Christmas is here and so it’s time to get a little gingerbready! We did a cute little ginger bread house this season. And I must say it was such an interesting project to work on.

The thumb rule that goes with doing a gingerbread house is that there is no rule except to have fun throughout. Doing it from the scratch including baking gives you the advantage of keeping the ingredients as per your taste, specially if you don’t want too much of the spice content. Decorating it is the more fun part; of course chowing it down being the most!

Ingredients:

For baking-

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light molasses or dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons of water

For constructing and decorating-

Royal icing

Butter cream icing

Assorted candies ( Gummies, Skittles, decorating candies, sprinkles etc.)

Directions:

Preparing the shapes: First cut out paper templates for the various shapes required for the house. You will need two of each shape i.e. two rectangles 3 by 5 inches to make front and back, two rectangles 3 by 51/2 inches for the roof. Two pieces for the ends of the house; 3 inches wide at the base, 3 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom.

Make the cookie dough: Add all the dry ingredients together that is flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar and molasses together on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined.

Wrap cookie  tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. (This is super important else cookie will lose the shape and constructing the house will be difficult.)

Cutting dough into shapes: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and make two balls of it. Roll each ball between parchment paper. The dough will be a little difficult to handle; the parchment will do much of the work. Keep the rolled dough slightly thick (around ¼ inch). Using a pizza cutter or small knife, cut the dough into the gingerbread house template shapes. Re-roll dough scraps so you have enough dough for the whole house. Any extra dough can be used to create fun shapes using cookie cutters like a star or an X-mas tree or a ginger bread man.

Baking: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Arrange gingerbread house shapes onto prepared baking sheets, and bake the house pieces for about 15 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.

Assembling and decorating: Select a base for the gingerbread-house. Stick the front piece of the house on the base using the royal icing. Stick the remaining sides and roof using the icing glue. Hold in place for a few minutes. You will need supporting objects for pieces to stay. Wait for some time before doing the roof so that the base sets properly.

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, before decorating. Decorate with butter cream icing and all the candies and stuff of your choice. Let your beautiful creation be a candy to your eyes for a day or two and then of course it’s ready to be munched down!

Tips and tricks: 

1. Cookie dough can be made 3 days in advance. Baked pieces of the house can be stored for 1 week and can frozen for upto 3 months.

2. Cool the baked gingerbread house pieces on a flat surface, else the corners will curl a bit.

3. If you are not a great fan of too much spices in the cookie, you can alter the ratio according to yourself; I did.