How to Start a Gingerbread House Tradition

Step 2.  Design a pattern

Designing a house-pattern is particularly appealing to those who love to create, and the choices are endless.  My first houses were designed according to my favorite ”Hip-Roof” rooftop.  

Almost every year, I would cut a pattern from a softdrink-can carton.  The cardboard was stiff enough to use and reuse for the season. These patterns changed a little over the years, but were limited only by the size of the drink-can carton, and my preference for the hipped-roof look. 

In the last few years, my daughter began to experiment with the house designs, and came up with a fabulous “Mid-Century Modern” style house. 

In an effort to try and simulate the look of my own house, I went on Google Earth and took some screenshots of our front and rooftop, etc., and was able to create a simplified version of my house. 

 Step 3. Test the Cardboard pattern

Pictured above is an example of pieces of a house.  Notice that the bottom of the roof rectangle (trapezoids) must be equal the top of the wall of the house.  Simply using a ruler will help, and tape the cardboard sides together to test your pattern before cutting the dough. 

Step 4. Make the Dough

Ginger Street

Decorating the Town

Bob’s Gingerbread

5  1/2 Cups  All purpose flour

1 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Nutmeg

3 tsp Ginger

1 tsp Ground Cloves

2 tsp Cinnamon  

1 cup shortening 

1  1/2 cups molasses (dark un-sulfered)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Sift dry ingredients together

Melt shortening, add molasses, sugar, and eggs and mix well.

Combine 3/4 of flour mixture with wet ingredients.  Reserve 1/4 of flour mixture for rolling the gingerbread/dusting the board

Divide dough into thirds. 

Chill (although I don’t always chill the dough). 

Design a pattern (read specifics below), roll and cut design, place on parchment paper, fill windows with crushed hard candies.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 Minutes.

Royal Icing 

2 egg whites beaten (this is great for construction purposes, but makes the icing inedible)

1/2 to 1 tsp of Cream of Tarter, more for humid climates, add to beaten egg white.  Thanks to the Cream of Tarter, I’ve found that I do not have to beat the Royal Icing as long as most RI recipes. 

1 lb of confectioners sugar 

Dough Moisture

The dough is interesting.  I sometimes find it to be stiff, and other times it seems to be wet.  In general, I add flour to create a fairly stiff consistency, usually adding plenty of flour to the board as I roll it out for cutting the pattern. 

Place the dough on parchment paper. You might even roll out the dough on parchment paper if you have large pieces . Do not cut the windows out until you’ve placed the walls on the parchment paper. Often I wait until the walls are on the parchment paper and on the pan before cutting the windows and doorways. 

 If you experience spreading of the dough while baking, remove the gingerbread from the oven and while still hot, lay the patterns over the baked gingerbread, and trim.

Step 5.  Cut the Windows and Fill with Crushed Candy

Though you would assume that cutting windows and filling them with candy would weaken the walls, I find that the hard candy melts well and strengthens the walls. They also look nice, and allow you to light up the house from the inside. 

Different candies are better than others.  Butterscotch and cinnamon candies work well, but I’ve tried whatever is in the house, or left-over Halloween hard candy.  The candies above had a bit of texture after baking, but were translucent, and strengthened the walls. I recommend you test a cookie with a cutout and your candy before applying it to your house. 

We often use cookie cutters  to cut the shapes for windows.  That saves time, and adds interest with the shapes. 

Step 6.  Bake the Gingerbread with the Crushed Candies 

15 Minutes at 350 Degree Fahrenheit has always worked well for our gingerbread. Trim as needed (carefully) while warm after removing from the oven. Allow the pieces to cool well before removing them from the parchment paper. 

Step 7. Construct the House with Royal Icing (Not edible, due to the raw egg white)

Royal Icing has been our go-to house-glue for constructing the Gingerbread houses. There are many Royal Icing recipes, but the recipe we use is here: 

Royal Icing 

2 egg whites beaten (this is great for construction purposes, but makes the icing inedible. Do not eat.)

1/2 to 1 tsp of Cream of Tarter, more for humid climates, add to beaten egg white.  Thanks to the Cream of Tarter, I’ve found that I do not have to beat the Royal Icing as long as most RI recipes. 

1 LB of confectioners sugar 

Gradually add until you reach a stiff consistency. Have more Confectioners sugar handy in case your egg white is particularly large, or you need to make more icing. 

We live in a dry climate, which I am told affects the dryness, but approximately a pound of confectioners sugar was the norm for two egg-whites in our climate.

I prefer the icing mixture be stiff enough to hold ridges from a decorating tube tip. The Cream of Tarter seems to be the key ingredient for helping the icing remain stiff and dry quickly enough to hold the walls together.

Use small cans to help hold the walls in place while drying, but don’t forget to remove the cans before glueing the roof on.

Construct the 4 bottom/base walls first, and allow them to dry, preferably overnight. Once the four side walls are dry, carefully glue the front and back roof pieces, which lean against each other at the top, and add the small side triangles last, after the front and back roofs are set.  

Add icing to the outside of the house to cover problem areas, strengthen the “seams,”  and add a decorative touch. You’ll be surprised at the strength of the house. 

Step 8.  Decorate the House

My best source of candies for Gingerbread decorating has been left-over Halloween candy, however, I do supplement with hard candies that are traditionally used.

Prepare the Royal Icing in several decorator bags in advance for each person to use.  Consider using several different decorator tips on the bags, but generally, people enjoy adding candies and simply need a way to “glue” the candy with the icing. 

I’ve found the icing keeps well in plastic bags in the refrigerator a day or two, but needs to return to room temperature in order to squeeze and decorate. 

Step 9. Have a Party

I have had more Gingerbread House Decorating Parties than any other party over the 20 years I’ve been baking them.  We would invite our friends over, or have houses for family and friends to decorate at a Christmas dinner.  

Now, my grandchildren expect to have their own houses each year, and we love the decor that emerges.