Crafting your Gingerbread Home

As many of you might have come across, the thought of building a gingerbread house is probably a lot easier than the actual action. With that being said, you might think baking, icing, and building everything on your own, rather than buying premade cookies and decor, is too much of a hassle.  I'm here to disprove that notion and provide helpful tips and recipes for you to create your own unique homemade gingerbread home (including how to make it stick together)!

First, let's dive into cookie making. This recipe is very structurally sound and is amazing for unique shapes. The ingredients are mostly simple household items for those who like to bake and for those, who simply have a good spice rack.

Recipe:

Wet ingredients:

- 1 egg

- 16 oz molasses

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)

Dry ingredients:

- 1 teaspoon ginger

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- ½ teaspoon nutmeg

- ⅔ teaspoon cinnamon (can add more for enhanced flavor and smell)

- ¼ teaspoon cloves

- ¾ teaspoon salt

- 5-6 oz sugar

- ¾ cup packed brown sugar

- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Steps:

-preheat oven to 350f 

- mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Shift sugar and salt to ensure no large crystals or chunks fall into the mix.

-in a separate bowl, beat together the wet ingredients until well combined. Make sure to melt the butter before adding. 

-gradually pour the dry ingredients into the wet (mix as you pour) 

-mix until dough forms

-divide the dough to your liking. Freeze for an hour or more.

-roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into your choice of shape!

-bake for 8-11 minutes or until completely firm

(Make sure to cool cookies before icing and building)

This recipe should provide you with everything you need for the cookie element of creating your house! Now for some tips and tricks to keep your creation stuck together.

Edible glue is a great way to ensure the cookies firmly stay put in place. The recipe is short and simple. All you need is:

-3 tablespoons of corn syrup

-¼ cup warm water 

-1 teaspoon plain/unflavored gelatin 

(All ingredients can be doubled for a larger batch) 

Steps: 

-heat your water in a microwave or on a stovetop 

-dissolve the gelatin in your warm water 

-pour in your corn syrup 

-stir until completely dissolved into a paste 

To apply edible glue to your cookies, simply use something such as a brush to apply it wherever you need the cookie to stick. This trick tends to work better at keeping the cookies stable and stuck together for longer periods of time. If you still want the look of icing, simply apply it to the seams of the house (where you presumably used the glue). 

Another popular trick in decorating your house is stained glass windows. Now we obviously can’t use real glass but we can make something that looks like it and is edible. 

Steps: 

-before putting your cookies in the oven cut out window shapes in the dough 

- crush up hard candies of your choice (I recommend Jolly Ranchers as they melt together well, have a glass consistency, and come in Christmas colors). 

-fill the windows with the crushed candies and bake. 

This will create a very glassy effect and make your house look more unique.

If you want to give your house more of a winter atmosphere, here are some more decorating suggestions that can create a natural landscape.

*Looking for snow? Simply use coconut shavings on the base of your gingerbread home. For a more complicated cleaner look, you can also use melted marshmallow or fluff (similar to a melted marshmallow as it is mostly just a paste version). 

*Another way to give it more atmosphere is to create trees! This can be achieved by something as simple as creating cookies cut to look like trees however, if you're looking for a more 3d look this might be a better option. 

First, gather 

-cup of green candy melts 

-a teaspoon of vegetable shorting

-in either a microwave-safe bowl or a stove-top-appropriate pot, put in your candy melts and vegetable shortening.

-melt the two together stirring every 20-30 seconds. Repeat until smooth. 

-Dip large ice cream cones in the candy dip to create a green coat. 

-for an extra effect add powdered sugar

For things like doors, add Hershey Kisses or dividable graham crackers. This will give it that paneled look. Stepping stones can be achieved using candy rocks, fondant, or gum drops. I also recommend using things like thin pretzel rods to create fencing and designs for your house. You can stick them on with the edible glue. I hope you find all these tips helpful and were inspired to try something new. Gingerbread houses are a great bonding activity for you and any loved ones. They can also make for good decorations.