Here’s my completely homemade gingerbread house recipe including how to bake, construct, and decorate with royal icing and buttercream. There are no rules when it comes to decorating gingerbread houses. The ONLY rule is to have fun!
One of the most common recipe questions I receive is how to turn my gingerbread cookies into a house. I’ve never really had a solid answer until now. I have it all for you today including:
- solid gingerbread cookie dough recipe
- a free gingerbread house template with the exact shapes you’ll need
- all my decorating tips and recommendations
- links to the products I use if you want to replicate this
Trust me when I say that I am NOT a crafty person, but I could EASILY decorate this beauty and I’m showing you exactly how I did it. This is perfect for beginners!
Let’s get started. Here’s the video tutorial to guide you along. You can watch me make this gingerbread house from start to finish, including rolling out the dough and decorating the house. Sprinkled throughout are my highly recommended tips and methods to guarantee gingerbread house success.
Gingerbread House Video Tutorial
Starting Your Homemade Gingerbread House
We’re using a cookie dough that’s similar to my gingerbread cookies. The gingerbread cookies are soft in the centers and crisp on the edges, but the gingerbread house shapes are much more sturdy and solid. Let’s compare the house recipe to the cookie recipe:
- small amount of baking soda for less puff
- less butter so the house shapes are harder
- less molasses so the dough isn’t as sticky
- add water to make a smoother dough
Other than that, the recipes are pretty similar. Chilling the dough is imperative– otherwise the house pieces will lose shape and constructing will be impossible. The dough is a little sticky from the molasses, so I recommend chilling in two discs before rolling out.
Why two discs? It’s easier to roll out smaller portions of cookie dough.
How to Construct a Gingerbread House
Use my gingerbread house template. This template will give you a small-medium house that’s totally approachable. I find large houses difficult to construct and decorate.
This house is approximately 7 inches tall with the chimney and 6 inches wide.
Click this link for the PDF: Sally’s Baking Recipes Gingerbread House Template
Print out the template and cut out the shapes. Each shape will be used TWICE. For example, two roofs, two sides, etc. Use a pizza cutter or small knife. The chimney is totally optional, but I think it’s a cute addition.
*Best Method for Rolling the Dough*
The most successful way to roll out this gingerbread cookie dough is between two sheets of parchment paper. It will stick to your counter no matter how much you flour it.
Re-roll the scraps so you have enough dough for the entire house.
Gingerbread House Icing
Every house needs sturdy walls, right? Royal icing is the “glue” that holds the house together. It’s also the glue adhering any candies to the walls and roof. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on. As the royal icing dried, it gently dripped off the sides and looked like snow.
TIP: Use as much royal icing as you need to for constructing the house. It dries hard and will look like snow. Plus, you can cover up any messy parts with buttercream or candy.
Crusting Buttercream for Decoration
Though I love working with both, I’m much better at decorating desserts with buttercream compared to royal icing. And maybe you’re the same? So let’s use some STURDY and THICK buttercream called Crusting Buttercream. Made with both shortening and butter, crusting buttercream “sets” and doesn’t stay sticky– it’s ideal for decorating gourmet cakes, cookies, and gingerbread houses.
Two tools I highly recommend:
- A squeeze bottle for the royal icing “glue” around the edges of the house.
- A piping bag (reusable or disposable) + tip for decorating with buttercream. I only used 1 piping tip for the entire house: Ateco piping tip #32. This is a small open star piping tip and you can watch me use it in the video above. Makes a lovely design.
These baking tools would be great to add to your holiday wish list. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out my Holiday Baking Gift Guide. Lots of fun ideas in there, either for yourself or other baker friends!
Candies for Decorating a Homemade Gingerbread House
- gumdrops
- M&Ms
- candy canes (mini or regular size)
- peppermint swirl candies
- sprinkles (I used a holiday mix from Sweetapolita)
- edible metallic beads/dragees (I use Sweetapolita)
- marshmallows
- coconut for “snow”
- cinnamon sticks, Hershey’s Kisses, chocolate chips, cereal pieces!
- icing decorations such as these snowflakes
I absolutely love the Wilton brand icing decorations you can find online or at craft stores. I bought them at Michaels craft store, which had a ton of gingerbread house decorating candies in the seasonal section including the pictured holly and these similar snowflake icing decorations. (Not sponsored, genuinely LOVE wilton and michaels craft store.)
