheet. The second baking sheet on top of the gingerbread pieces will keep them from puffing up in the oven and will give you a nice flat surface to decorate on.
- Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the edges are brown.
- Cool on the pans and then peel the parchment away from the pieces.
Royal Icing:
- Mix powdered sugar, meringue powder, and warm water in a stand mixer for 3 to 4 minutes. If you pull the beater out of the icing, it should be thick enough that the dripping icing is very slow to meld back into the icing in the bowl but not so thick that it is a frosting consistency. If it is too thin, add some more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a little water. You'll want the icing to be a bit thicker than what you would use to decorate cookies since it needs to glue the walls together.
- Separate small portions out to dye with food dye. You'll want to keep the majority of it white.*
Decorating:
- See the post above for some ideas for decorating.
- It is much easier to do the detailed decorating before assembling.
Assembly:
- To get the first two sides, pipe 2 lines of royal icing onto your platter that the sides can sit in. Then pipe royal icing onto the seam side of one of the side pieces. They shouldn't be too wobbly but if you're worried put a box of pasta or a can of something up against the side to help support the wall.
- Continue with the other two sides in the same way.
- For the roof, do not try to have the roof piece overhang the wall. You need the support of the wall edge being right up against the roof piece's edge. Again, ice all the seams before attaching.
Notes
* I only dyed about 2 Tablespoons of the icing yellow, 1 Tablespoon green, and 1 Tablespoon red.
What a beautiful gingerbread house!!
You are amazing 🎄
Thank you! I wasn’t going to post it, but my mom and sister insisted! I hope you have a great holiday with your family!
Awesome house! And the sugar cookies sound great!
Don’t worry, there are sugar cookies waiting for you Dad!