The recipe prices will vary based on fluctuating grocery costs. Please use what is posted as a guide.
Sweet holiday fun without the fuss! Graham cracker gingerbread houses are budget-friendly and a breeze to create; use our easy recipe to create festive joy everyone can build and devour.
You can make eight Gingerbread houses for just about $2.49 per house! The entire set costs around $19.97 to make.
What You’ll Love About This Graham Cracker Gingerbread House
- Stress-Free Fun: Skip the stress and embrace the sweetness! Building and decorating a graham cracker house is a playful twist on holiday decorating, using simple ingredients for festive fun that’s just as magical (and easier!) than the real deal.
- Budget-friendly: Graham crackers and basic decorating supplies are often cheaper than the ingredients for traditional gingerbread houses. Plus, our recipe makes eight houses! You cannot buy a kit with eight houses for the cost of making them yourself.
- Open canvas: The possibilities are endless! People can unleash their creativity with different house designs, frosting techniques, and a wide variety of candy decorations.
- Educational: Children can learn about different shapes, structures, and decorating techniques.
- Fun Activity: Graham cracker gingerbread houses are the perfect activity for parties or staying home with the kids. They’re fun for all ages, from little hands to experienced decorators, and don’t require any baking. Get ready for smiles, creativity, and delicious fun!
Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses Ingredients & Estimated Cost:
- 4 cups powdered sugar – $1.52
- 3 Tablespoons meringue powder – $1.62
- 5 Tablespoons water – $0.00
- 48 graham crackers – $2.40
- 16 ounces spice drops – $1.92
- 10 oz package peppermint rounds – $1.39
- 15.60 oz bag Skittles – $3.78
- 10 oz bag holiday M&Ms – $3.48
- 6.25 oz package Lifesavers hard candy – $2.38
- 6 oz box Good & Plenty candy – $1.48
To find out more about how we price our recipes, check out Budget Recipes Explained. The pricing for this recipe was updated in November 2022.
How To Make A Graham Cracker Gingerbread House
- Make icing: Combine powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer icing: Add the icing to pastry bags for easy piping.
- Prepare crackers: Cut 2 each of sides, roof, front, and back. Cut 1/4 off the sides, front, and back, forming triangles on the front and back.
- Add icing: Add icing to the sides of the cut graham crackers.
- Attach walls: Attach all of the wall pieces together using the icing.
- Attach roof: Attach the roof pieces to the walls.
- Add decorative icing: Add decorative icing to the roof so it looks like snow.
- Add gumdrops: Add gumdrops to the roofline.
- Decorate: Use royal icing to glue candy onto the house as you’d like.
***For complete recipe instructions, see the recipe card below.
RECIPE VARIATIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
- Feel free to substitute different candies with what you have on hand or your favorites.
- Our recipe uses homemade royal icing. While you can use storebought icing, we find that royal icing helps keep the graham cracker gingerbread crackers strong.
- To make the green trees seen in the pictures, tint royal icing green and cover sugar ice cream cones in the icing. Once they’re dry, dust them with powdered sugar.
- You can also make these Rice Krispie Christmas Trees to go alongside the Gingerbread Houses.
- Some people like to use a milk carton as a base for building the house around. Of course, we prefer to free-form it, but a milk carton works and may be an excellent option for those real little kiddos.
STORAGE TIPS
Serve & Store: You can keep these at room temperature for about a month. Although if you’re going to let your kids eat the houses, It’s best if they’re eaten within a week of being made.
Freeze: Many candies used to decorate the houses sort of “melt” in the freezer. Therefore we do not recommend freezing the houses.
Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses Recipe FAQs
What do you need to make a gingerbread house with graham crackers?
Grab some graham crackers, your favorite candy, and whip up a batch of this royal icing. That is all you need to make these fun and festive houses.
How do you cut graham crackers without breaking them?
First, place a graham cracker on a cutting board. Then, use a serrated knife to softly saw through the graham cracker at the desired part of the cracker.
How many graham crackers do I need for a gingerbread house?
Each house will have six crackers. This gives you two for the roof, two for the sides, one cracker for the front, and one cracker for the back piece.
Is it cheaper to make your own gingerbread house?
The cost per house is cheaper. While the kits from the store may be bigger in size than these graham cracker houses, homemade ones taste better, and you get to choose the candy you want to use for the houses!
What is the best ingredient to keep a gingerbread house from falling apart?
We have included a recipe for homemade royal icing. It acts as the glue to hold the graham crackers together. We like using royal icing because it hardens quickly.
What is the trick to putting Gingerbread house together?
Work quickly with the royal icing to put the house together. You can also put a milk carton in the middle and build the house around the carton. This will give you a little bit more stability to help hold the house up while you finish it.