Gingerbread House Ideas
I gathered a few links for you to use as decorating inspiration. There are so many beautiful (and SIMPLE) decorated gingerbread houses out there.
- picture of fun roof ideas
- slideshow of 40 cute gingerbread houses
- even more adorable gingerbread houses
- log cabin gingerbread house
- you could also cut windows out of the house’s walls before baking and add crushed hard candies, just as we do with stained glass window cookies
Ditch the “pinterest perfection” goal and get messy. The piped crusting buttercream on my pictured gingerbread house hid about 100 mistakes. Remember, there are no rules when it comes to decorating. The ONLY rule is to have fun.
Watch me decorate a gingerbread house in the video above. I added two decorated sugar cookies to the “yard.”
I can’t wait to see your gingerbread house creations! This was truly one of the most fun projects; it was a complete joy testing, decorating, photographing, and filming this recipe. I truly hope it brings exciting memories to your family this holiday season. And even though they make a beautiful Christmas decoration, don’t forget to eat all your hard work!!
Love to create and decorate? You’ll enjoy making this yule log, too! And of course, Christmas sugar cookies.
See Your Gingerbread Houses!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
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Gingerbread House Recipe (VIDEO)
- Prep Time: 1 day
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 1 day
- Yield: 1 house
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Here’s my completely homemade gingerbread house recipe including how to bake, construct, and decorate with royal icing and buttercream. Everything can be prepared in advance, see my make ahead tip after the recipe instructions. House structure must completely set for at least 4-6 hours before decorating.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) unsulphured dark molasses
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) water
- royal icing (the “glue”)
- assorted candies (see post for suggestions)
Crusting Buttercream
- 1/2 cup (95g) shortening, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Print out my Sally’s Baking Recipes Gingerbread House Template and cut out the shapes. Set aside for step 6.
- Make the cookie dough: Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, molasses, and water on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Cookie dough will be very thick.
- Divide cookie dough in half, flatten into discs (about 4-5 inches in diameter), and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Cut into shapes: Remove each disc from the refrigerator and roll each out in between two pieces of parchment paper. Watch me do this in the video above– gingerbread cookie dough will stick to your counter no matter how much you flour it. Parchment is best. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. You want thick pieces for your gingerbread house. Lightly flour the underside of gingerbread house template shapes. (The dough is sticky and the paper may stick to it otherwise.) Using a pizza cutter or small knife, carefully cut the dough into the gingerbread house template shapes. You will need TWO of each shape. Re-roll dough scraps so you have enough dough for the whole house. Use any extra dough to create fun shapes using cookie cutters. I made a few gingerbread stars!
- Carefully arrange gingerbread house shapes onto prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. If they lost some of their shape transferring to the baking sheet, straighten out the edges (see my video above).
- Bake house pieces for about 18-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Bake chimney pieces for about 12-13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow shapes to cool completely on the baking sheets or on the counter. A flat surface is KEY for cooling– the gingerbread house edges very slightly curl up otherwise. Cooled gingerbread house pieces can be made up to 1 week in advance, cover tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months, thaw at room temperature before using.
- Construct the base of the house: Select a base for your gingerbread house. I used a wooden cake server. Watch my video above to guide you through constructing the house. Start with two pieces: the front of the house and 1 side. Using a squeeze bottle, run a thick line of royal icing on one long edge and one short edge of the side of the house piece. Stick it to your base. Use whatever you have around the house to help it stand up. You can see in my video that I use snack bag clips. You can also prop it up with soda cans, a tall cup, water bottle, etc. Run a line of royal icing along the bottom of the front of the house piece. Stick it to your base, adhering it to the side of the house piece. Hold the two in place for a few minutes until the icing is partially set, propping them up as necessary. Repeat with the 2nd side of the house piece and back of the house piece. Pipe royal icing inside any seams, inside and outside of the house, to fill any voids. Don’t be afraid to go heavy on the royal icing “glue” — when it dries, it looks like snow! Allow it to set at room temperature for at least 1 hour before adding the roof pieces.
