Home of Delicious: Traditional Gingerbread Houses

Making & Decorating a Christmas Gingerbread House

Created byKathy Matsunami

Last updated 12/2020

English

What you'll learn

Learn simple and easy recipes to build a delicious eatable Gingerbread House.
Learn how to easily assemble and decorate a Gingerbread House that will keep for days or weeks during the holiday season.
Access to recipes with photos of finished Gingerbread houses and videos with full step-by-instructions.
Learn how baking can be done with basic home equipment.

Course content

3 sections • 8 lectures • 31m total length

Class Overview4:04
After baking gingerbread, the whole house has a sweet holiday smell. Making a gingerbread house may seem like a big project but if you plan your house and organize your decoration before starting then it is easier.
Be sure to include friends or family members to help and the process can go very quickly. Baking and decorating gingerbread houses is a good family activity to make together with children or friends.
I usually make a gingerbread house at the beginning of December and keep it until after New Year’s. I know many friends who keep their house until the summer!
The tradition of making gingerbread houses has a long history. Making the houses started in Germany in the early 1800s and according to lore the first gingerbread houses were based on the well-known Grimm's fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. In the story, two children were abandoned in the forest and they found an edible house made of bread with sugar decorations. After this book was published, German bakers began baking ornamented fairy-tale houses of lebkuchen (gingerbread) and these became popular during Christmas.
Let's take a look at what's it the class....
Gingerbread House Tool Box0:51
You don't need many kitchen tools to complete this class but a few basic ones such as a rolling pin and mixing bowls will get you started.
The video shows a few of the tools I used in making and decorating the house.
Tips for Successful Baking1:06

Making the Dough2:22
Difficulty Level: Low
Supplies Needed: Mixing bowls, spatula, weight scale or cups/teaspoons. If you have a standing mixer please use.
A good gingerbread house needs sturdy gingerbread pieces and royal icing to hold the walls, roof, and decorations together. If the gingerbread is too soft the house will crumble easily and if the icing is too wet it will not hold the house together.

The process of making the gingerbread cookie, baking, and decoration takes several hours so you can break up the process and make the gingerbread on the first day and decorate on the second.

Children enjoy the decoration part the most so it may be best to keep the preparation time with them short and get directly to the fun part which is decoration!

The gingerbread from this recipe keeps for a couple of weeks so you can bake the house pieces in advance and wrap them in plastic for safe storage before decorating.
Rolling Out the Dough & Cutting the House Pieces6:30
Difficulty Level: Low
Supplies Needed: rolling pin, parchment paper or silicone baking mats, gingerbread house template or cookie cutters, paring or utility knife
Optional - cookie cutters to make decorations such as gingerbread man, star, heart, or other cute cutters.

You can make your own cookie house template. You will need 3 pieces: 1) back & front of house 2) roof 3) sides. Measure & sketch the house on heavy paper & ensure it fits together before cutting the dough.
Decorating the House9:36
Difficulty Level: Low
Supplies Needed: mixing bowl, hand mixer, spatula, piping bag & decoration tips, candies for decoration
This is the really fun part. Let your imagination go with your decorations.

The attached Resource has the recipe for the Royal Icing and plenty of decoration ideas.

Making the Dough & Cutting out the House3:06
Difficulty Level: Low
Supplies Needed: Mixing bowls, spatula, weight scale or cups/teaspoons. If you have a standing mixer please use.
This dough is very crispy when baked and makes a sturdy house. The template used is for a small house and just the right size for the little folks in the house to decorate.

This recipe is just as delicious for making cookies so use as you like.

This dough can be frozen for several weeks so you can always make ahead and use when needed to reduce the Christmas stress.
Rolling Out the Dough & Cutting the House Pieces3:46
Please refer to the recipe in the Resource above for baking instructions, making the icing and decorating.

Requirements

No prerequisites or baking skills required.
Anyone with an interest to celebrate the festive holidays with a traditional Gingerbread House to use for home decoration and of course eating.
This class can be easily completed with basic kitchen tools such as a whisk, spatula, mixing bowl, weight scale or measuring cups/spoons.

Description

One of my Christmas traditions is baking and I would like to share my love of this activity with you. Every year I make many of the same cookie and cake recipes but they taste just as new and delicious each year.

I started making Gingerbread Houses since I enjoy both the baking and the decoration process. The taste of gingerbread cookies or cakes during the Christmas season is one of my favorites things that I look forward to every year.

Making a Gingerbread House may seem overwhelming so let me help you with your baking. I will share recipes for the Gingerbread House and Royal Icing that will help you build a sturdy house that will last through holidays...if it doesn’t get eaten first.

This class has 2 delicious recipes to make a house.

1. Traditional Gingerbread

2. Vanilla Sugar Cookie

The Gingerbread House can be easily made in the home kitchen without buying expensive equipment or searching all over town for special ingredients.

The step-by-step videos and detailed downloadable recipes will show you how to break down each step so that the baking process is not overwhelming.

Grab a friend or family member and roll up sleeves to get ready for baking.

Who this course is for:

Adults and children who want to make a traditional Gingerbread House for the Christmas season.
Both beginner and experienced bakers who want to work on a delicious holiday project that is eatable.

Home of Delicious: Traditional Gingerbread Houses

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Making a Traditional Gingerbread House3 lectures • 6min

Making the Gingerbread House3 lectures • 18min

Sugar Cookie House2 lectures • 7min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: