Looking for a new holiday tradition you're kids will love? Get your pattern and instructions for how to make kid friendly gingerbread houses here! The sturdy walls and roof pieces make these the perfect gingerbread houses for kids!
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Why Choose this Recipe?
- Step by step instructions WITH Pictures
- Made from real gingerbread not graham crackers.
- Is edible if you choose to eat it.
Ingredient Notes...
- Ginger - this recipe does not contain ginger. Gingerbread is a general term given to spice cookies, cakes and other desserts.
- Shortening - DO NOT substitute butter. Butter can't give this gingerbread the sturdiness it has to have to hold up.
- Royal Icing - For best results use my Royal Icing recipe. It has NEVER failed me.
Step by Step Instructions:
- I am going to focus on the constructions of the house rather than the making of the gingerbread dough. The dough is very easy to make. I am going to pick up where you roll the dough out, but first you'll need to make your templates. Grab a ruler and some cardstock paper, measure and cut out your templates as shown in this picture.
- Here's what mine looked like....
- Roll out the gingerbread dough to ¼ inch thick.
- Lay the templates on the dough and use a sharp knife to cut around them.
- You'll need two side piece, two roof pieces and two front/back pieces for each house you want to make.
- Cut a little door out of one of the front/back pieces.
- Bake the house pieces and cool completely before building.
- Also prepare the royal icing.
- I like to build these houses on cake boards. Any piece of cardboard with work. You'll want a piece that's roughly 12x12 inches.
- Cover the card board with foil.
- Decide where you want the back of your house first.
- Pipe a line of royal icing and set the back piece on it.
- Pipe line of royal icing for a side piece and set it on it.
- Pipe a line of royal icing between the side edges of the two pieces "gluing" them together.
- Add additional royal icing to the inside and outside edges to secure these walls.
- Pipe a line of royal icing for the second side and set the piece on it.
- Pipe icing to glue the second side edge to the back wall edge.
- Pipe a line of icing for the front piece and add it.
- Carefully pipe icing in the inside corner edges to secure the front piece.
- Add extra icing to the edges, corner, inside and out.
- Let stand for a 3-4 minutes allowing the royal icing to set up a bit before adding the roof pieces.
- Pipe icing along all the edges you will be setting a roof piece on.
- Carefully set the first roof piece on the house, holding in place for a few moments giving the icing a chance to set a little.
- Pipe icing along the places the second roof piece will be sitting.
- Carefully place the second roof piece on, holding in place for a moment.
- Pipe icing and add the door wherever you like.
- Decorate your gingerbread house!
- Pipe royal icing and add candy wherever you would like to create the perfect Christmas display!
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
- Tip 1: I to use a large spatula to lift the large pieces of dough onto a pan.
- Tip 2: If you want a door on the front of your house then cut out a door on one of the front/back pieces. Remove the door cut out and bake it along with the other pieces.
- Tip 3: Always start building with the back piece of the house. Starting with the front or sides often results in misjudgment of how much space you need for the entire house on the board.
- Tip 4: I put small amount of royal icing in disposable frosting bags and rubber band the tops shut for my kids. I give them each a bag of icing and turn them loose!
- Tip 5: If you leave your candy wrapped your houses will look brighter and keep the candy fresh so you can eat it later.
We usually don't eat the house itself because it's really hard. Like rock hard. We do however eat most of the candy off our houses. We leave a lot of the candy we use wrapped so we can eat the candy throughout the holiday season.
Pretty much for as long as you want. There isn't anything on them that's going to rot and smell. They'll go stale, but that's about it.
We use a variety of candy. For example, we stack 2 Reese's peanut butter cups and top with a Hershey kiss to make a tree. Mini candy canes and bite size Hershey bars can be used to make sleds. Bric a Brac makes decorative looking presents. MnMs and Sixlets are great accent pieces. Really the sky's the limit here and there's lots of great holiday themed candy so be creative and have fun with it!
Related Recipes
- Iced Gingerbread Men
- Small Batch Homemade Caramels
- Cranberry Crumble Bars
- My Christmas Recipe Collection
Have you made these? If so, leave me a rating a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to get my latest recipes sent right to your email! You can also follow me on...
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DIY Gingerbread House Recipe
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 Gingerbread Houses 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Looking for a new holiday tradition you're kids will love? Get your pattern and instructions for how to make kid friendly gingerbread houses here! The sturdy walls and roof pieces make these the perfect gingerbread houses for kids!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Shortening (don't sub butter)
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Molasses
- 2 Tbs. Vinegar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Cloves
- 5 Cups Flour
- ⅓ Cup Warm Water
You will need royal icing for the "glue" to build these houses. Get my No Fail Royal Icing recipe here!
Instructions
- Create your gingerbread house templates as shown in my post. I use cardstock paper. You can find the measurements in the notes below.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the molasses, vinegar and vanilla.
- Mix in the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cloves.
- Mix in 3 cups of the flour. Add the ⅓ cup of warm water. Add the remaining two cups of flour and mix well.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to ¼ thick. Lay the templates on the dough and use a sharp knife to cut around them. You will need to two of each for each house. One batch of dough will make 2 houses.
- If you want a door, cut one out of one of front or back pieces.
- Lift each cut out onto a prepared baking sheet with a large spatula. Leave an inch space between pieces.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Yes the edges will look a little overdone. That's the way you want them, hard and sturdy. Cool completely before constructing.
- When you are ready to build your houses prepare my No Fail Royal Icing. Don't be shy about royal icing. It is easy to make and is necessary to keep your house together. Also, I build mine on cake boards or cardboard covered with tin foil.
- Start by making a line of icing for the back of the house and then one for a side. Place the pieces in the appropriate spots and add icing to the corners. I do that on the inside and outside of the corners. Add the other side and then the front piece. Let stand 3-5 minutes before adding the roof pieces.
- Put icing along the edges the roof pieces will sit on. Place the pieces and hold them in place a few seconds. Add icing to any areas that have gaps. Add the final roof piece and the door. Let the house stand for at least 5 minutes. Decorate as desired with whatever you can think of!
Notes
Keywords: gingerbread house, how to make gingerbread houses, diy gingerbread houses
Maurine
We make gingerbread houses at Thanksgiving. This gives the grandkids something to take home in anticipation for Christmas.
★★★
L.S
Wonderful! This is really a family tradition, and a great recipe to use. 😉
★★★★★