- Add the roof: The roof pieces will be placed on top of the house base. Run a thick line of royal icing on the inside edges of one of the roof pieces and adhere it to the base. Hold in place for a few minutes. Repeat with 2nd roof piece. Run a thick line of royal icing where the two roof pieces meet at the top of the house. Hold in place for a few minutes.
- Optional Chimney: The chimney is optional, but it’s a lot of fun. I recommend putting together the chimney separately, then adhering to the roof. It’s easiest to glue the chimney pieces together upside-down. Use thick lines of royal icing to assemble the chimney in the same way you put together the base of the house. (Except you’re not adhering it to a base because it’s going on the roof!) Allow icing to set by propping it up as necessary. Once set, adhere onto the roof. The chimney may not fit to the exact angle of the roof because both puffed up or lost some shape during baking and cooling, so use as much royal icing as necessary and you can cover any bare spots with buttercream during decoration.
- House must set: Before decorating, the icing on the entire house must completely set. Allow the entire house to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours, preferably 4-6 hours or even overnight before decorating. Cover and store leftover royal icing at room temperature or in the refrigerator during this time. It will be the glue for adhering candies to the house.
- Prepare the buttercream: Buttercream can be prepared up to 1 day in advance– cover tightly and store in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature before piping/decorating. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the shortening and butter together on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Frosting will be very thick, which is what you want. If much too thick, add another splash of milk. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. (I add 1/8 teaspoon salt.)
- Use buttercream, leftover royal icing, and candies for decorating. See my candy suggestions in the blog post above. I only used 1 piping tip for the entire house: Ateco piping tip #32. This is a small open star piping tip and you can watch me use it in the video above. Makes a lovely design.
- Don’t forget to chow down on your beautiful creation if you’re in the mood for eating it. Use your best judgment here, obviously the food will taste old after a few days!
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Royal icing can be prepared the day before, see recipe note below. Crusting buttercream can also be made the day before, see step 13. Cookie dough can be made up to 3 days in advance, see step 4. Baked and cooled house pieces can be made up to 1 week in advance or frozen for up to 3 months, see step 8. House can be completely constructed up to 1 day in advance, see step 12.
- Special Tools: KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Baking Sheet | Silpat Baking Mat | Meringue Powder | Squeeze Bottle | Wooden Server | Piping Bags (reusable or disposable) | Ateco Decorating Tip #32 | Christmas Tree Decorations | Snowflake Decorations | Mini Candy Canes | Candy Canes | Gum Drops
- Recipe Yield: One gingerbread house plus 6-8 3-inch cookies. Gingerbread house is about 7 inches tall (with chimney) and 6 inches wide.
- Royal Icing: Decide how much royal icing you want to use. I suggest making the entire royal icing recipe so you have plenty for constructing and decorating. You can make the royal icing the day before– cover and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. Let it come to room temperature before using. You can freeze leftover royal icing (instructions in that recipe) or use it to decorate Christmas cookies. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on top. (Let the royal icing dry before adding the buttercream on top.) As the royal icing dried, it gently dripped off the sides and looked like snow!
- Shortening: Shortening is what makes this buttercream “crust” or “set” after a couple hours. If you want a sticky buttercream, you can replace the shortening with unsalted butter.
Keywords: gingerbread house
Hi Sally! I’m planning to make Christmas cookie decorating kits for my students (I’m a preschool teacher), but I’m not sure if they’ll like the flavor of ginger. Is there a way to make these plain cookies (vanilla flavor? or like your sugar cookies?), or chocolate cookies? 🙂
Hi Carmi! What a fun project. This recipe works with our regular sugar cookies. You may need to 1.5 or double the recipe to have plenty to construct 1 house. I would make a few separate batches of dough so there’s plenty to work with. We’ve also done it with our chocolate sugar cookies and you need a lot of royal icing to hold it together since the cookies are a bit denser than gingerbread cookies.
Great tutorial and great taste. Made it last Christmas and getting ready to make it again with HAlloween decorations.
★★★★★
The gingerbread house and ginger cookies I made were both delicious. Both were delicious after following the recipe exactly. I appreciate your help
How many “seconds” should the royal icing be for this?
We made some ginger bread stables today (because the double-sided roof looked fiddly) and this recipe worked wonderfully. It rises just enough to be pleasant to eat, but not enough to mess up your pattern and the flavour is really good. We’ll definitely use this recipe if we decide to bake ginger bread structures again.
