Beth’s Homemade Gingerbread Houses recipe – with template & video!

Our Homemade Gingerbread Houses Recipe is more than a recipe; it’s a tradition. Ours comes complete with a template. Our recipe costs just $6.95 to make 2 large houses!

If you love the smell of gingerbread as much as we do, we also recommend our Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Cookies! 

Gingerbread House

Does your family have a tradition of making gingerbread houses each year? Do you use the premade kit that has nasty frosting and candy? I have always used the premade kits with my kids, and it was fine, but then I married into the family, and Beth introduced me to her homemade gingerbread house recipe.

Oh man, it was literally life-changing! Making gingerbread houses has always been one of my favorite traditions of the season but making them homemade has taken it to the next level.

For an easier version of the classic, we recommend our Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses. 

Beth, our Gingerbread Houses Recipe Extraordinaire

Growing up in Canada, Beth’s church group would have a committee make all of the gingerbread houses for those who wanted one. They would then come together as a group to decorate them. What an awesome community event!

But wow, what a lot of work! To help lighten the load, the group began handing out families’ recipes to make gingerbread houses independently. This is where it all began for Beth. 

She has made this recipe every year since she was a kid. Even as a college student, she would invite college friends over to decorate the homemade houses.

After she was married, before having kids, she would make them and hand the kits out to friends as gifts to decorate with their families. How awesome is that?

Now that she has children of her own, she has carried this childhood tradition on. Our extended family gets together every year to decorate the houses Beth has made for all of us. Seriously, she’s amazing, and so is this Homemade Gingerbread Houses recipe and template! 

We love decorating the houses as a family, and it’s fun to see the kid’s creativity come shining through. The other great benefit is the amazing aroma of gingerbread wafting throughout the house.

While making homemade gingerbread houses are a true labor of love, it is definitely more cost-effective than purchasing a premade kit. Plus, ours is made of a higher quality gingerbread and royal icing that is actually edible.

We challenge you to skip the premade kit this year and start a new tradition with this gingerbread house recipe!  

How to Make Homemade Gingerbread Houses:

1. First, print off the Gingerbread House template, then cut it out, trace it onto a cereal box, and then cut it out. 
2. Next, bring shortening, sugar, molasses, and vinegar to a boil. Then let it cool before mixing in the egg. 
3. Mix dry ingredients and add to the molasses mixture, ensuring you mix it well. 
4. Allow the dough to chill enough to handle it with your bare hands before rolling out and cutting it. 
5. Next, roll dough onto parchment paper or countertop.  Place template, print side down, and cut out the gingerbread house pieces except for the windows and doors. Lightly score where the door and windows will be, but do not cut them out completely. Check out the video below on how to do this. 
6. Pick up the cutout dough on the parchment paper and place it on a cookie sheet. Or you can use one of the roof template pieces to lift the cutout gingerbread pieces and place them on greased cookie sheets – straighten pieces once on the cookie sheets if necessary. 
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes for the larger houses or 10 minutes for the smaller houses. As soon as the pieces come out of the oven, quickly re-cut edges for straight lines. Next, cut out the windows and door completely. Place pieces on a cooling rack to cool completely.
8. First, to assemble the houses, wrap a piece of sturdy cardboard (Amazon boxes or Pizza box lids work great) in foil or fun holiday wrapping paper. Next, make the sugar glue by cooking down 2 cups of sugar in a pan over medium to high heat. You’ll know it is done when you can drop a small amount into a glass of water, and it forms a ball. Once sugar is completely melted down, turn off the heat to avoid burning.  If the sugar cools too much, it is no longer runny, then just turn the stove back on to low until it has become runny again.
9. Next, work quickly, dip the base of the front piece of the house in the glue, and place it on your surface’s desired location. Then, use one side piece, dip the base and one side, and attach it to the house’s front. Do the same for the other side piece. Next, using the back piece, dip the base and drizzle some sugar from a spoon down either side of the back piece before attaching it to the side pieces. Drizzle sugar glue down the backside of the roof pieces and place it on the top of the houses. Use sugar glue to attach the door in an open position.
10. To make the royal icing, beat all ingredients on high speed for 7-10 minutes. Use immediately. Cover unused icing with a damp dishtowel or damp paper towel to keep the frosting from drying out – as this icing cannot be reconstituted once it has been dried out.

HOW TO MAKE THIS GINGERBREAD HOUSES RECIPE EASIER:

The recipe isn’t exactly hard; it’s just time-consuming with a lot of moving parts. To make things easier, we suggest breaking down the recipe over a few days. Here’s a timeline we usually follow:

***If you live in warm, humid climates (like Florida), you need to assemble and decorate the houses within a day or two before the gingerbread starts to get soft.

Day 1: Print off the gingerbread house template,  trace it onto cardboard pieces and cut them out.

Day 2: Make the gingerbread dough. Roll it out, cut, bake, and trim the gingerbread pieces.

Day 3: Wrap sturdy cardboard pieces in foil or holiday wrapping paper for gingerbread houses’ base.

Day 4: Assemble the houses using sugar glue. Keep them in a safe place overnight. 

Day 5: Make the royal icing and invite friends or family over to decorate the gingerbread houses!