Get The Kids Involved
Ages 2-3: This is a playful introduction to shapes and sorting! Let your little one name the shapes of graham crackers (triangles and rectangles) and candy (circles, etc.). Then, encourage them to sort the candy by color or shape while you enjoy building the house base.
Ages 4-5: Watch their eyes light up as they decorate their masterpiece with colorful and fun candy pieces! Let their imagination run wild!
Ages 6-8: Gently guide their hands as they learn to cut the graham crackers accurately. Let them help decorate and even assist with squeezing frosting from the pastry bag – a fun sensory experience!
Ages 9-11: With your supervision, encourage them to tackle the entire recipe! Reading it twice beforehand ensures understanding and avoids any sticky surprises.
Ages 12+: Sit back, relax, and witness their culinary skills shine! They’ve got this, and you deserve a well-deserved break (and maybe a taste of the delicious creation ).
Homemade Graham Cracker Houses Budget Tips
Make this a festive potluck party! Invite friends and family to join the gingerbread house-building extravaganza. Everyone will bring one or two bags of their favorite candy to contribute and share. Not only will the laughter and cheer multiply, but splitting the candy cost makes this activity even sweeter (literally!).
More from Easy Budget Recipes
Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses
Equipment
- measuring cups
- handheld mixer or Stand mixer
- Measuring spoons
- Decorating Pastry Bags
- Coupler
- Wilton Leaf Decorating Tip
- chef's knife
- cutting board
Ingredients
ROYAL ICING:
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 3 Tablespoons meringue powder
- 5 Tablespoons water
FOR THE HOUSES:
- 48 graham crackers
- 16 ounces spice drops
- 10 oz package peppermint rounds
- 15.6 oz bag Skittles
- 10 oz bag holiday M&Ms
- 6.25 oz package Lifesavers hard candy
- 6 oz box Good & Plenty Candy
Instructions
MAKE THE ROYAL ICING:
- Add sifted powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water to the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl.
- Beat at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer the royal icing to a plastic decorator bag. Use 2 bags if you are adding snow to the houses.
CUT GRAHAM CRACKERS:
- You will need 2 graham crackers for each side, 2 for the roof, and a front and a back for each house.
For the basic house:
- Roof pieces – use full graham cracker
- Side pieces – cut ¼ off of each graham cracker
- Front and back pieces – cut ¼ off each, then cut at an angle to form a triangle
ASSEMBLE HOUSES:
- Using the royal icing, attach the sides to the front and back pieces.
- Then attach the roof pieces.
- Let the icing set for about 15 or until hardened.
DECORATE GRAHAM CRACKER HOUSES:
- Decorate the houses with candy using the royal icing.
- To make the snow, pipe on small leaf shapes, then let the icing fall slightly onto the house.
Alisa Infanti says
These were so fun to make with the kids this weekend and I loved that it was so easy to break off a piece if I needed to vs a harder cookie.
MJ says
This was such a fun holiday activity to do with the whole fam, and your tips were super helpful. Thank you!
Jenn says
$1.84 per gingerbread house!? That’s a steal of a deal thank you!!! Cannot wait to make them!
Maria San Juan says
Would love to make this with my kids! I am so excited! Thanks for sharing!
Heather Johnson says
love these – i am NOT a baker – so gingerbread is not my bag – but this is something i can handle! they’re so cute – this will be so fun for the kids this year!
Adrianne says
These are cute and fun and no doubt kids would love them also! I love the budget friendly tips and array of colours and textures.
Mandy Applegate says
These gingerbread houses are just SO cute!
Dannii says
This is such a great idea to make little gingerbread houses. I can’t wait to try it with my kids.
Maria San Juan says
I would really love to make this with my children! Looks very fun!
Tara says
Oh how cute! I love how you made the gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. Such a fun and festive treat for the holidays.
gabby says
Can I make the frosting ahead of time and store in a plastic Ziplock bag? Or will it get hard if I make it the night before?
Jess Jankowski says
We would not recommend making it ahead of time as it hardens quickly.
MacKenzie says
Love this! Can’t wait to make these with my 4 year old.
Charla says
Oh wow! Who knew that graham crackers could make such awesome gingerbread houses? I shall be trying this one with my niece next week.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
Such a fun way to keep the kids entertained at Christmas or have a competition too. So much quicker and cheaper too.
Katherine says
This is a genius way to make a gingerbread house quickly!
Lisa says
I have been making these for years with my kids and now my grandkids. You can make the royal icing a few hours in advance if you put them in a bowl with a damp towel underneath the icing bags and a damp towel over top. We have had so much fun making these over the years and the kids have made houseboats and Churches and trucks and bars.