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DIY gingerbread house. How to make a delicious gingerbread house with your own hands How to make a sweet gingerbread house

After this house (2010), I came to the following conclusion: if you reduce the soda in the ginger dough recipe to 1 tsp, it rises and floats less when baking, which is logical. Somewhere in the depths of my soul I guess that the reason for this is honey, which I put instead of the native corn syrup in the dough. Having an acidic environment, honey reacts with soda and the dough rises strongly in the oven.

In 2011, I didn’t add soda to the dough for the houses at all. The result is wonderful! The dough practically does not change shape when baking, you can roll it thin (4-5 mm maximum), and the parts for the gingerbread house turn out clear and durable! They're a little more difficult to chew on, but they're still very, very tasty and absolutely chewy. In general, for simple cookies I decided to make the dough with soda, and for the house - without.

Heat the syrup with spices to a boil and add oil. Beat eggs with sugar and combine with cooled syrup. Add soda and gradually, pouring through a sieve, stir in flour. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably a day.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator 1-2 hours before rolling, this makes it easier to work with.

Use a freezer when rolling. It is convenient to roll out directly on a baking sheet; for cookies it is better to be thinner. Roll it out, freeze it for a couple of minutes, cut it out, remove the scraps from the baking sheet (do not move the cookies themselves or the parts of the house so as not to disturb the shape), and you can either bake them immediately or freeze them further so that the dough retains its shape better in the oven.

For cookies, roll out the dough into a layer of 2-3 mm, cut out the cookies and bake at 190 C (375 F) for 7-12 minutes (depending on thickness).

Roll out the parts for the house from dough without adding soda, 4-5 mm thick, lower the baking temperature to 175C and bake a little longer. Before putting into the oven, place the baking sheet with the preparations in the freezer for about five minutes. This way the parts will be clearer and stronger.

If the dough crumbles after refrigeration and does not roll out well, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of water.

I bake on aluminum baking sheets. Sometimes there is no need to grease at all, and sometimes cookies (and especially large parts for houses) can get stuck. Then you can grease the baking sheet with butter (you can lightly dust it with flour to be sure), or use parchment (baking paper).

The last time I baked them, I greased the baking sheet with a brush like this:

Baking fat for greasing pans: vegetable oil, flour, shortening - 1:1:1, mix in a mixer. Shortening, I think, can be replaced with margarine. It is very convenient to always have a ready-made mixture on hand.

If you use shortening, you do not need to refrigerate the mixture.

Nothing sticks to this lubricant and there is no need for parchment.

You can also powder the baking sheet with starch or flour before rolling out the dough on it.

Icing (protein glaze).

Mix the whites with cream of tartar powder, and, gradually adding sifted (!) powdered sugar, beat until such a thick state that if the surface is “cut” with a knife, the edges of the cut “show” an even cut for a couple of seconds. For each protein - an incomplete teaspoon without a slide of cream of tartar.

It is better to beat not with a whisk, but with an attachment that least saturates the mass with oxygen; the icing should not be airy, just well kneaded (10 minutes), otherwise it will be brittle.

It is better to sift the powdered sugar, especially if you plan to decorate from a cornet with a narrow nozzle (grains of sugar can clog the nozzle).

If you don't have cream of tartar, you can replace it with citric acid or lemon juice.

Citric acid: a pinch for 1 protein.

Lemon juice: 1 teaspoon per 1 white.

Approximate proportions: 2 egg whites, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice/or 2 incomplete teaspoons of cream of tartar/or 2 pinches of citric acid, 3 cups (by weight - 330 g) sifted powdered sugar.

Start with these proportions, and add powder until, when cutting the surface of the icing with a knife, a trace of it lingers for a couple of seconds. Those. it should be very thick, MUCH thicker than sour cream or condensed milk. So thick that a spoon could practically stand in it.

In general, there are no standard icing proportions, because... it is diluted or thickened depending on the situation and area of ​​application. And its scope of application is very wide.

Keep in mind that the surface of the icing begins to dry instantly, so it must be kept in a closed container with cling film on the surface at all times. Can be stored in the refrigerator for two weeks.

I made it for 5 proteins at once, with a reserve. The leftovers were stored in the refrigerator.

Please note that the dishes for icing must be degreased, as when whipping meringue (meringue), otherwise it may not harden later. Try to beat in a stainless steel bowl, and wipe the inside of the bowl with vinegar.

