Gingerbread House.
This recipe makes 1 small gingerbread house, using the template in the PDF. Multiply the quantities by however many houses you’d like to make. Print the template on A4 paper at 100% scale. (For the US: print on US Letter at 100% scale — no “fit to page”.)
The decorations listed are just examples — use whatever you have at home and have fun with it!
A quick planning note:
If you’re short on time, baking with very young children, or with kids who find it tricky to concentrate for long periods, it can help to split this over a couple of days. For example, you could make and bake the gingerbread pieces one day, then assemble and decorate another. That avoids waiting around for chilling, baking and cooling, which can test everyone’s patience!
Alternatively, adults can make the dough, or even bake the gingerbread house pieces in advance, and let the children focus on assembling and decorating — which is often the most enjoyable part anyway.
Ingredients.
Gingerbread:
80g / ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp soft unsalted butter
90g / ½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ egg (about 2 tbsp beaten egg)
175g / 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda / baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Small pinch of nutmeg
Royal icing:
200g / 1⅔ cups powdered (icing/confectioners’) sugar
8g egg white powder, or 1 medium egg white
2–2½ tbsp water
Decorations (examples):
Powdered/icing sugar “snow”, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips/buttons, candy-coated chocolates (e.g. Smarties/M&M’s), edible glitter, sprinkles, candy canes, jelly sweets, silver dragées, etc.
Equipment.
printer
oven tray
parchment/baking paper
knife
rolling pin
mixing bowl & spoon
piping bags & nozzle/food bag & scissors
display board/tray/flat plate (something to stick the house to!)
Method.
Make the gingerbread: Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl (or a mixer) until light and well combined. Kids can help with this.
Add half an egg (about 25–30g of beaten egg) and mix until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and stir together. This is a great job for little helpers.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until a dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface (no need to flour yet) and knead gently until smooth, about 1 minute. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect.
Shape into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour (or 20–30 minutes in the freezer) until firm enough to roll. This can be made a few days ahead.
Roll & bake the gingerbread: Preheat the oven to 170°C (no fan) / 340°F. Preheat the oven to 170°C (no fan) / 340°F. This step should be done by an adult.
Lightly flour the surface and roll the dough to about 3–4mm thick.
Lay the paper templates on the dough and try to fit as many pieces as you can. Cutting with a knife is best done by an adult, but kids can help position the templates and lift pieces.
Carefully transfer the pieces to a lined baking tray. Windows and doors are easiest to cut once the pieces are already on the tray to keep their shape.
Re-roll the dough for extra shapes — it’s very forgiving and can be rolled several times.
Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges but still soft in the centre. An adult should handle the oven.
Cool completely on a wire rack before icing. Icing warm biscuits will end badly!
Meanwhile, make the royal icing: Mix the egg white powder and sifted icing sugar in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp water and mix well, adding a little more if needed. It should be thick but pipeable. Kids can help mix.
Transfer icing to a piping bag (or cut a small hole in the corner of a bag).
Assemble: If decorating heavily with icing, it’s easiest to decorate the flat pieces first and let them dry.
If using the chimney, assemble this first and leave it to set.
To build the house, lay the front, back and sides roughly in position on a board. Attach one wall to the board first, then, one at a time, pipe icing along the edges and join the others. Little ones will likely need help here — even adults usually do. Be generous with the icing; it can always be covered up later, or made to look like snow!
Let the walls set before adding the roof, and finally the chimney.
Decorate freely. There’s no wrong way to do this!
