The recipe prices will vary based on fluctuating grocery costs. Please use what is posted as a guide.
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!
- Beth in 1991 making a gingerbread house.
- Cousins making gingerbread houses.
- Beth and her kids making gingerbread houses.
- More cousins making houses.
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:
- First, print off the Gingerbread House template, then cut it out, trace it onto a cereal box, and then cut it out.
- Next, bring shortening, sugar, molasses, and vinegar to a boil. Then let it cool before mixing in the egg.
- Mix dry ingredients and add to the molasses mixture, ensuring you mix it well.
- Allow the dough to chill enough to handle it with your bare hands before rolling out and cutting it.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
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
Homemade Gingerbread Houses Recipe
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- rolling pin
- parchment paper
- paring knife
- baking sheet
- 10-inch frying pan
- handheld mixer
Ingredients
GINGERBREAD:
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 large egg beaten
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
HOUSE GLUE:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
ROYAL ICING:
- 3 large egg whites
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
PREP THE TEMPLATE:
- First, print off the Gingerbread House template and then cut it out and trace it onto a cereal box, and then cut that out, too.
MAKE THE GINGERBREAD DOUGH:
- Next, bring shortening, sugar, molasses, and vinegar to a boil in a large saucepan. Then let it cool to almost room temperature before mixing in the egg.
- Mix dry ingredients and add to the molasses mixture, ensuring you mix it well.
- Allow the dough to chill long enough to handle it with your bare hands before rolling out and cutting it. We recommend at least 45 minutes. You can even chill it overnight.
ROLL OUT AND CUT THE DOUGH:
- Next, roll dough onto parchment paper and cut out the gingerbread house pieces except for the windows and doors using a paring knife. You will cut the windows and doors out after the gingerbread pieces are done baking. Pick up the parchment paper and place it on a cookie sheet after cutting the shapes.
BAKE THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE PIECES:
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Gently place the house template back on the baked shapes and quickly re-cut edges for straight lines. Next, cut out the windows and door.
PREP CARDBOARD BASES:
- Wrap a piece of sturdy cardboard (Amazon boxes or Pizza box lids work great) in foil.
MAKE THE SUGAR GLUE:
- Make the sugar glue by cooking down 2 cups of sugar in a 1-inch frying 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.
CONSTRUCT THE HOUSES USING THE SUGAR GLUE:
- Next, work quickly and dip the base of the front piece of the house in the glue and place it on the desired location of your surface.
- Then, using one side piece, dip the base and one side and attach it to the front of the house. 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 on the top of the houses. Use sugar glue to attach the door in an open position.
MAKE THE ROYAL ICING:
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer, or using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat all of the ingredients together on low until the powdered sugar is absorbed, increasing the speed to high, and beat for 7-10 minutes. Use immediately. Cover unused icing with a damp paper towel to keep the frosting from drying out.
DECORATE:
- Finally, fill the piping bags fitted with round piping tips with the royal icing. Decorate the houses using royal icing and candies of your choosing. Have fun, and take lots of pictures for family memories!
Haley D. Williams says
So many useful tips! gingerbread house success!
Jess Jankowski says
Thank you! We love making them!
Kelly Anthony says
I just bought two premade kits and they were ten dollars a piece so this recipe is a great way to save some money. I’ll be using this next year instead of buying a kit!
Jess Jankowski says
Be sure to pin it so you don’t forget!
Toni says
This is really cute!! My kids will surely enjoy this! Thanks for the recipe!
Jess Jankowski says
You are so welcome…would love to hear how it goes!
Anita says
Your gingerbread house looks so pretty, now I need to decorate mine too. Thanks for all the tips. 🙂
Jess Jankowski says
Decorating them is so fun! Enjoy!
Elaine says
Finally I’ve stumbled upon a fantastic gingerbread house recipe! This is just what I have been looking for – thank you!
Jess Jankowski says
Woo hoo!! Let us know if you have any questions.
Samantha says
All these tips are perfect for making and gifting gingerbread houses.
Jess Jankowski says
Thank you! We would love to hear back from you on how you use it!
Noelle says
So cute! Love the time of year when we get to make these, will be using this next week!!
Jess Jankowski says
Ooooh, can’t wait to hear how it goes! Have so much fun!
Kathryn Donangelo says
This is the cutest gingerbread house! I can’t wait to make this and I’m so happy I found this recipe!
Jess Jankowski says
It is such a fun tradition. Enjoy!
Christy says
I always just made them with graham crackers as a kid but this looks so much better! Pinning to make at Christmas with my little one. 🙂
Jess Jankowski says
Christy, it is so much better than graham crackers! You will love it!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
Love all the flavors here, I already know I’m going to enjoy this recipe a lot!
Vicky says
This is way cheaper than buying one at the store, plus you get the joy of making it yourself. What a wonderful activity for families to do together.
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I give you PROPS! I’ve never attempted a gingerbread house before — I can forsee the unmitigated disaster unfold in my kitchen. But yours is PERFECTION. You make it sound and look do-able… do I dare??? Eeeek, I don’t know… Perhaps if you come and supervise me…
Jess Jankowski says
Lisa, you can do it! Watch our video for more guidance and it will feel like we are right there with you!!
Kate says
This is SO cute!! My kids love making a gingerbread house every Christmas but it is usually a bit trial-and-error – we’re definitely following your detailed instructions this year, thanks so much!
