How To Make a Gingerbread House

How To Make a Gingerbread House

I have made several gingerbread houses over the years there are many patterns and recipes

I found this one on the woodside kitchen and I did try to download the patterns but am waiting on permission, but you can easily draw your own with the dimensions below.

Gingerbread Dough Recipe

makes one 4" by 8" by 7" house

Gingerbread dough must be keep cold so the pieces will retain their shapes. Cover and chill dough for about 2 hours before rolling it out. Any remaining dough can be rerolled to make extra decorations for the yard, trees, stars, or gingerbread men and women.

6 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup molasses

Sift or whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a medium sized bowl. using the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time to combine. add molasses and beat until blended. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix at low speed until the dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for two hours or dough can be made 1 day ahead, keep refrigerated.

 Here are the size dimensions you will need of cardboard for patterns 

2 side walls (each 3 1/2" by 6 1/2"). On one of the side walls cut out a diamond shaped window.

1 front and 1 back wall (each 7 1/2" by 3 1/2") both with window cutouts and 1 with a door.

2 roof pieces (each 4 3/4" by 8")

1 chimney (each 2" by 1 1/4") 2 of the pieces with a 1/2" notch

Rolling and Cutting

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you want to roll. Lightly dust your countertop with flour. Divide the dough into 6 portions, each portion should be rolled so it is 1/4" thick. Keep adding more flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the counter. This will also make it much easier to transfer the pieces to the baking sheets. Using the templates as a guide, cut out shapes with a small knife. Carefully transfer pieces to a baking sheet, chill for 30 minutes prior to baking.

Baking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 25 minutes until firm. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Choose a 12" square (sturdy) piece of cardboard or wooden board for the base of your gingerbread house. Wrap with tin foil.

Royal Icing

Royal icing is the "glue" that hold the house pieces together and candies in place. There are two ways to make royal icing, one uses egg meringue powder and the other uses raw egg whites. I have included the recipe for both, I use the raw egg white recipe. While you're waiting for the base of the house to set as well as the roof, you need to refrigerate your royal icing. Place your mixing bowl in the refrigerator covered with a wet cloth. Place a plate on top of the cloth. This prevents the icing from drying out.

3 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons meringue powder

3 tablespoons water

In a medium bowl on medium speed beat above ingredients for about 8-10 minutes, until very thick, a good indication that it is ready is when the icing turns from a glossy white to matte white.

or

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

2 egg whites

In a medium bowl on medium speed beat above ingredients for about 8-10 minutes, until very thick, a good indication that it is ready is when the icing turns from a glossy white to matte white.

Assembly

Use a piping bag or a knife to put icing along both edges of one side wall. Join it to one end of both the front and back walls. Press to create a tight seal. Put icing on both edges of remaining side wall and place together to form the house. Pipe along the inside joints and the base to stabilize. Allow to dry for at least 3 hours.

Roof

Pipe or use a knife to spread a thick line of royal icing on the tops of the side walls. Be generous with the icing for holding the roof in place. Put a thick line of icing along the top edges of both roof pieces to secure. Allow to dry for at least 3 hours.

Chimney and yard

Ice notched chimney pieces and secure to roof. Pipe along edges and fit pieces together to secure. Spread icing all over the tin foil covered base.

Sweet Building Supplies

Before beginning to decorate, separate each type of candy into it's own small bowl.

there are so many ideas for decorations, so get creative

pretzels

hershey's kisses

gum drops

candy canes

jelly beans

licorice

foil wrapped santas. toy soldiers, bells

mini frosted shredded wheat