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A recipe for sturdy gingerbread dough with minimal spreading. Not recommended for cookies.
Making gingerbread houses from scratch is a labor of love. It definitely takes time and planning days ahead. You need to find or create a template(s), make the dough, cut out all the shapes and keep them straight. Then whip up some icing just before assembling.
This recipe makes enough dough for 2 medium houses. You don’t want to roll it out too thin or the parts might snap while handling. Do not move them from the cookie sheet until they have hardened.
ADDING GLASS
There are 3 ways you can add glass to your gingerbread houses, churches, greenhouses, or scenes.
• Make sugar glass with sugar, water, and corn syrup. Line cookie sheet with parchment or nonstick foil. Pour into already baked gingerbread window holes.
• Make sugar glass ahead of time and smash into pieces. Line cookie sheet with parchment or nonstick foil. Place sugar glass crumbles into window openings of mostly baked cookies (4 minutes early). Melt in oven for 3-4 minutes. Pop any bubbles with toothpick if needed.
• Line cookie sheet with parchment or nonstick foil. Smash Jolly Rancher candies and place them into windows. Melt 3-4 minutes.
DECORATING IDEAS
• Mixing Jolly Rancher colors to make stained glass.
• Leave the back open for a gingerbread dollhouse!
• Fondant to create little embellishments. For example: flowers, ribbons, presents, or anything you can think of.
• Creating Meringue Christmas trees or snowmen.
Construction Gingerbread
Ingredients
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp finely ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups unsulfured molasses
- 6 cups flour
Instructions
- Sift flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter in mixer with paddle attachment. Add sugar and mix till fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses.
- Slowly add flour mixture on slow speed until combined. Divide dough into 3 balls and wrap each in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour before rolling out and cutting shapes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment.
- On a floured surface roll out dough to ⅛ an inch in thickness. Cut shapes out, combine similar sized pieces onto cookie sheets for even baking.
- Chill for 15 minutes before baking. This helps prevent spreading.
- Bake 15 minutes. If adding sugar glass, bake 11 minutes, add candy melt 4 minutes. Smaller items may be done after 11 minutes.
- Cool completely before moving.