Beth’s Gingerbread House Recipe Pro Tips:

• If the dough is very sticky, that’s ok; it just needs more time to cool, so don’t add more flour.
• I would highly recommend baking the pieces on parchment paper. You won’t get as many broken pieces as you try to get the pieces off the cookie sheet.
• When placing the template on the dough before cutting, be sure to place it with the print side down as it has a coating on it to help it not stick to your dough. Try not to put a lot of pressure on the template, so it is easier to take off the dough.
• To make life easier, only trim pieces that need to be flush with another surface; for example, there is no need to trim the roof pieces as they do not need it, but the roofline of the front and the back pieces need a flat surface for the roof to sit flush.
• I prefer to cut the shapes on parchment paper as they keep their shape better than when you have to transfer it from the counter to the sheet. Parchment paper slipped around a lot with my rolling pin with handles, so if that’s the case with you, try rolling it partway on the counter, then move the dough to the parchment paper and use the rolling pin without holding the handles, and finish rolling dough out on the parchment paper then cut shapes.
• I like to have ingredients on hand for another batch of Royal Icing. I find with little kids decorating that they tend to go overboard on the icing, so it’s helpful to quickly mix up another batch!
• If trimming the edges for a ‘clean line’ look isn’t your thing, then feel free to skip the trimming step and just assemble your house with slightly rounded edges!
• If your kids are not into eating the gingerbread house and just want to pick off the candy, then after your house pieces have cooled, assemble it with a hot glue gun!

How do you keep a gingerbread house from falling apart?

Isn’t that the worst? You put all the time into making a gingerbread house only to have it fall apart or not stay together. The secret is in the sugar glue. It dries quickly, so you just need to make sure to assemble the houses quickly. The other tip is to keep the frosting covered when you are not using it. If it is not covered with a damp dishtowel or paper towel, it will dry out quickly, and that’s a no-go for decorating. 

How long can a gingerbread house last?

Not too long in our house! We all pick at it, eating the yummy treats. If you store it in an airtight container in the freezer, it can stay fresh for up to 12 months. However, we like to keep it out for decoration and let the kids pick at it, so it doesn’t last long enough to start collecting dust particles.

Can you freeze Gingerbread House Dough?

Absolutely! You can prepare the dough ahead of time and store it in the freezer in an airtight container until you are ready to use it. You can also freeze the baked pieces ahead of time. Just be sure the pieces are separated by wax paper and also stored in an airtight container.  I like to do this in November before the busy holiday season starts. And then I can just pull it out when I am ready to assemble it. 

How to get the kids involved with this recipe:

• Ages 2-3: Let them help organize the candy for decorating by placing them into bowls. 
• Ages 4-5: Let them help pour in ingredients for the frosting and dough. Guide their hands while you help them pipe the royal icing. 
• Ages 6-8: Let them measure the dough and frosting ingredients and help mix both. Let them come up with their own design for decorations and help them execute it. 
• Ages 9-11: Supervise them while preparing the entire recipe, except for the sugar glue construction – sugar glue is way too hot! Remember to have them read it twice before beginning the recipe. Help them print and cut out the stencil. 
• Ages 12+: Let them prepare the entire recipe, except for the sugar glue part – again, way too hot!  You may want to supervise when they cut the dough with the stencil, before and after baking, as this step can be tricky. 

Discover why we love getting the kids involved in the kitchen and more tips in our How to Get Kids Involved In Cooking article.

Favorite candies for decorating homemade gingerbread houses:

• Use leftover Halloween candy to decorate
• Red and Green M&Ms
• Peppermints
• Colored sprinkles
• Candy Canes
• Red Hots
• Hot Tamales
• Dots
• Red and Green Spice Drops
• Kisses & Hugs
• Mini chocolate chips
• Various Christmas sprinkles
• Colored gumballs
• Any festive holiday candies!

What to Serve with Homemade Gingerbread Houses:

Have a pizza night with the family, and decorate your houses. It’s such a fun tradition!

• 1 Hour Pepperoni Pizza
• Easy Taco Pizza
• Pepperoni French Bread Pizza
• Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

How long is this good for:

• Serve: If you’re going to eat the gingerbread houses, we suggest eating them within a day or two.
  • ***If you live in warm, humid climates, you need to eat them the same day. Beth has family in Florida, and their houses start to get moldy and soft within two days. 
• Store: Place pieces of wax paper or parchment paper in between each piece and place them in a Ziploc bag. 
• Freeze: When stored as directed above, the gingerbread house pieces will keep in the freezer for up to a month before assembly.

How much will this Homemade Gingerbread House cost:

RECIPE COST: $6.95

To find out more about how we price our recipes, check out Budget Recipes Explained.

NOTE: The estimated price does not include the cost of candy to decorate the houses. We like to get our candy at stores like Winco to get just the right amount of candy you need to decorate the houses with.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: A great way to cut down on cost is by asking each family member or friend to bring some candy for decorating the house. Trust us; they will be more than happy to bring candy if it means they get a beautiful gingerbread house to take home!

• 1 cup vegetable shortening – $1.42
• 1 cup granulated sugar – $0.23
• 2 Tablespoons white vinegar – $0.02
• 1 cup molasses – $2.16
• 1 large egg – $0.10
• 5 cups all-purpose flour – $0.95
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda – $0.02
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger – $0.22
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon – $0.04
• 1/2 teaspoon salt – $0.01
• 2 cups granulated sugar – $0.46
• 3 large egg whites – $0.15
• 4 cups powdered sugar – $1.00
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar – $0.17

GINGERBREAD HOUSE TEMPLATES:

Head over to our google drive folder to get the small and large gingerbread house printable templates.

More Holiday desserts:

• Brownie Cookies
• Chocolate Glazed Biscuit Donuts
• Dark Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Death by Chocolate Poke Cake
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons
• Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Cookies
• Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
• Chocolate Dipped Sugar Cookies
• Mini Apple Pies
• Mom’s Lemon Lush
• Pumpkin Cupcakes
• Snickers Salad
• Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Quick Monkey Bread from Scratch

Cook’s Tools:

• medium saucepan
• rolling pin
• parchment paper
• paring knife
• baking sheet
• 10-inch frying pan
• handheld mixer