★★★★★
My 9 year old daughter and I made an Easter gingerbread house this year because we didn’t have time to create one over Christmas. I was excited because while I have baked my own gingerbread houses in the past, I liked this recipe better and I didn’t think about using Crusting Buttercream instead of royal icing to decorate. Thank you, Sally! We made great memories!
★★★★★
Hello. So far so good. Loved your gingerbread cookies recipe!!! Now I made the dough for the gingerbread house and its “chillin'” in the refrigerator for when my 11 year old daughter comes home to make the house. My 15 year old twins will help decorate later. This will be a new family tradition to enjoy, even after New Years. Will let you know how it turns out.
Cher Lutz
I made both ginger bread house and ginger cookies. I followed the recipe as is and both turned out fantastic. Thank you
★★★★★
“This is a fun recipe but this website is soooo littered with ads its almost not worth the trouble sorting through them all. It’s so clustered and stressful to someone who is looking for a simple, neatly organized recipe.
Hi Andrea, thank you so much for your feedback. We always take user experience into consideration when we are making updates to the layout of the recipes and site. Appreciate it.
Although this was my first attempt at making a gingerbread house, I am an experienced baker. Making the dough was an easy task, but everything became difficult from that point on. The dough, even though refrigerated, was sticky. I rolled it out between 2 pieces of parchment and even that was hard to peel back. A huge mistake I made was using printer paper as my template. When I peeled back the paper, it took a layer of my dough with it. Yes, I floured it first, but it was a disaster. The bake was alright, and the patches from my peel off disaster did not show. There was a slight spread to the edges, so I immediately used an X-acto knife to straighten. Once the pieces cooled I had to actually carve the edges of most of my pieces to be able to lay straight against neighboring pieces–a huge mess to be sure.
When re-using the cut-away fragments, it turned out to be less sticky due to more flour from first roll-out. I will definitely use more flour in my next attempt at this recipe. As for the taste, I found it most unpleasant. The molasses is probably the culprit.
★★★
Hi Sally
My daughter and I really enjoyed making this gingerbread house. We couldn’t go to IKEA to buy our usual gingerbread house because of lock down. The recipe was spot on. I used my usual icing recipes. I also used treacle instead of molasses. The measurements for the house were perfect. Thanks so much for sharing it kept us busy x
★★★★★
ratios are completely off in this recipe. Checked it against 10 other construction gingerbread house recipes and this one is not even close.
conservatively estimating the liquid content of molasses at 18%, the liquid to flour ratio as expressed in bakers percentage is about 42% when I averaged out the 10 other recipes I sampled. This recipe comes in at just shy of 53%.
My fault for not doing the research beforehand.
★
Hi C2, thanks for your feedback. Which other recipes did you sample? I would love to check them out. I developed this recipe based off of my regular gingerbread cookies recipe and while some spread is bound to happen, the dough holds its shape well if the recipe and directions are followed closely. Chilling (step 4) is key. I’m not sure if the other recipes you studied included that and perhaps that’s why there’s a difference.
This was so easy to make, and my kids had a blast making and distroying their gingerbread houses. Also, the crusting buttercream was delicious! Some of the best buttercream I have ever had. My husband hates homemade frosting, and he said it was amazing and wants me to make it again. 5/5 stars!
★★★★★
Way too much molasses – very bitter flavour. And you can roll it with flour! I find copious amounts of flour works better than parchment paper, and doesn’t drastically alter the flavor or strength.
★★
Loved the recipe and templates. Best tasting gingerbread ever made. Thank you. Posted the video at the instagram tag. Added dormers, because I like dormers but turned out that the size was wrong but discovered too late so I improvised 🙂 Thank you and happy holidays!
★★★★★
I assembled the GingerBread house today with a ton of success! Thanks so much for this great recipe and your outline! I didn’t use royal icing because I was having kids eat and assemble this and was wary about using a raw egg whites. Instead I used caramel (actually your recipe as well). Stuck together well but lets see if it holds till tomorrow morning! I didn’t have problems with the dough sticking, I rolled it very liberally dusted with flour and between two sheets of parchment paper. My one issue was that somewhere between cutting the shapes and assembling them something went awry. One side was longer than needed, another shorter, that kind of thing. I simply used a lot more caramel to just hold it into place. The cookies tasted delicious and they were structurally sound. The kids had a blast decorating and somewhat assembling them (I didn’t let them touch hot caramel haha).