I squeezed the icing out of a parchment cornet, cutting off the tip (without a metal nozzle).

The eve of the New Year and Christmas is the time for some festive magic - a gingerbread house!

  • 40 g chilled aquafaba (chickpea broth)
  • 180 g powdered sugar
  • 20 g corn starch

Additionally:

  • zip bag or pastry syringe with a thin nozzle
  • tassel
  • roof tape
  • piece of foil for windows

Package:

  • cardboard
  • polypropylene film
  • ribbon

How to make a gingerbread house with your own hands - master class with step-by-step photos:

  1. Prepare the ingredients you will need to make the dough:

  2. Prepare the dough. First you need to melt the sugar. To do this, pour it into a deep bowl, preferably made of stainless steel, since scratches may remain on enamel dishes. Place the bowl with sugar on the heat a little less than medium. Stir from time to time, it is better to use a long-handled spoon for this, if you have one.

    The sugar will begin to turn into yellow lumps. When the sugar becomes half liquid, reduce the heat to low. As a result, it should completely melt and flow from the spoon in a thin stream. If the sugar is stirred too rarely or overheated, it may overheat and foam will appear on top - in this case, when adding tea, it may begin to “spit.”

  3. While the sugar is melting, you need to brew tea, add jam and stir until the jam dissolves. Before adding tea with jam to sugar, you should weigh it again, since hot tea evaporates quickly, you may have to add a little water to it.

    Tea with jam

  4. Add tea little by little to the melted sugar without removing from the heat, first literally a teaspoon at a time, then gradually increasing the portion, stir vigorously after each addition. The sugar will sizzle and bubble strongly. This process cannot be photographed because there is a lot of steam and the lens fogs up.
  5. When all the tea has been mixed in, increase the heat to high and bring the syrup to a boil. Then immediately remove from the heat and place the bowl with the syrup in cold water so that the syrup cools quickly and does not evaporate. Cool to barely warm or cold temperature, then add butter and honey (I have flower in one spoon, buckwheat in the other), stir until the honey dissolves.

    Syrup made from sugar, tea, butter and honey

  6. In a separate bowl, mix the sifted flour and spices. Pour in the syrup, strained through a sieve (we strain in case there are any undissolved pieces of sugar, honey or jam left). Mix some of the flour with the liquid. Quench the baking soda with lemon juice and add to the dough.

    Mix the dough with a spoon, then knead with your hands for about 10 minutes. If you are making a double portion of dough for a gingerbread house, you need to knead for 20 minutes. If the dough is poorly kneaded, the gingerbread cookies may bubble during baking and the surface will be uneven. The dough will turn out very viscous and sticky - there is no need to add flour, this is how it should be.

    Knead the lean dough

  7. Place the finished dough in a plastic container, close the lid tightly and refrigerate at least overnight. If the dough is not infused enough, the gingerbread cookies may again turn out uneven.

    In an airtight container in the refrigerator, the dough can be stored for quite a long time, even a whole month, and you can take it out and bake it at any time.

  8. To make a template for a gingerbread house, you need to print it on A4 sheet - regular office paper will do (click on the photo to enlarge). If it is not possible to print, you can draw according to the given dimensions, then cut out.

    This Lenten gingerbread house turns out to be small. And if you make it larger, you will need to build some kind of spacers from bamboo sticks to strengthen it, since this dough is too soft for large houses - their walls may bend or break under their own weight.

  9. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, cut off a third or half (depending on the size of your rolling mat). Cover the rest of the dough again and put it in the refrigerator.

  10. Press a piece of dough with your hand to form a flat layer, and sprinkle it well with flour on all sides.

  11. Roll out to a thickness of 5 mm, adding flour if necessary so that the dough does not stick to either the mat or the rolling pin.

    Roll

  12. Attach paper templates to the test and cut out the house blanks. The stand and the lower part of the roof can be cut with a wavy knife. First cut windows in the walls, then the outline. You need to cut carefully, not with a too sharp knife, so as not to damage the rolling mat.

    Cutting out blanks

  13. Place the cut out pieces on a baking sheet (I needed two baking sheets to fit all the pieces). Make holes in the upper part of the roof parts with a straw (you can do this immediately after baking, while the gingerbread cookies are still hot - then the holes will be larger and it will be easier to thread the ribbon through).

