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Desserts

Gingerbread House

This gingerbread house is a little house made of cookies, a Christmas classic that will amaze adults and kids alike.
Recipe Gingerbread House
  • Difficulty Medium
  • Preparation 20 minutes
  • Cooking 15 minutes
  • Servings for 1 house

The Gingerbread House is a little house made of cookies, a holiday classic that will amaze adults and kids alike. Unusual and truly eye-catching, the Gingerbread House is perfect for serving a dessert that is out of the ordinary and leaves your guests wide-eyed, but also for decorating the Christmas table.

The Cookie House is also perfect to make together with kids. Of course you will have to assemble the Gingerbread House yourself, but kids can help you with both the dough and the decorations. It is a great idea for an afternoon that is out of the ordinary.

In this recipe I explain step by step how to make the Gingerbread House, but if your guests or your kids do not like the flavor of this kind of cookie, you can also make a Marzipan House or a Shortbread House.

And if you love Christmas Cookie Decorations, you can also try making the Christmas Cookie Tree, the Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Ornaments and the Gingerbread Cookies. And now, here at last is the recipe for the Gingerbread House.

Ingredients for 1 house

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Method

  1. To make the gingerbread house, start by taking a bowl and working the brown sugar and granulated sugar together in it, combining them with the butter, egg and honey. Then, while continuing to mix, add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and baking soda, and keep working everything until the mixture is well combined and soft.
    Gingerbread house, step 1: mixing the spiced gingerbread dough
  2. Once the mixture is ready, shape it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for about an hour.
  3. When the resting time is up, flour a work surface and use a rolling pin to roll out the gingerbread into a sheet about 4 millimeters thick. Use a gingerbread house mold to make the various pieces of the house: if you use house-shaped cookie cutters, simply cut out the pieces of dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; if you use a silicone mold, fill the various parts of the mold with the dough and level the surface. In either case, bake at 190 °C (375 °F) for 15 to 18 minutes. When they are ready, take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool completely.
    Gingerbread house, step 3: cutting the pieces of the house from the rolled-out dough
  4. While the cookies cool, make the royal icing. Beat the egg whites, then add the powdered sugar and a splash of lemon juice and work until you have a smooth cream. Divide the icing into as many small bowls as the colors you want and add the liquid food coloring to get the colors you like. Now decorate the sides of your house with the icing and the sprinkles, then let it dry for about an hour.
    Gingerbread house, step 4: decorating the pieces with colored royal icing
  5. Now build your house: starting from the base, join all the pieces (except the roof) using plenty of icing as glue. Lean some glasses against the sides of the house to hold it together and let it dry for another hour. At this point add the roof and, if you like, more decorations. When everything is done, let it rest for another two hours, and your gingerbread house will be ready. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!

Variations and Alternatives

If you do not like gingerbread cookies, you can also make your gingerbread house with Italian shortbread dough made without baking powder. Of course, if you like, you can also add cocoa to make a chocolate shortbread dough without baking powder.

Tips

With the leftover dough, I recommend making more cookie shapes to decorate your house. For example, I made the Christmas Cookie Tree.

Storage

You can keep the gingerbread house under a glass dome for a couple of weeks. Once it has been “broken”, you can keep it in a tin.

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