★★★★★
The dough is indeed sticky, but I just rolled it out between two pieces of parchment paper (as directed), then just cut out the pieces directly on the parchment paper (bottom sheet), then moved them to the cookie sheet on the parchment paper. Didn’t matter that they were sticking, just baked them on the parchment paper and they came off easily after baking. If the cut out pieces are too close to each other, then just cut the parchment paper to separate them and bake them separately. Our little house turned out great, but it was so much easier decorating (piping) the details on the sides of the house before assembling!
Hi Sally,
I didn’t rate yet because I was unsuccessful rolling out the dough…as a couple of the bakers stated above- I carefully followed this recipe as your others, as I have done with success in the past. Please add any suggestions for working with impossibly sticky dough. Thank you!
Hi Darryle, This is a very sticky dough. Be sure it’s sufficiently chilled, at least 3 hours but overnight is even better. You can definitely flour the dough, your rolling pin if needed, and even the surface you are rolling the dough out on – the extra flour will bake off!
Sally love all your recipes you are the first site I check when baking anything, made your Red Velvet Cake for my daughter’s birthday came out as quoted by a guest “insane”. Just finished baking the Gingerbread house’s tripled the recipe so each child could construct their own only used 1 cup of Molasses instead of 1 and 1/2 cups (I am not a huge fan of Molasses) and cookies came out GREAT flavour is right for us and dough wasn’t as sticky as I accepted. Huge Thank for sharing all your wonderful recipes this Christmas 5/5
★★★★★
Do you have any recipes you’d recommend to build a house that not ginger bread? Maybe a sugar cookie.
Hi Kaitlin, though I haven’t tested this, some readers have used this sugar cookie recipe to construct a house instead.
First time making one from scratch! So fun, thank you!! Tip for newbies: after you’ve baked and before you start “gluing” be sure to plan out your construction – decide how the pieces will fit. It’s super straightforward until you get to the roof and the pieces are a smidge too short because of how you’ve assembled it and needs a little extra pound of icing to keep the roof from falling into the house haha I really enjoyed this! Fantastic recipe and very easy to follow instructions! Can’t wait to eat it in a few days 🙂
★★★★★
We chilled the dough for two days and rolled it out with parchment and flour and had no problems whatsoever. It was sticky, but not unmanageable. The finished pieces look amazing. About to assemble it! Thanks for another amazing recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you!! This was my first attempt at gingerbread houses and I was nervous but they turned out beautifully!! Your directions were so helpful and easy to follow and clear. My kids LOVED helping with all the steps, thank you!
This was so much fun to make! I made 4 sets of dough for my 4 kiddos. I wrapped it up and refrigerated overnight and baked the following morning. The dough was incredibly easy to work with – after watching the video it was simple! The kids had a great time decorating them. Such a fun project to do during these trying times. Thank you Sally!
★★★★★
Hi Angela! We’re thrilled you and your kids enjoying making our gingerbread house recipe. Thank you so much for giving it a go.
Currently waiting for them to finish baking but they smell and look delicious already!
Oddly I had the opposite issue, the dough was very dry! Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian and our homes are designed to keep moisture out really well but I also only had them in the fridge for 3 hours lol. I had to use a little water on my hands to get them the proper consistency but it works! Lol
After I take them out of the oven I’m going to try to speed things up with the fridge- it’s the 22nd of December time is ticking and I’m super busy with other baking plans … I’m not exactly well known for doing things ahead of time haha.
Anyways if I can remember I’ll update on how my cut the corners method goes 😉
★★★★★
Hey! Thaks for the recipe the houses turned out really great. Had to make 6 batches of dough since we were 7, i got 9 houses made. Substituded some ingridients (butter, eggs and milik) to make it vegan and it turned out great. Did the dough the night before and the next day i baked everything. The dough was a little sticky had to use extra flour, I recommend using parchment paper underneath the dough it makes it so much easier to roll it out and it doesn’t stick on the counter Also, print the template of the house on a hard piece paper so that it is not so thin, it made a lot of difference.
