Here’s my completely homemade gingerbread house recipe including how to bake, construct, and decorate with royal icing and buttercream. There are no rules when it comes to decorating gingerbread houses. The ONLY rule is to have fun!
One of the most common recipe questions I receive is how to turn my gingerbread cookies into a house. I’ve never really had a solid answer until now. I have it all for you today including:
- solid gingerbread cookie dough recipe
- a free gingerbread house template with the exact shapes you’ll need
- all my decorating tips and recommendations
- links to the products I use if you want to replicate this
Trust me when I say that I am NOT a crafty person, but I could EASILY decorate this beauty and I’m showing you exactly how I did it. This is perfect for beginners!
Let’s get started. Here’s the video tutorial to guide you along. You can watch me make this gingerbread house from start to finish, including rolling out the dough and decorating the house. Sprinkled throughout are my highly recommended tips and methods to guarantee gingerbread house success.
Gingerbread House Video Tutorial
Starting Your Homemade Gingerbread House
We’re using a cookie dough that’s similar to my gingerbread cookies. The gingerbread cookies are soft in the centers and crisp on the edges, but the gingerbread house shapes are much more sturdy and solid. Let’s compare the house recipe to the cookie recipe:
- small amount of baking soda for less puff
- less butter so the house shapes are harder
- less molasses so the dough isn’t as sticky
- add water to make a smoother dough
Other than that, the recipes are pretty similar. Chilling the dough is imperative—otherwise the house pieces will lose shape and constructing will be impossible. The dough is a little sticky from the molasses, so I recommend chilling in two discs before rolling out.
Why two discs? It’s easier to roll out smaller portions of cookie dough.
How to Construct a Gingerbread House
Use my gingerbread house template. This template will give you a small-medium house that’s totally approachable. I find large houses difficult to construct and decorate.
This house is approximately 7 inches tall with the chimney and 6 inches wide.
Click this link for the PDF: Sally’s Baking Recipes Gingerbread House Template
Print out the template and cut out the shapes. Each shape will be used TWICE. For example, two roofs, two sides, etc. Use a pizza cutter or small knife. The chimney is totally optional, but I think it’s a cute addition.
*Best Method for Rolling the Dough*
The most successful way to roll out this gingerbread cookie dough is between two sheets of parchment paper. It will stick to your counter no matter how much you flour it.
Re-roll the scraps so you have enough dough for the entire house.
Gingerbread House Icing
Every house needs sturdy walls, right? Royal icing is the “glue” that holds the house together. It’s also the glue adhering any candies to the walls and roof. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on. As the royal icing dried, it gently dripped off the sides and looked like snow.
TIP: Use as much royal icing as you need to for constructing the house. It dries hard and will look like snow. Plus, you can cover up any messy parts with buttercream or candy.
Crusting Buttercream for Decoration
Though I love working with both, I’m much better at decorating desserts with buttercream compared to royal icing. And maybe you’re the same? So let’s use some STURDY and THICK buttercream called Crusting Buttercream. Made with both shortening and butter, crusting buttercream “sets” and doesn’t stay sticky—it’s ideal for decorating gourmet cakes, cookies, and gingerbread houses.
Two tools I highly recommend:
- A squeeze bottle for the royal icing “glue” around the edges of the house.
- A piping bag (reusable or disposable) + tip for decorating with buttercream. I only used 1 piping tip for the entire house: Ateco piping tip #32. This is a small open star piping tip and you can watch me use it in the video above. Makes a lovely design.
These baking tools would be great to add to your holiday wish list. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out my Holiday Baking Gift Guide. Lots of fun ideas in there, either for yourself or other baker friends!
Candies for Decorating a Homemade Gingerbread House
- gumdrops
- M&Ms
- candy canes (mini or regular size)
- peppermint swirl candies
- sprinkles (I used a holiday mix from Sweetapolita)
- edible metallic beads/dragees (also from Sweetapolita)
- marshmallows
- coconut for “snow”
- cinnamon sticks, Hershey’s Kisses, chocolate chips, cereal pieces!
- icing decorations such as these snowflakes
I absolutely love the Wilton brand icing decorations you can find online or at craft stores. I bought them at Michaels craft store, which had a ton of gingerbread house decorating candies in the seasonal section including the pictured holly and these similar snowflake icing decorations. (Not sponsored, genuinely LOVE Wilton and Michaels craft store.)