    For baking, you can use a baking sheet with ungreased parchment or a baking sheet with a silicone mat sprinkled with flour. I like to bake on a baking sheet with a silicone mat and Teflon parchment on top of it, then the bottom surface of the gingerbread cookies turns out smooth, but on regular parchment it turns out slightly wavy, since the parchment wrinkles during baking.

    Gingerbread cookies should be baked at 160 degrees for 10 minutes. You can check readiness by lightly patting (without pressing) the surface of the gingerbread with your fingertip - it should be firm and not squashed. The gingerbread cookies should not brown, and their bottom surface should not become hard - if this happens, reduce the baking time.

  14. After you can no longer cut anything out of the rolled out layer of dough, you need to collect the scraps, knead them, roll out the resulting piece of dough again and cut out more parts. After this, collect the scraps again and knead. This last piece of dough has already collected a lot of flour during two rollings, so you can’t use it for the parts of the house - they may turn out too thick or crooked. You can’t put it in the refrigerator either - it will harden too much and it will be very difficult to roll it out later.

    Best of this piece make small gingerbread cookies. Then you can put them inside the house, or you can put them in small glass jars tied with a ribbon, it will turn out very beautiful. Small gingerbread cookies, after they have cooled, should be immediately placed in a plastic container, jar or bag and sealed tightly so that they do not dry out.

  15. While the vegan gingerbread house pieces are baking, let's take care of the windows. You can leave them empty, or you can make marmalade windows. Cut pectin marmalade or thick apple jam to a thickness of 5 mm, then cut out 5 squares from this layer, the same size as windows in a paper template. You can cut it by eye, not necessarily to a perfectly accurate size. Place the squares on pieces of foil like in the photo:

    Cutting out the marmalade

  16. Place freshly baked hot parts directly from the baking sheet, as if stringing windows onto marmalade, lightly pressing on the edges of the windows. The marmalade will melt from the hot gingerbread, exactly take the shape of a window and stick. There is no need to remove the foil yet; we will remove it while assembling the house.

    Here are all the necessary details:

    Finished house parts

  17. While the parts are cooling, you need to make a glaze primer. The primer is needed so that the glaze adheres more firmly to parts covered with glaze, and parts not covered with glaze do not become deformed. Large gingerbread cookies, after lying for several hours, begin to bend - the edges bend upward. To avoid this, they need to be coated with a primer. In addition, primed gingerbreads acquire a beautiful brown color and chocolate flavor.

    From the amount of ingredients indicated in the recipe, you get a little more than 100 g of primer. For the gingerbread house you need very little, so most of it will remain. It can be stored in the freezer in a small closed jar or glass, defrosting the jar in lukewarm water as needed and stirring well. Can be used not only for gingerbread cookies, but also to cover cupcakes, sweet pies, etc.

    So, mix powdered sugar, starch and cocoa. Add half the water, stir, then add a little more water and stir until you get a thick mass. Continue stirring until there are no lumps left. Pour in the remaining water and stir.

    The glaze should be quite liquid and flow from the spoon in a thin stream. If you do not have precise scales, you can measure the ingredients for the primer with teaspoons: 0.5 tsp. cocoa, 2 tsp. starch, 6 tsp. powdered sugar. Add water little by little until the desired consistency is achieved.

    Pour the finished primer into a jar or glass and cover.

  18. When the gingerbreads cool, they will become a little denser. Then the side walls and the top edge of the roof will need to be slightly trimmed using a fine grater at an angle of 45 degrees so that they fit together well during assembly.

    We comb the edges at 45 degrees

  19. Cover the details of the gingerbread house with a primer using a brush. Any synthetic brush from an office supply store will do, just wash it well with soap. You need to prime as thinly as possible, spreading it over the surface as much as possible.

    The side and bottom ends of the walls also need to be primed, since glaze will be applied to these parts when assembling the house. There is no need to prime the back of the gingerbread cookies. When the primer dries and stops shining (this happens quite quickly), you can start painting the gingerbread cookies.

  20. let's produce The glaze will need to be divided into two parts - for the outline and for the filling. Add powdered sugar to the glaze for the contour until you obtain a consistency where the glaze does not flow from a spoon, but slowly slides and falls in a clot. Add water little by little, a few drops at a time, to the glaze for pouring and stir until the glaze begins to slowly flow from the spoon in a thick stream.

  21. To draw the outline, you can use a special pastry syringe with a thin nozzle, or you can put the icing in a zip-lock bag, cut off a tiny corner and draw by squeezing the icing out of the bag.

