How to Make a Gingerbread House

This is the third video in our three part series on baking with Gingerbread.  If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out the recipes for how to make Gingerbread Dough, and Gingerbread Men.  This video is my favourite though as it was so much fun to make.  I vaguely remember trying to make a gingerbread house from scratch as a teen but I think I tried to use cake or something as I remember the edges wouldn’t stand up or go together.

I did a lot of research before starting this project and the best tip I read was to use a soup can to keep the frame of the house up when you’re putting it together.  It totally works and makes building the house so much easier.  Did you think that I was classy when you saw my jar of Jamie Oliver pasta sauce?  HAHA…I wanted to use my No Name soup of vegetarian chili but thought that might make me a little trashy for the viewers.  Gotta keep up appearances!

Anyway, take this project on as you’ll LOVE it.  It’s such a fabulous family task and you can let the kids go crazy decorating it.

Gingerbread House

Ingredients:
gingerbread dough
royal icing
various candies for decorating

Cookie Cutter Measurements (centimeters and, inches)
roof 18cm x 13.5cm, 7″ x 5.5″ (cut two of these)
side wall 15cm x 8cm, 6″ x 3″ (cut two of these)
front wall 17.5cm x 13cm, 7″ x 5″ (cut two of these)
chimney rear 6cm x 2.5cm, 2.36″ x 1″
chimney front 10cm x 2.5cm, 4″ x 1″
chimney side10cm x 2.5cm, 4″ x 1″ (cut two of these)
window 2.5cm x 3cm, 1″ x 1″ (cut as many of these as you want)
door 6cm x 3cm, 2.36″ x 1.18″

Procedure:
Roll out gingerbread dough and cut out house pieces as listed above. Bake cookies for 14 minutes at 350F.
Assemble the bottom part of the house first by attaching the back and side with royal icing to a plate or cake board. Attach the front and opposite side. Allow to dry for around 20 minutes. Next assemble the chimney so it has time to dry. Attach the roof to the house base. When the chimney is set, attach it to the roof on either side. Decorate the house with the remaining royal icing and candies.

While I was practicing for this video, I invited Paityn over so we could spend some decorating time together.  Her house turned out super cute!  I love her mini cupcake pots at the front door. 

See . . . great project to do with kids!