PS we were 7 adults doing gingerbread houses, had a blast and we are doing it next year.
Sally, I have to admit: this is the first time I struggled with one of your recipes. And, adding to my frustration a little, I had watched the videos and read this dozens of times just to make sure I was prepped and ready. This was not my first time making cut-style gingerbread, but it was my first time making this particular recipe and attempting a house, so I know there’s always a possibility for small errors that can add up and make for large problems later. However, I would like to share a couple of (small) suggestions that may help others:
1. My dough ended up ridiculously sticky–like, it didn’t feel right at all kind of sticky. I didn NOT alter the recipe, and did exactly as shown/written; next time I may add just a tiny bit more flour? I’m just going to experiment a little to see if I can make it less sticky. (I’d love recommendations here.)
2. The “roll out between parchment paper” method did not work for me at all, even when I floured it. I attempted this method with one of the dough halves, and though it rolled out, when I attempted to pull the parchment off, it completely ruined the dough and turned into a sticky mess (and the parchment was covered with dough I had to scrape off). I ended up adding probably a 1/8 cup of flour to the ball, kneading it in a little by hand, rolling it into a disk, then putting it back into the fridge. When I took it out again, the dough was perfect (and I did not use the parchment method).
3. Instead of the parchment method here, I put down a heck of a lot of flour onto my dough-mat, then rolled out the dough to 1/4″. No issues at all cutting, but again, I used A LOT of flour beneath the dough and on my roller. Easily 1/4 – 1/2 cup. And this was after adding more flour to the dough itself and refrigerating.
4. For the second disk of dough, I actually tossed it in the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to rolling/cutting. This helped TREMENDOUSLY, and is something I’ll be doing next time I make any kind of cut cookies. It was firm at first, but within 5 minutes it was rolled out near-perfect, the edges didn’t smoosh down, and it was very easy to get it to an even 1/4″.
Like I said, this is my first time using this specific recipe and my first time making a house, so perhaps I messed some things up? I consider myself (slightly) above-average in baking, and I know a good dough texture when I see/feel it, and this was not it (at least without the additions of a heck of a lot of flour).
I’d love to hear your thoughts/recommendations, Sally! As always, I appreciate your thorough blogs and information. This time it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Thank you and I hope you and all who might be reading are having a wonderful holiday!
★★★★
Hi Jolene,
I had the exact same experience as you. I was looking for a slightly harder gingerbread recipe this year to work with my gingerbread house cutters I use every year. I consider myself a precise baker and usually have good results. I weigh my flour and yet with this recipe I had to knead in a bunch more as this dough was completely unworkable. This recipe should call for about 450g of flour. I also had to freeze the dough to make it work. I may try again measuring using the cup measure.
I used plastic wrap to work with the dough and it was super easy and clean. I rolled it out covered in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight, flat. The recipe made two small houses. I made my own cutouts.
Using dark molasses in this recipe is far too strong, I would recommend using fancy instead or half fancy half dark, I’m not sure my kids will be able to eat it (it wasn’t black strap, just regular dark)
Also, don’t go by the weight for flour, measure in a cup w the scoop and level method, the weight of flour isn’t enough.
Further to that, you need to chill VERY well and rechill while rolling.
When rolling I needed extra flour on my parchment.
And….baking time. They are too soft after the recommended baking time, a few extra minutes helped.
3 stars due to very good directions and a nice house design.
Haven’t assembled yet, but I anticipate that’ll be fine, and fun!
★★★
Hi Sally! Would it be ok if I leave the dough in the fridge for 2 days because I wouldn’t have time to bake it the day after my dough is finished. Also, what if I couldn’t find allspice, would it affects the flavour a lot?
Hi Sally,
For your gingerbread cookies, is it possible to substitute butter for something else? Would you recommend coconut oil or a margarine? And would this substitute work for all your other cookie recipes?
Thanks so much 🙂
Hi Sarah, in terms of structure, texture, and taste, I’ve had the best success with this recipe using butter. I don’t recommend margarine, but you can try solid (room temperature) coconut oil. Unfortunately, it’s not a 1 size fits all swap and it really depends on the recipe.
It didnt make quite enough ginger bread