    Before filling in the background, it is better to trace the gingerbread along the contour so that later you get neat edges. It is convenient to fill with a soft brush. Circle the windows not close to the marmalade so that the glaze does not get soggy.

    Apply glaze to parts

  22. When the surface of the fill has set and ceases to shine, you can apply patterns on top of the fill, just be careful, since it has not yet hardened inside and may wrinkle. We paint a gingerbread house, as your imagination dictates, you can also involve children in this activity - it will be good entertainment for New Year's morning. Then leave it to dry for several hours.

  23. When the parts are dry, you can start assemble a house. If it is made for a gift or for long-term storage, then you need to make a box for it. In other cases, you can simply collect it on some flat dish or tray.

    The box is made of cardboard, with low sides, slightly larger than the size of the stand; at the bottom it is better to make several layers of cardboard so as not to sag (if the cardboard is laminated, like mine, the box needs to be wiped with alcohol, and if it is some other cardboard, then lined inside with parchment or napkins).

  24. Place the baked stand in a box or on a tray (once the gingerbread house is assembled, it cannot be picked up by the stand and lifted, so it should be immediately put in its place). Take two adjacent walls, apply glaze to the bottom end of both walls and to one side end of one of the walls.

  25. Glue the walls to the stand, gluing them together at the same time. Hold them in this position for a minute until the glaze sets.

    Install on a stand

  26. Take another wall, apply glaze to the bottom and one side end. Glue to the stand and to one of the walls.

  27. On the last wall, apply glaze to the bottom end and both side ends. Glue to the stand and walls.

    Installing the remaining walls

  28. Coat the corners of the house with glaze.

  29. Place the roof parts at an angle and lace them with a ribbon and tie a bow.

  30. Remove the foil from the windows, put small gingerbread cookies inside the house (you can also put sweets or a small gift). Apply glaze to the top of the walls.

  31. Carefully install the roof on top, making sure that it lies symmetrically. Your homemade eggless gingerbread house is ready!

    32. Gingerbread house

    Now you can wrap it in transparent polypropylene film (this kind of film is sold in florist shops; they also wrap flowers in it) and tie it beautifully with a ribbon. Or you can just cover it well with a plastic bag so it doesn’t get stale.

    Do not leave the gingerbread house uncovered for several days or it may become tough. As a last resort, if it has become stale, it can be revived by leaving it overnight wrapped in a bag with apple peel - gingerbreads absorb moisture from the air well.

    Bon appetit! Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

The most magical and fabulous time is approaching - this is, of course, the New Year 2020 and Christmas, which not only children, but also adults believe in! This is the time when you can create magic with your own hands. If you don’t believe me, then look at the 12 New Year’s gingerbread houses that personify this fabulous holiday. In addition, you can involve the whole family in preparing a gingerbread house and have fun.

the site invites you to stock up on a huge portion of spices (this is a gingerbread house), delicious decorations and a good mood!

Photos of gingerbread houses

1. Big gingerbread house

2. Gingerbread London Bridge

3. Cupcake in the shape of a house

4. Charming gingerbread village

5. Creative bread store

6. For a large family

7. Small and delicious

8. Gingerbread yurt

9. New Year's gingerbread house with lighting

10. Two-story

11. The biggest sweet Christmas house

12. New Year's house with marmalade

Gingerbread house recipe:

Ingredients for the dough:

  • flour (1 kg);
  • egg (3 pcs);
  • sugar (200 g);
  • honey (250 g);
  • butter (200 g);
  • soda (1/2 teaspoon);
  • and exactly ¼ teaspoon of each spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice and cardamom).

The first step is to mix all the spices into a spicy mix, beating them in a mortar. Mix flour and baking soda separately! Then in a separate container you need to combine the crushed spices, honey, sugar, eggs and butter. Add flour combined with soda to this container. Knead the dough and refrigerate it for 3 hours.
And you will have time to choose the shape of the house and make templates!

For the first test, it is best to choose a simple option - two side parts of the house with windows, a back part, a front part with a doorway and two identical parts of the roof. By the way, it’s worth drawing them on paper, so that you can simply attach them to the dough and cut them on it.

