Making a gingerbread house is a tradition of many families during the Christmas season. Here is a recipe to make your own from scratch and ideas for decorating it.
Building you own gingerbread house can be both a fun and creative endeavor. Tackle the project on your own, or have kids join in the fun too. All you need to get started is a standard gingerbread house pattern, a good recipe for gingerbread cookies and the icing, plus some assorted edible treats (cookies, candies and other goodies) and lots of imagination.
Picking a Pattern
For your basic gingerbread house you will need a pattern that reflects the way you want your house to look. You can use a ready-made design, or come up with your own. The most standard pattern for a gingerbread house includes the roof (two rectangles, each 7”x 11”) ,side walls (2 rectangles each 5” x 8”), and the front and back panels (2 rectangles each measuring 5” x 9”). Use your creativity to increase or decrease these dimensions, or make other changes to reflect your own architectural style.
Draw your pattern on to clean white tracing paper. Cut each piece out, one at a time. You will use these pattern “cut-outs” to cut your gingerbread dough to size, before cooking.
The Gingerbread Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 6 eggs
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon allspice
Directions:
- Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray, or use greased and floured parchment paper to line your baking sheets.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar till light. Beat in the 2 tablespoons of molasses and the eggs, one at a time.
- In another large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, one cup at a time, beating after each addition. When batter becomes too stiff to stir with spoon, knead in any remaining dry ingredients, then shape dough into a smooth ball. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Place dough on a floured surface, and roll out a small amount until 1/4 inch thick.
- Lay one of the gingerbread house pattern pieces on the dough and cut around the edges. Using a spatula, lift the dough and place it on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Save any scraps of dough in a separate bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Roll out scraps to make gingerbread men (to inhabit your gingerbread house) gingerbread pets, flowers, or other decorations, as you please.
- Bake your gingerbread creations at 325 degrees, for 15 to 20 minutes.
The Icing
To assemble your gingerbread house you will need to make the icing.
Ingredients:
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 3 - 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
Directions: Beat egg whites until foamy. Combine other ingredients. (Assorted food coloring can be used to tint the icing different colors.)
Assembling a Gingerbread House
Use the icing to hold together you gingerbread house. Also it can be used to “glue” on assorted candies, cookies, or cereal pieces, to decorate your gingerbread house.
