Gingerbread House Ideas

Building a gingerbread house is a long-held Christmas tradition that will fill your house with the aroma of Christmas spices and can be a fun family project where everyone can share their gingerbread house ideas.

First The Dough

Gingerbread houses have to be tasty as well as sturdy. Just about any gingerbread recipe can be used for the construction of your gingerbread house but you will have to make a lot of it. If you find that your gingerbread cookies turn out thin or spread a lot then I would suggest not using that recipe for your gingerbread house.

You will need a stand mixer to make the dough because you will need a lot of it.

Ingredients

• 6 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cups molasses
• 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking powder until completely combined.
2. Using your stand mixer beat the brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the oil and mix until combined.
4. Add the molasses and water and beat until combined.
5. Add the flour mixture one cup at a time letting it incorporate before adding the next cup.
6. When all the flour has been worked in remove the bowl from the mixer and knead by hand until the dough is smooth.
7. If the dough is too dry add more water by hand.
8. If the dough is overly soft then add a little more flour.
9. Separate the dough into three equal pieces.
10. Form the pieces into inch thick disks and wrap in plastic wrap.
11. Let the dough rest at least two hours in the refrigerator.

Bake a House

You can work out your ginger bread house ideas while the dough rests. You will be rolling the dough out to a ¼ inch thick and approximately 9-inches by 12 inches. If you work out your designs on parchment paper you can then cut the designs out and lay them directly onto your rolled out dough. Then all you have to do is cut the dough to the design.

• Basic gingerbread house ideas require these shapes:
• 2 sides measuring 6- inches by 5-inches
• 2 Front/back pieces measuring 6-inches across the bottom, 6-inches along the sides but drawn with a peak that is 9 inches from the bottom. This is drawn and cut in a five sided shape.
• 2 roof pieces measuring 6 ½ -inches by 6 ½ - inches.

These are the basic pieces for a house. You will have much more dough than is needed for a basic house as described. You can add a chimney, side rooms, a garage, or anything else that you want.

1. When you are ready to cut and bake your house remove the dough from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
3. Once the dough is workable roll it out to ¼-inch thick.
4. Roll it out on a sheet of parchment paper. This will make it easier to move the pieces and will keep them from sticking to the cookie sheet.
5. Use a ruler and a long, sharp knife (or a pizza cutter) to make straight cuts.
6. Straight cuts are imperative; if the edges of the house are not straight the house will be unstable.
7. If you want windows in your house cut them out now.
8. Once the pieces are cut place them onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.
9. Be sure that there is an inch of space between pieces.
10. Bake the pieces following this time table:
11. Large pieces will need 10 -18 minutes to bake fully.
12. Medium sized pieces 8-15 minutes
13. Small pieces 5-10 minutes.
14. It will take several batches to get all the pieces baked.
15. It is better to overbake slightly than to underbake. Underbaked pieces will be soft and not be able to support the house.
16. If the dough spreads during the baking place the piece that has spread onto cutting board and trim the edges to straight again.
17. Let the pieces cool completely before trying to assemble the house.
18. Be sure to roll out and cut the remaining dough into cookies, which make great snacks during construction.

Gingerbread House Ideas

Once the pieces of the house are cooled it is time to put your decorating ideas into action. You will need royal icing and lots of it to glue the pieces together and well as decorating.

This royal icing recipe, from the gingerbread cookies recipe, is a good place to start. You will probably need more than this recipe makes.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups of confectioner's sugar
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• Food coloring if desired

Instructions

1. Mix together

When gluing the pieces together use a piping bag with a 1/8 to ¼ inch tip. Run a line of icing along the edge of one piece and then hold the second piece agents the icing until it dries a bit.

Royal icing can be colored red and green for a festive seasonal look or left white for a snowy effect.

Using this method you can make icicles. Pipe royal icing onto parchment in the shape of an icicle. Once it has dried carefully peel the icicle off the paper. Then use a dab of icing to glue the icicle onto the house.

Use your royal icing to glue bits of candy, meringue, or divinity to the house. Candy canes, peppermints and nonpareils are nice additions.