And if you have completed this task, then it’s time to take the dough out of the refrigerator, give it a couple of minutes to adapt in the warmth and don’t forget to knead it again! But the gingerbread house can’t wait to give a holiday to your family, so start rolling out the dough on parchment paper about 0.5 cm thick, apply the prepared stencils of parts to it and cut out parts of the house.

The final stage is to bake the spicy parts for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 170-180 degrees.

Caramel icing for gluing a gingerbread house

Are you already dreaming about the moment when you will decorate the gingerbread house? But it must first be glued together. And caramel icing works best with this. Combine 100 g of sugar and 2 tbsp in a metal bowl. spoons of water. Bring the syrup to a boil, reduce heat and cook until light brown and viscous.

Well, that's it, if the baked parts have already cooled down, you can start doing the magic - assembling your gingerbread house!

Gingerbread house decorations

The main component of the magic of all gingerbread houses is the patterns of sweet protein glaze. And it’s very simple to prepare - just beat in one egg white, 2 drops of lemon juice and 180 g of powdered sugar until soft but thick foam. You can apply it using a pastry syringe or a bag.

And most importantly, to decorate the house, don’t forget to stock up on chocolates, nuts, M&M’s, marshmallows, Oreo cookies, coconut flakes, confectionery powder and gummies!

Watch the video: How to make a gingerbread house with your own hands!


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Preparing for the Christmas holidays takes a lot of time. To please the children and add a festive mood, make your own gingerbread house. Get creative and decorate it with affordable products. Of course, you can buy ready-made blanks, but we will consider several options for independent “construction”.

The whole process can be divided into several stages, each of which should be given enough time so that the result does not disappoint. It is immediately worth noting that the structure hardens quickly. Therefore, it is better to bake a gingerbread house immediately before the feast or use it only for decoration.

How to prepare dough for treats?

The finished cakes should keep their shape, so we will use shortbread dough. Immediately stock up on various spices so that your festive Christmas house will attract attention with its aromas. There are two options for the finished test. Let's take a closer look at them.

1 way. For him we will take:

  • 1 kg of baking flour;
  • ½ tsp. soda;
  • 3 eggs;
  • 200 g each of sugar and butter;
  • the same amount of honey;
  • ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice add ¼ tsp each.

First, using a mortar, grind all the spices. Add slightly warmed honey, granulated sugar, eggs and butter, which can be replaced with full-fat margarine if necessary. Mix everything well.

Separately combine soda with flour, and then, gradually adding to the spicy mixture, knead the dough. We put it in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for several hours.

Method 2. The dough for the gingerbread house will have a chocolate flavor. The only thing that will have to be changed is to leave only ginger and cinnamon from the spices and remove exactly 4 tbsp from the composition. l. flour, which will replace cocoa in this recipe. We prepare the dough in the same way as in the first version.

Glaze for holiday dessert

You can also use 2 types of glaze. But the main one is icing.

For cooking, prepare the following products:

  • 2 egg whites;
  • 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice;
  • 400 g of powdered sugar.

To achieve a good result, use a mixer.

  1. Separate the whites into a deep cup and turn on the device at first at slow speed, increasing it over time.
  2. Gradually, in small portions, add powdered sugar.
  3. When the consistency begins to hold its shape, add lemon juice. You can use food coloring if you want to use multiple colors for decoration.

As an additional option, you can also use chocolate icing for the gingerbread house.

To cook it take:

  • 70 g margarine;
  • 4 tbsp. l. cocoa and sugar;
  • 2 tbsp. l. milk.

Mix all this in an iron bowl and cook a little over low heat until thickened. You can simply buy a chocolate bar and melt it using another bowl of hot water.

Cardboard blank - gingerbread house template

Now you can use our dimensions, but if you wish, then get creative and first draw the project on a piece of paper. Then it’s easy to implement the idea on cardboard.

So, we will make the following preparations:

  • house base – 1 pc. (150x210 mm);
  • side walls – 2 pcs. (107x120 mm);
  • facade – 2 pcs. (with a wall height of 107 mm, 105x160 mm);
  • roof – 2 pcs. (90x140 mm).

To make the house look natural, be sure to cut out windows and doors.

How to bake a gingerbread house?

Now we take our dough out of the refrigerator, divide it into 7 parts and roll it out thinly on baking paper. Place one template on top and carefully cut out the blanks with a knife or a special tool.

There is one trick that will help you immediately “insert frames” into the windows. Take a couple of caramels, you need to crumble them and fill the cut out gaps under the glass with fragments. Everything will melt in the oven and immediately stick to the cake.

