How to Make a Country Gingerbread House

Making a gingerbread house is a lot of fun. If you have never built a gingerbread house before, it can also be a challenge. It is a fantastic way to connect with the kids at Christmas. My first experience was with my granddaughter Daisy. She wanted to build a gingerbread house, so I began the research.

Most of the recipes for a gingerbread house are similar. The one here is a basic gingerbread recipe that can also be used for regular gingerbread cookies.

Before you even begin to cook, get an idea of what you want your gingerbread house to look like. Take a cardboard box and flatten it out. Use the whole pieces to draw and cut out the shapes of the house. This will be your template for the gingerbread dough when you roll it out. I wanted a country looking gingerbread house, so I chose a template for that theme.

The Basic Ingredients For Gingerbread:

6 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks margarine/butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup dark molasses
1 Tbsp water

Make the Gingerbread Dough:

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.

2 . Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed the butter and brown sugar until fluffy and well blended. Beat in the eggs, molasses and water until well combined.

3. Beat half of the flour mixture into the molasses mixture until well blended and smooth. Stir in the remaining flour. Knead (or use your mixer's dough hook) until well blended. If dough is too soft, add a little more flour.

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap/refrigerate at least two hours, preferably overnight. You can make it up to 3 days ahead of time. Let sit at room temperature for a few minutes before you roll it out

Making The Gingerbread House Pieces:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, with the oven rack in the middle. Have several flat cookie sheets ready, preferably ones that you know will not warp in the oven heat.

2. Divide the dough in two. Use parchment paper or wax paper on a flat surface for rolling. I like using the kitchen table or the center counter. This gives you working room Dust the paper lightly with flour. Take a portion of the dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Add a little flour to the surface of the dough. If it sticks to either your rolling pin or the rolling surface, dust with more flour. Soft dough can be partially frozen and then rolled out.

3. Place the pattern pieces on the dough, as many pattern pieces as will fit on the dough. Use a small sharp knife to cut out the pattern pieces from the dough, wiping the knife frequently. Soft dough can be cut out through the wax paper and flip over to your cookie sheet.

**You can cut out a door and window(s) at this point, or you can wait until after baking, soon after the pieces have come out of the oven while the cookies are still warm.

4. Bake in a 350°F oven until the edges are just beginning to darken, 11-15 minutes for the large pieces, 6-8 minutes for the small pieces. Rotate the cookie sheets half way through the baking for more even browning. Remove the sheets to racks to cool, about 15 minutes.

While the pieces are still slightly warm, lay the pattern pieces over them and use a large straight chef's knife to trim off any parts of the pieces that have through cooking spread beyond the pattern. Remove pieces to cool directly on racks to cool completely.

Now is the time to have the real fun. Get your frosting and candy ready. For the frosting I used a Royal Icing Recipe that was easy and the perfect icing for a gingerbread house. This recipe makes enough for an average house. If you are making a huge house or past the average size range, add to the recipe as applicable. I normally double it just to be sure.

Making Royal Icing:
2 large egg whites
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar, divided

1. Whip together until smooth the egg whites and 1 1/3 cups of the powdered sugar.

2. If you are planning to eat your gingerbread house, and are concerned about the safety of raw eggs, you can microwave the egg white powdered sugar mixture for several seconds (30-40) until the mixture reaches a temperature of 160 degrees, but not higher than 175°F. You can also use pasteurized dried or liquid egg whites .

3. Add the remaining 1 1/3 cup of powdered sugar to the sugar egg mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until the icing holds stiff peaks. If it doesn't form stiff peaks, add more powdered sugar. Putting a damp, clean towel over the bowl of royal icing will prevent it from drying out while you decorate.

4. If you don't have a pastry bag, you can make your own with a re-sealable plastic freezer bag, just cut off the tip (a small cut) of one of the corners of the bag. Plastic or metal piping tips are available in Walmart or the grocery store, which you can also use with a freezer bag, for more controlled piping.

Decorating Your Gingerbread House:

This is really the most fun part. I save Halloween candy to use for this. I buy candy canes and other extras if needed, but can usually get much of the work done with the Halloween leftovers.

Use the icing and set your base for the house on whatever you plan to display it on. I cut out cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil, then a decorative paper, then plastic wrap. This secures it for moisture and beauty for the season.

Set the sides up, taking a few minutes in between for hardening. This is a great time to grab a cup of hot chocolate or Christmas cookies. After you set it up and the entire house is complete, you can add the candy and frosting touches that really make the house your own.

This has become a special time for my granddaughter Daisy and I at Christmas. She remembers making it and hopefully will her entire life.