Get in the holiday spirit with this amazingly fun family project. The true joy of this project is making the house and watching it all come together as you build it from scratch. There are no rules when it comes to decorating your gingerbread house, so just have fun!

Homemade Goodness

Gingerbread cookies are usually soft in the center and crispy on the edges, but for the gingerbread house shapes the cookies are much more solid and sturdy. The key is to use a small amount of baking soda, less butter, less molasses, and adding water. Chilling the dough is an important part to ensuring that the house pieces properly keep their shape.

Splitting your dough into two discs will make it easier to roll out. 

Building Your House

Find a standard gingerbread house template, we’re building a house that is approximately 7 inches tall and 6 inches wide. 

Print out the template and cut out all the shapes. You will be using these shapes twice; 2 roofs, 2 sides, etc. You can use a pizza cutter or small knife to cut out the shapes.

The Icing

It’s the “glue” that holds it all together! It’s also what’s used to adhere any decorations or candies to the walls and roof.

Buttercream for Decoration

Buttercream is much easier to use for decorating your gingerbread house than icing because it’s both thick and sturdy. The buttercream “sets” and does not remain sticky as it’s made with both shortening and butter. This makes it perfect for decorating cookies and gingerbread houses. 

Candies for Decorating

Some suggestions of candies to use to decorating your gingerbread house:

• M&Ms
• Mini candy canes
• Peppermint swirl candies
• Gumdrops
• Sprinkles
• Edible metallic beads
• Coconut for “snow”
• Marshmallows
• Chocolate chips
• Icing decorations

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What you will need:

• thinkkitchen Promix Plus Stand Mixer
• thinkkitchen Icing Bag with 10 assorted tips
• Icing spatula
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Squeeze bottle
• Baking sheets
• Rolling pin

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp salt
• 6 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• ½ cup molasses
• 2 tbsps water
• Icing
• Assorted candies for decoration

Icing

• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 3 tbsps meringue powder
• 9-10 tbsps water, at room temperature
• Food colouring (optional)

Buttercream

• ½ cup shortening, at room temperature
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tbsps milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ⅛ tsp salt

Instructions:

1 – Print out your Gingerbread House template and cut out all the shapes. Temporarily set aside until step 6.

2 – Make the cookie dough by whisking the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

3 – In the large bowl of your thinkkitchen Promix Plus Stand Mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy, approximately 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, molasses, and water on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat until well-combined. On low speed, slowly mix in the dry ingredients until well-combined. The cookie dough batter should be very thick.

4 – Divide the cookie dough into 2 portions, flatten into discs (approximately 4-5 inches in diameter), and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

5 – Preheat your oven to 350°F/177°C. Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

6 – Remove each disc from the refrigerator and roll each out in-between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to approximately ¼ inches thick. Remember that you need thick pieces for your gingerbread house. Lightly flour the underside of the gingerbread house template shapes. Carefully cut the dough into the gingerbread house template shapes, using a pizza cutter or small knife. You need to cut out two pieces of each shape. You can re-roll the dough scraps in order to have enough to cut out all the shapes of the house. You can use any extra dough to cut out cookie shapes like trees or snowflakes.

7 – Arrange the gingerbread house shapes into the prepared baking sheets, approximately 3 inches apart. 

8 – Bake the house pieces for approximately 18-20 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Bake the chimney pieces for approximately 12-13 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow shapes to cool completely on the baking sheets. A flat surface is needed for cooling or the gingerbread house edges will slightly curl up.

9 – Choose a base for your gingerbread house. Start with the front of the house and one side piece. Use a squeeze bottle to run a thick line of icing along one long edge and one short edge of the side of the house piece. Stick it to your base. You can keep the piece upright by propping it up with a tall glass, water bottle, etc. Run a line of icing along the bottom of the front of the house piece. Hold the two pieces in place for a few minutes until the icing is partially set, keeping them upright. Repeat these same steps with the 2nd side of the house piece and the back of the house piece. Pipe the icing inside any seams, both inside and outside the house, to fill any gaps. Add extra icing to allow it to leak over the edges downwards, so that when it dries it looks like snow. Let it set at room temperature for approximately 1 hour before adding the roof pieces.

10 – Run a thick line of icing along the inside edges of one of the roof pieces and adhere it to the base. Hold it in place for a few minutes. Repeat this with the second roof piece. Run a thick line of icing where the two roof pieces meet at the top of the house. Hold in place for a few minutes.

11 – Put the chimney together separately, then adhere it to the roof. It’s simpler to glue the chimney pieces together upside-down. Use thick lines of icing to assemble the chimney the same way you put together the base of the house. Allow the icing to set. 

12 – Before starting to decorate, the icing on the entire house has to completely set. Let the house set at room temperature for at least 4-6 hours or overnight. Cover and store the leftover icing in the refrigerator during this time. 

13 – With the thinkkitchen Promix Plus stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the shortening and butter together on medium speed until creamy, approximately 2 minutes. Add the confectioner’s sugar milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for approximately 3 minutes. The frosting has to be very thick. 

14 – Use the buttercream, leftover icing, and candies for decorating. Now get creative, have fun, and enjoy!

Icing Instructions:

1 – In a large bowl using the Promix Plus stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat all of the icing ingredients together on high speed for approximately 2 minutes.

2 – The icing dries in approximately 2 hours at room temperature.

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!