Ever see those super cute gingerbread house centerpieces and wonder ‘How are they made?’ You don’t have to go out and buy the pre-made kit, you can make it yourself! I have a simple recipe for the gingerbread, and some tips to make one ON YOUR OWN!
I found the best gingerbread recipe. It makes the dough firm, easy to cut out, and its sturdy. I was able to make this dough very fast and simply.
Grab the recipe HERE before you begin.
Quick Tips:
Make sure your butter is room temperature in order to make blending easier.
The recipe calls for letting the dough sit in the fridge for two hours and then return to room temperature before cooking. You do that in order to have a firmer dough. I did that with the first batch, but with the second, I cooked it immediately and didn’t have a different reaction. So, cook it how you’d like.
After making this recipe, cutting it out, cooking the dough and then realizing that the house wouldn’t fit together correctly, I realized that I need to change the way I’m making this. The dough is awesome. It’s got a great taste and it cooks spectacular. The problem lies when you cook a dough that has been cut out, the ends tend to bubble up and then it doesn’t fit together as well as you’d like.
So, here’s how you fix it: roll your dough out (remember to put out flour, or your dough will stick to the counter). Put wax paper on your pan, put the rolled out dough on the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Immediately after you pull the dough out of the 350 degree oven, you are going to cut out your shapes.
My husband is an actual chef, so I used his expertise on the cutting. He made a template out of cardboard. Cardboard works great because its stiff. If you’d like to make your own template, you will need four walls and two pieces for the roof. The roof has to overhang, so make it larger than your walls by an 1/2 inch on each side. When you cut the end pieces (many put the doors on the end pieces) make sure you cut your roof lines.
After cutting, please let your house pieces cool completely before working with them. If they are warm, the icing won’t let anything stick, it will slip down the sides of the house because it’ll melt.
You’ll want to use royal icing in order to make everything stick together.
Using the icing, glue the sides and roof on. Leave that at least 10 minutes to dry. After the glue dries, you are welcome to be as creative as you want! Use all the candy in your kitchen! Make it sweet and yummy. Your centerpiece will wow all your Christmas guests!
Did You Miss Gingerbread Week?
That’s okay! All of the fantastic recipes, crafts, holiday decor, and gift ideas with GINGERBREAD can be found HERE whenever you want them!