Gingerbread House Ideas
I gathered a few links for you to use as decorating inspiration. There are so many beautiful (and SIMPLE) decorated gingerbread houses out there.
- picture of fun roof ideas
- slideshow of 40 cute gingerbread houses
- even more adorable gingerbread houses
- log cabin gingerbread house
- you could also cut windows out of the house’s walls before baking and add crushed hard candies, just as we do with stained glass window cookies
Ditch the “pinterest perfection” goal and get messy. The piped crusting buttercream on my pictured gingerbread house hid about 100 mistakes. Remember, there are no rules when it comes to decorating. The ONLY rule is to have fun.
Watch me decorate a gingerbread house in the video above. I added two decorated sugar cookies to the “yard.”
I can’t wait to see your gingerbread house creations! This was truly one of the most fun projects; it was a complete joy testing, decorating, photographing, and filming this recipe. I truly hope it brings exciting memories to your family this holiday season. And even though they make a beautiful Christmas decoration, don’t forget to eat all your hard work!!
Love to create and decorate? You’ll enjoy making this yule log, too! And of course, Christmas sugar cookies.
See Your Gingerbread Houses!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
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Gingerbread House Recipe (VIDEO)
- Prep Time: 1 day
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 1 day
- Yield: 1 house
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Here’s my completely homemade gingerbread house recipe including how to bake, construct, and decorate with royal icing and buttercream. Everything can be prepared in advance, see my make ahead tip after the recipe instructions. House structure must completely set for at least 4-6 hours before decorating.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) water
- royal icing (the “glue”)
- assorted candies (see post for suggestions)
Crusting Buttercream
- 1/2 cup (95g) shortening, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Print out my Sally’s Baking Recipes Gingerbread House Template and cut out the shapes. Set aside for step 6.
- Make the cookie dough: Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, molasses, and water on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Cookie dough will be very thick.
- Divide cookie dough in half, flatten into discs (about 4-5 inches in diameter), and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Cut into shapes: Remove each disc from the refrigerator and roll each out in between two pieces of parchment paper. Watch me do this in the video above—gingerbread cookie dough will stick to your counter no matter how much you flour it. Parchment is best. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. You want thick pieces for your gingerbread house. Lightly flour the underside of gingerbread house template shapes. (The dough is sticky and the paper may stick to it otherwise.) Using a pizza cutter or small knife, carefully cut the dough into the gingerbread house template shapes. You will need TWO of each shape. Re-roll dough scraps so you have enough dough for the whole house. Use any extra dough to create fun shapes using cookie cutters. I made a few gingerbread stars!
- Carefully arrange gingerbread house shapes onto prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. If they lost some of their shape transferring to the baking sheet, straighten out the edges (see my video above).
- Bake house pieces for about 18-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Bake chimney pieces for about 12-13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow shapes to cool completely on the baking sheets or on the counter. A flat surface is KEY for cooling—the gingerbread house edges very slightly curl up otherwise. Cooled gingerbread house pieces can be made up to 1 week in advance, cover tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months, thaw at room temperature before using.
- Construct the base of the house: Select a base for your gingerbread house. I used a wooden cake server. Watch my video above to guide you through constructing the house. Start with two pieces: the front of the house and 1 side. Using a squeeze bottle, run a thick line of royal icing on one long edge and one short edge of the side of the house piece. Stick it to your base. Use whatever you have around the house to help it stand up. You can see in my video that I use snack bag clips. You can also prop it up with soda cans, a tall cup, water bottle, etc. Run a line of royal icing along the bottom of the front of the house piece. Stick it to your base, adhering it to the side of the house piece. Hold the two in place for a few minutes until the icing is partially set, propping them up as necessary. Repeat with the 2nd side of the house piece and back of the house piece. Pipe royal icing inside any seams, inside and outside of the house, to fill any voids. Don’t be afraid to go heavy on the royal icing “glue”—when it dries, it looks like snow! Allow it to set at room temperature for at least 1 hour before adding the roof pieces.
- Add the roof: The roof pieces will be placed on top of the house base. Run a thick line of royal icing on the inside edges of one of the roof pieces and adhere it to the base. Hold in place for a few minutes. Repeat with 2nd roof piece. Run a thick line of royal icing where the two roof pieces meet at the top of the house. Hold in place for a few minutes.