Having transferred the blanks along with the paper onto a flat sheet, we send them to the oven, which was preheated to 180 degrees. Usually it takes 6-8 minutes to bake.

When pulling out the finished elements, do not forget that the cakes are brittle.

You can bypass all the above steps, buy ready-made blanks from Ikea and simply glue them together. Let's look at how to do this further.

Assembling a gingerbread house with your own hands

Everyone understands that it is necessary to use edible products as glue. Some people use cream icing to join the pieces together. But there is a danger that the structure will collapse under its own weight.

Therefore, it is better to cook thick caramel syrup, for which you need:

  • 80 ml water;
  • 200 g sugar.

Place all this at once in a small saucepan and boil until brown. At the same time, do not stop stirring so that the mass does not burn.

This “glue” should be used while it is warm, because when it hardens, it immediately hardens and becomes unsuitable for the task at hand.

Now we proceed to the important and, perhaps, the most difficult stage.

  1. Remove parchment from all preparations.
  2. Place the base on a flat surface.
  3. We take the wall of the facade and with a plastic spatula or spoon (only carefully, so as not to leave marks on the wall) apply “glue” to its lower part. Immediately press it to the base.
  4. Now we take the side wall, but apply caramel not only to the lower part, but also to the end wall, which will be attached to the facade.
  5. We repeat these steps until all the parts are in place. We install the roof last.

Remember that it is better to apply the adhesive composition to a loose cake layer. After installation, the figure should be held a little so that the caramel “seizes.”

You can glue a gingerbread house from Ikea using the same method. If you realize that you don’t have time and the caramel hardens, then call an assistant. Children will happily work on “building” with you.

How to decorate a gingerbread house

When the main work is over, we need to give our building a festive look. Why is icing used more often? Yes, because it shines attractively and holds its shape. But, you can use not only it.

Often used:

  • powdered sugar;
  • multi-colored flat candies;
  • M&M's chocolate;
  • gummies;
  • various confectionery toppings;
  • coconut flakes.

Once you decide to decorate with white icing, transfer it to a pastry bag or a simple plastic bag, making a small hole in its corner.

Decoration should begin at the joints in order to hide unevenness and glue that has come out due to careless actions. Then we proceed to decorating the windows and door (if you also baked and attached it). Here you can draw various patterns around the edges of the shutters.

On the roof we will make a pattern of tiles or glue candies onto the white glaze. You can also simply apply patterns and make hanging icicles along the edge.

Christmas, New Year's house - ideas

If you have no experience or you just want to make your own, unique gingerbread house with your own hands, then the proposed ideas may help you find “your” option:

  1. If you are making a rustic hut, don't forget to add a chimney. Draw various snowflakes. From the remaining dough, cut out figures of pets, which you will place on the base of the house, you just have to make it bigger.
  2. Do you want the lights on in the house? Place a candle inside, and for ease of lighting, do not glue the roof to the walls.
  3. The shape of the house does not have to be rectangular and even. You might want to implement the idea of ​​a “hut on chicken legs.” Then you will need Baba Yaga, who can easily be molded from the same dough.
  4. A multi-story gingerbread house is also not difficult to decorate. Suffice it to recall foreign films in which people use colorful garlands, signs and billboards. If you wish, everything should work out for you, and the idea will become original.
  5. You can assemble a yurt from triangular shortcakes, and place edible figurines with deer and sleighs nearby.
  6. If you have experience, then try to assemble a carousel, which will need colorful design. Use candies and marmalade here.

When there are a lot of helpers, it’s possible to make a whole town out of gingerbread houses or build a whole fairytale castle. Remain children at heart at least during these holidays and give free rein to your imagination!

It is quite simple for him, but the process itself is long and labor-intensive, so it is better to start it in advance: even if you come to your senses on the thirtieth of December, you will not have time to bake and assemble it. On the other hand, younger family members will most likely take an active part in both the architectural development of the project and the final design refinement.

The main thing a gingerbread house consists of is the dough. You can take any recipe suitable for gingerbread. The main thing is to comply with the condition: the dough should not be too soft so that it can withstand the shape of the intended structure.

