Gingerbread house
Prep
40 mins
Cook
15 mins
Servings
1
Difficulty
Medium
Making a gingerbread house might sound intimidating, but trust me, it's easier than you think. This recipe comes together in just 55 minutes from start to finish, making it perfect for a fun weekend project. The warm spices, especially the ginger, aren't just delicious, they actually aid digestion and reduce inflammation. Plus, you probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry already, so there's no need for expensive specialty items. The dough is forgiving and simple to work with, and once you've baked the pieces, decorating becomes the best part, watching your edible house come to life with royal icing.
Ella x
Ingredients
- 750 gramsplain flour(plain flour, plus extra for rolling out)
- 1 tspbaking powder
- 2 tspground ginger
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground allspice
- 225 gramsbutter
- ½ tspsalt
- 115 gramslight soft brown sugar
- 350 gramsblack treacle
- 500 gramsroyal icing sugar mix
Detail level
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl. Over a gentle heat, stir the butter, salt, sugar and treacle together until smooth; add to the bowl and mix to a dough. On a floured surface, roll out to 5mm thick. Using the templates, cut out 4 walls and 2 roof panels; cut a door out of the front wall. There should be enough dough left to make 12 gingerbread men.
- 2
Space out on lined baking sheets. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the edges are darker brown than the centre. Cool for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack.
- 3
Add 3–4 tbsp cold water to the icing mix and whip with an electric whisk for 8 minutes, until peaks form. Transfer half to a piping bag (try using Cooks' Homebaking disposable icing bags) with a small nozzle and use it to stick the 4 walls of the house together. Stand the house on a plate and use full tin cans to prop the walls up until the icing dries. Pipe more icing along the top of the 4 walls, stick on the roof and leave to dry. Stick the door on. Put the remaining icing in a new piping bag with a fine nozzle to add icing details to the roof and walls.
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