- Optional Chimney: The chimney is optional, but it’s a lot of fun. I recommend putting together the chimney separately, then adhering to the roof. It’s easiest to glue the chimney pieces together upside-down. Use thick lines of royal icing to assemble the chimney in the same way you put together the base of the house. (Except you’re not adhering it to a base because it’s going on the roof!) Allow icing to set by propping it up as necessary. Once set, adhere onto the roof. The chimney may not fit to the exact angle of the roof because both puffed up or lost some shape during baking and cooling, so use as much royal icing as necessary and you can cover any bare spots with buttercream during decoration.
- House must set: Before decorating, the icing on the entire house must completely set. Allow the entire house to set at room temperature for at least 3 hours, preferably 4-6 hours or even overnight before decorating. Cover and store leftover royal icing at room temperature or in the refrigerator during this time. It will be the glue for adhering candies to the house.
- Prepare the buttercream: Buttercream can be prepared up to 1 day in advance—cover tightly and store in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature before piping/decorating. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the shortening and butter together on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Frosting will be very thick, which is what you want. If much too thick, add another splash of milk. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. (I add 1/8 teaspoon salt.)
- Use buttercream, leftover royal icing, and candies for decorating. See my candy suggestions in the blog post above. I only used 1 piping tip for the entire house: Ateco piping tip #32. This is a small open star piping tip and you can watch me use it in the video above. Makes a lovely design.
- Don’t forget to chow down on your beautiful creation if you’re in the mood for eating it. Use your best judgment here, obviously the food will taste old after a few days!
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Royal icing can be prepared the day before, see recipe note below. Crusting buttercream can also be made the day before, see step 13. Cookie dough can be made up to 3 days in advance, see step 4. Baked and cooled house pieces can be made up to 1 week in advance or frozen for up to 3 months, see step 8. House can be completely constructed up to 1 day in advance, see step 12.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats | Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Wooden Server (or similar base for gingerbread house) | Squeeze Bottle | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Ateco Piping Tip #32 | Christmas Tree Decorations | Snowflake Decorations | Mini Candy Canes | Candy Canes | Gum Drops
- Recipe Yield: One gingerbread house plus 6-8 3-inch cookies. Gingerbread house is about 7 inches tall (with chimney) and 6 inches wide.
- Royal Icing: Decide how much royal icing you want to use. I suggest making the entire royal icing recipe so you have plenty for constructing and decorating. You can make the royal icing the day before—cover and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. Let it come to room temperature before using. You can freeze leftover royal icing (instructions in that recipe) or use it to decorate Christmas cookies. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on top. (Let the royal icing dry before adding the buttercream on top.) As the royal icing dried, it gently dripped off the sides and looked like snow!
- Shortening: Shortening is what makes this buttercream “crust” or “set” after a couple hours. If you want a sticky buttercream, you can replace the shortening with unsalted butter.
Hi Sally, I’m a children’s author and I’ve written a story called Gingerbread Kids Hide and Seek. I’d like to add a Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread House Recipe at the end of the book. Would I be able to include yours? I’d attribute everything to you with your name and website included.
Hi Ellwyn, How fun! Can you send this to our email at sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com?
This recipe sucks. You said 1 tablespoon water. I had to go with milk and add several cups to get it looking like your dough. It was so crumbly. Your recipes are definately not for beginners who don’t know better. I was very disappointed with this recipe and with changes made to some others like the rasbery thumbprint cookies. The old recipe is so much better. I’ve fallen out of love with your cooking. Get back to what you had 5 years ago because that was magical, this is a cooking disaster.
What a fantastic recipe; I made ginger bread pieces (John Deere slider and coffee percolator-house) and they turned out beautifully, holding up the weight and retaining the carefully cut out shapes. My two tips are: 1) definitely put the dough in the fridge for 20 mins before trying to roll it out (it sort of ‘sets’ and reduces its stickiness) 2) overcook pieces that need to hold up a lot of weight (they turn a deep brown and are much harder/brittle). Not only did the gingerbread creations look good, but they tasted good too.. I did add much more spice though (personal preference, I used Tbsp instead of Tsp). I also used the melted sugar technique to hold it all together- beware if you live in a humid environment like I do; if you can’t fit your creation in an air tight container, the clock is ticking – put the kettle on!
Thank you for this recipe and Merry Christmas!
Made this for Christmas this year. Easy and absolutely delicious! Will definitely make again.
Sorry, this is a review for the gingerbread cookie bars.