Stages of the long journey

To simplify the whole process, it is better to divide it into several “approaches”. It is recommended to perform them on different days and always in a good mood, then you will definitely get a wonderful gingerbread house (recipe). The master class we conduct can be divided into the following “episodes”:


Secrets of preparatory work

Before you prepare the gingerbread house recipe for which you choose, you need to take care of some additional things. Suppose you have cut out a pattern plan for your architectural masterpiece. Since it is desirable that all parts be the same thickness, prepare two slats of the required height. They are placed on both sides of the rolling pin when rolling, and the workpieces will come out identical and with smooth edges. Believe me, you will appreciate it when you start assembling the house. By the way, if at the market you come across a rolling pin with a design carved on it, take it without hesitation: it is intended specifically for decorating the walls of a gingerbread house. A wooden rolling pin should be soaked in sunflower oil several times ahead of time with a break of two hours. After drying for a week, the instrument will not get wet, will be easy to clean and will not crack.

"Glue" for parts

When you make a gingerbread house with your own hands, you can also choose the recipe for the composition that will be used to join the individual pieces together. There are three options for gluing parts:

  1. Melt a black or white chocolate bar in a water bath. This material is very convenient to work with because it hardens quickly, but you must do it in one go so as not to melt new chocolate each time.
  2. Often, confectioners use caramel syrup or fudge with the addition of citric acid, which adds hardness.
  3. Icing, which is a protein-sugar material for drawing, looks quite aesthetically pleasing.

During the gluing process, individual parts are supported vertically (or at the desired angle if the walls are inclined) with cans of water.

Window decoration

The further design and the final appearance that the created gingerbread house with your own hands will take will directly depend on how you designate the windows. The recipe offers several ways:


Secrets of the test

Most chefs believe that if you want to get a real gingerbread house, the dough for which you have chosen the recipe must include honey, and not sugar or molasses. Moreover, chemical disintegrants will also be superfluous in this case. Instead, you can use rum, cognac or vodka (four spoons per kilogram of sifted flour). Whether to agree with this opinion is the choice of each individual housewife. It is also not recommended to replace butter in the dough with lean fat or margarine.

To give the dough different flavors, natural products should be used - dried berries, herbs or nuts, ground almost into dust. You can also add chalked or chopped quality dried fruits.

And the main secret: it is in gingerbread dough that low-grade flour is appropriate. What explains this is unknown, so the cooks simply follow the superstition.

Chouxed honey dough

It is from this that a gingerbread house is traditionally made. The step-by-step recipe will look like this:

  1. 3/4 cup of natural liquid honey with a quarter cup of water is placed in a saucepan, and the mixture is heated (without boiling) to 70 degrees.
  2. Add one and a half cups of spiced flour if you add them. The mass is quickly mixed, preferably with a wooden spatula.
  3. After cooling, beat in an egg, add half a glass of full-fat sour cream, another one and a half glasses of flour, two tablespoons of strong alcohol and a hundred gram piece of softened butter.
  4. The dough is kneaded vigorously - from a third of an hour or more, but so that it does not become too steep, otherwise it will not rise, and the gingerbread pieces will come out tough.

When the mass satisfies you with its plasticity and homogeneity, immediately make preparations so that the dough does not begin to settle. If you have decided to prepare a gingerbread house for your children for the New Year, the best recipe for it, in our opinion, is this one.

Honey-sugar dough

It is the second most popular place for this kind of baking. It makes a real Christmas gingerbread house. The recipe advises mixing wheat and rye flour to obtain a particularly delicious result. There are no exact proportions, so combine them as you like. First, a glass of sugar is fried in a dry frying pan until it turns a beautiful brown color. Carefully, so as not to get burned, pour a glass of boiling water with dissolved burnt sugar into it. After boiling for three minutes, the syrup is removed from the heat and after a short cooling, 450 g of honey and 160 g of butter are added. When they are completely dissolved, add a glass of sugar, beat until there are no lumps and leave to cool.

Separately, sift two types of flour into an incomplete glass, add a little salt, spices (if provided) and a spoon with the top of quicklime soda. If you want a darker house, add another spoonful of cocoa. When the mass has cooled sufficiently, three eggs are driven into it, after which the dry mixture is added. Now all that remains is to knead the dough to the desired plasticity. However, you won’t be able to bake your gingerbread house right away - the recipe requires putting the dough in the refrigerator for a day. You can work with it after about six hours, but it’s better to follow the recommendations: then the dough will come out more elastic.