Jess Jankowski says
Let us know if you have any other questions Kate! Have fun!
Emily Liao says
This was so helpful! Will definitely be referencing this to make gingerbread houses next month.
Jess Jankowski says
Woo hoo! Be sure to tag us on insta when you make them @easybudgetrecipes
Neli Howard says
This is definitely one of the prettiest gingerbread houses I’ve ever seen in my life! Amazing!
Jess Jankowski says
Awe, thank you so much! We LOVE making them.
Angela says
A holiday staple in our house although I must confess we usually buy the house part. This year we will be making out own!!
Andrea Metlika says
I am so going to do this with my grandkids this year. they are going to have so much fun and because we’re in Florida, we will eat it right away too!
Jess Jankowski says
Yessssss! Can’t wait to see your pictures!
Mom of 3 says
I hope that I can substitute veg oil for the shortening since we are melting everything down? I am going to try! I don’t usually have shortening on hand, and I don’t think I want to use butter.
Thanks for a great recipe! We don’t have a printer, so we measured and converted to make our templates by hand.
I’m thinking we will bake one for us and one to give away to neighbors! This was my kids’ treat of choice to celebrate finishing the first trimester of virtual school!!
Jillian says
It sounds like that will work. Unfortunately, we have never tried using vegetable oil instead of vegetable shortening. You may need to add a little more flour. Have so much fun making the houses with your kids; it sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate the completion of their first trimester of virtual school.
Marie says
What a great set of instructions. I’d like to make these with my grandchildren. We like to make them in early December. Add the royal frosting and candy and use them for decoration. Do you think the gingerbread would hold up through December. We live in Pennsylvania, so our climate is a bit colder. I’d love your input.
Jillian says
You can make them at the beginning of December, just as long as you don’t live in an area with a lot of humidity. Enjoy! 🙂
Traci says
Gingerbread house…adorable, easy, and the perfect project for being at home. Thanks for sharing!
Jess Jankowski says
It is such a great at-home activity for the whole family. Enjoy!
Pam says
I have never considered making a gingerbread house from scratch but all of your tips have given me the confidence to give it a go!
Jess Jankowski says
Yes Pam! It will become a new favorite tradition for sure!
Jessie says
This is so helpful! My kids and I have a tradition of making a couple of gingerbread houses together, but I always buy the kits. Your template and directions are so well written…. I think I’m going to try to bake them off myself this year!
Jess Jankowski says
Let us know how it goes!
Shanna | Modernmealmakeover says
These were so much fun to put together. I was a great activity to bring in the Christmas season.
Jess Jankowski says
So happy you enjoyed it!
Angela says
So much great information here. There is no way that our gingerbread houses are going to fail this year!
Jess Jankowski says
They will be great! Thanks for stopping by.
Briana says
Hi! There are templates for large and small houses. If I prepare the dough according to the recipe, which size template should I use? Thanks!
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Briana, you can use either. If you do the large template you will have enough dough to make 2 houses. If you do the small template you will have enough dough to make 4 small houses. Have so much fun!
Sue says
Quick question. Mine are spreading and when I try to recut after baking they are cracking. What happens when I eliminate the baking soda. It tastes great and easy to measure out. I have to make a lot of houses for a class
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Sue, sounds like a fun event you have happening! We have not ever made it without baking soda, so we are not sure what happen if you leave it out. As for the cracking, it’s best to trim the edges when they come right out of the oven and the pieces are warm and easily cut. We have made these for a crowd and have found that it was faster to only trim the pieces that were going to be ‘glued’ to the base (i.e bottom of front and back, bottom of sides, and bottom of door). This will leave your pieces with slightly rounded edges but find that they will still ‘glue’ fine, they just won’t have tight seams where the pieces connect. If you watch the video on the post, that house was not trimmed so you can see how it will look not trimmed up. We think they still look great, you will save yourself some time, and people will love decorating them. Tell us how it goes!
Miriam says
Thank you so much for sharing this! I definitely wouldn’t have dared this recipe if Beth hadn’t seemed so calm and reassuring in the video. All the tips were super helpful, especially the advice to do it over several days, and our house came out fantastic. I just hope I cleaned the pan the right way after the sugar glue hardened in it, haha. (Scraped out what I could then boiled water in it to make a simple syrup and dumped that down the sink.)
Jess Jankowski says
Miriam, thank you so much for your kind words! We love that our video helped you. We agree…Beth is the best one for helping you make these gingerbread houses! We love this tradition and that we were able to share it with you!
Patti says
This is fantastic and so much easier than the other recipe I tried. You are a rock star! My 16 year old granddaughter is having 9 friends over to make gingerbread houses and we are using this recipe. Thanks for the doubling of the recipe. I didn’t have to use my brain.
Jess Jankowski says
LOVE this! So happy you found our recipe and what a fun party!
Wendy Caplin says
I made my own gingerbread houses last year. I look forward to using your recipe. We had teams of two with four houses and everybody had a blast. These were adults. I need to make four houses. So I need to double your recipe do I have to make it into batches or can I just double it and make one. Thank you so much.
Jess Jankowski says
Hi Wendy, We haven’t doubled it because our mixer is not big enough for a double batch but we don’t see why that wouldn’t be ok to do it in one batch if it will fit in your mixer. Enjoy!