Hi Sally! Loved your recipe, a complete success! I’m so happy since it was my first time working with gingerbread, we want to make it last for around a week, how can I store it properly? I used all butter buttercream btw
Thank you! ^ ^
Hi Valerie, we’re so glad you had success with this recipe! We fear the pieces/garnishes won’t be great for eating after a week. It starts to taste old after a few days!
My daughter and I had a fantastic time making the house for the first time this year! She told me to tell Sally she thinks ours came out even better than the one from the video, haha.
Love this recipe! The gingerbread was sturdy enough to make “glass” windows with isomalt. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1RCY3Bu-o_/?igsh=N2ViNmM2MDRjNw==
Wonderful recipe. My construction was definitely not as neat as yours but I had the best time making it and your instructions made it very easy to follow.
First time doing a gingerbread house & we followed every direction to the letter. Turned out AMAZING!!
I’ve made this house recipe 3 years in a row, and it always stays standing tall!! Also tastes and smells amazing
Can you use the crusting buttercream to glue the house together? Or is it important to use both kinds of icing? Thanks!!
Hi Stephanie, if you don’t want to make the royal icing, We just discovered this hack, and although have not attempted it yet, it does sound like it would work nicely. Melt down granulated sugar on the stove-top. See this article for details: https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-make-a-gingerbread-house-stay-together/
The sugar hardens quickly.
this is perfect! very sturdy for building a house and the perfect thickness. the cookies taste a little dry and bland but they go very well with a drink. most of all, they’re great for building
How many houses does 1 recipe make?
Hi Joyce, this recipe yields one house.
Best gingerbread recipe EVER!!!! One question though, I want to make four small (kiddie sized) gingerbread houses do I have to double or even triple the recipe?
I’m sure doubling would be enough!
Can I use the gingerbread house dough to make cookies instead?
Hi Ros, here are our gingerbread cookies instead.
Hi! Love your recipes. Just made the gingerbread dough and when I mixed the molasses egg and water with the brown sugar butter mixture, the mixture split. I added the dry and moved forward but did I do something wrong? Will it bake ok?
Hi Maggie! It is normal for wet ingredients to split a bit, especially if the ingredients are different temperatures. As long as it come together with the dry ingredients, you’re good to go!
I’ve never had a Sally’s recipe fail me. This is my go to every year! I add extra spices like cardamom and fresh ginger to make it more spicy. It’s become one of my favorite traditions!
Would this recipe work if molasses were not used at all? Or should it be tweaked a bit?
thank you!
Hi Sigi Ma, molasses is a key ingredient in this gingerbread recipe and there isn’t a good substitute that will give the same taste. Instead, you can use these directions with our regular sugar cookies. You may need to 1.5 or double the recipe to have plenty to construct 1 house. We would make a few separate batches of dough so there’s plenty to work with. We’ve also done it with our chocolate sugar cookies and you need a lot of royal icing to hold it together since the cookies are a bit denser than gingerbread cookies. Have fun!
This turned out all right. The pieces were very difficult to get to stay together. Delicious to eat, though.
These houses are adorable and tasty! Easy to follow instructions too. This is my second year to make them and it seems like it’s becoming a tradition now! My suggestion is to “glue” the houses together with melted sugar. I started doing this last year and it’s basically edible hot glue. You can glue the entire house together at one time without waiting for pieces to dry and houses are extremely sturdy right away. Google “gingerbread house assembly with sugar” for a video. My toddlers don’t care about how it looks but if you’re going for aesthetics you could pipe the buttercream over the sugar so you can’t see it. No royal icing needed.
Some tips: I froze the dough because it was too wet and sticky otherwise. Cut it out and then baked without thawing. I used sugar that had been heated up to form a glue to stick the pieces together. Game
changer! I also use a cheese grater to make the edges of the pieces flatter, smoother, and even a bit angled to fit better when they were baked and hard.
What can I use instead of shortening please?
You can use all butter instead (so one full cup of butter total) but just remember that the shortening is what helps the buttercream to “crust” so yours will stay soft.
So hard to work with. Really made it stressful.
I did not see a link to Crusting Buttercream forsting in the recipe at all
Hi Karen! The recipe is included in the recipe card.
Guys, this recipe & tutorial is the real deal. Everything turned out really well
Question can I freeze the dough? if yes how do I de frost to make sure it still is good and isn’t overly sticky from freezing, how long can I leave it in the freezer? what do you recommend if I want to bake the dough later but make it now?!
Hi Nela, you can freeze the discs of dough for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before you’re ready to use.