Quick gingerbread dough

Cooking according to the classical method is quite difficult physically - you have to knead the dough for quite a long time. Therefore, to use the honey-sugar option you will have to wait. But you can make a lighter gingerbread house. The simple recipe calls for sugar rather than honey. To begin with, take 400 grams of richer sour cream, and stir soda in it, three-quarters of a teaspoon. When the surface begins to bubble, add two yolks and mix the mixture. Next, add a bag of vanillin with a glass of sugar, and after achieving homogeneity, add flour, gradually from two to three glasses. When you are satisfied with the degree of plasticity, take out the “pattern” and start making the future house.

Gingerbread house

Cookies and other baked goods containing this ingredient are extremely popular in Western countries. Accordingly, a gingerbread house is very often baked at Christmas. Its recipe, considered one of the most successful, is also based on a combination of rye and wheat flour. First of all, combine one and a half glasses of honey, half a glass of brown sugar and half a pack (125 grams) of butter in a bowl. Over low heat, with continuous stirring, the ingredients combine into a single whole. In another bowl, mix both flours, a quarter kilogram each, and a spoonful of soda. Then the warm mixture is poured in, an egg is beaten in and spices are added: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves (approximately a quarter of a teaspoon). The dough is kneaded until smooth and wrapped in plastic, hidden in the refrigerator - this time for only two hours.

Peppermint Gingerbread House

A very good solution for those who love aromatic pastries. You can use mint tincture or its essence - just a spoon of such liquid is enough. If you are a supporter of natural ingredients, you will need a tablespoon of dried herb, and it is better to bring it to a dust state in a coffee grinder - then you will get a more uniformly smelling gingerbread house. The recipe at the very beginning is similar to the other variations: this time the syrup is prepared only from sugar (a glass of sand for the same volume of boiling water). It is not advisable to use honey: the smell of mint will overwhelm its aroma. After boiling, the saucepan is removed from the stove almost immediately, mint is added to it or its tincture is poured in and a piece of butter is added. When it dissolves and the mass is no longer hot, it is poured into flour (2.5-3 cups) mixed with a spoonful of soda, and the dough is kneaded. It should be kept in the cold for no longer than a third of an hour, after which you can start baking the parts of the house.

Orange House

The dough is interesting because it completely lacks water (or sour cream). And how wonderful your gingerbread house will smell! The recipe insists on using only freshly squeezed juice; It will take half a glass - about two oranges. In addition, before loading citrus fruits into the juicer, you will need to zest them. First, combine the following ingredients: juice, soft but not melted butter (240 grams), two glasses of sugar, three eggs and two large spoons of honey. To obtain an even mass, it is more convenient to use a mixer or blender. Then the rest of the bulk ingredients are added: 6-7 cups of flour (decide when you need to stop), two spoons of cocoa, baking powder and cinnamon, one of ginger and zest. The dough is kneaded to the desired state, and it is immediately ready for further work.

Gingerbread on semolina

The Germans shared with us this way of preparing a festive Christmas delicacy. And at the same time you get a complete and tasty gingerbread house. The recipe is as follows: mix a glass of wheat flour and half of the sifted semolina, add two spoons of baking powder, a pinch of salt and, if desired, spices suitable for baking (cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon). Using a blender or mixer, beat half a stick of butter, a third of a glass of sugar and half of honey. Little by little, with constant stirring, the first mixture is added to the second. When the dough has already reached the desired density and elasticity, it is left on the table under a napkin for a quarter of an hour. Next is the standard: roll out, cut according to the template - and into the oven.

Final actions

All that remains is to paint and assemble the gingerbread house (recipe). We have already conducted a master class on gluing, only a few details remain to be mentioned.

Firstly, gingerbread cookies bake quite quickly, and you shouldn’t overcook them in the oven, otherwise in the future they can replace your hammer.

Secondly, it is better to do the main drawings on planes before assembly: it is more convenient to do this on lying walls than on already fixed ones.

Thirdly, the roof can be covered with specially baked small “gingerbreads”, but such work is quite painstaking. It turns out quite tasty and beautiful if you use, for example, ready-made pillow cookies, halves of peanuts as tiles, or simply mark it with icing.

Fourthly. For design success, you will have to use your imagination to the fullest and use frozen berries, candied fruits, grated nuts, chocolate, powdered sugar, and so on. However, before drawing, it’s a good idea to practice your artistic skills on paper or at least think in advance about what and how you will paint.

Good luck with your New Year and Christmas experiments!