Every Christmas season my kids and I make gingerbread houses from scratch. I bet that sounds like a crazy Christmas tradition, but I actually enjoy the whole process, minus the clean-up. Plus, it tastes so good! This year I stumbled upon simplejoy.com and found an easy way to make a gingerbread house. Her method made the whole experience far more enjoyable.
First, I will address some questions readers might have about making a gingerbread house from scratch.
Questions
- How do you have time to make a gingerbread house with small kids?
I consider making a gingerbread house our school work for the day. My oldest son, who is eight years old, had to read the recipe and the double it. He also used the template and cut out most of the shapes for the houses. The kids took turns measuring and scooping the ingredients. Also, it’s okay to take a day off to do something fun, especially at Christmas time. My kids enjoy making gingerbread houses from scratch. They beg to make them once Thanksgiving is over.
- What did you do with the baby?
The baby napped during most of it, but when he woke up, I plopped him in the carrier. He’s easy-going and happy.
- How do you manage the mess?
First, we made the dough. Then I sent the kids outside to play while I cleaned up. I’m sure someone out there would recommend having the kids help clean, but when dough and flour is on the floor, I kind of just want my kids out so I can clean up myself and make sure everything doesn’t spread all around the house.
Afterwards, we rolled out the dough, cut the shapes, and baked them. Then, I sent the kids out to play again while I cleaned up. Lastly, we stopped and had lunch. We decorated the houses right before dinner. That gave me a break in the afternoon to get some chores done, read to the kids, and take care of the two younger kids.
An Easy Way to Make a Gingerbread House
I stated earlier that simplejoy.com had an easy way to make gingerbread houses. She recommends decorating the pieces of the house before they are assembled. That way you aren’t fighting against gravity. It makes so much sense. Why didn’t I think of this four years ago?
That one tip made decorating our gingerbread houses so much more enjoyable and efficient. In years past, I had children crying because candy would fall off. This year our houses look much nicer!
One tip I would add in is always use a plastic table cloth. You just wrap up the mess and the table is all clean! If you love somewhere warm, like me, then consider decorating outside. That way your kitchen or dining room doesn’t get messy.
The Recipe
The recipe from simplejoy.com worked well. At first, I doubled the recipe, but then I thought a third batch would be best since I was making three houses. I altered her recipe and skipped the shortening and used butter instead. The cookies tasted great to me, so I don’t think that change made a big difference. She provided templates to print out. My kids cut them templates out and we simply placed the template on the dough and cut around.
I also used her frosting recipe. It worked really well! I let the decorated shapes dry overnight. The next day we assembled the walls. I placed cups inside the walls to help hold them up until they were dried. The frosting was dry within an hour or so. Afterwards, we assembled the roofs. To keep the roofs from sliding down, I propped them up with containers until they were dry. Make sure you put the right roof on the right house! I had to do some switching around.
Final Thoughts
Yes, you can buy a gingerbread kit from Costco or Target, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but making it yourself is fun. There’s something gratifying about doing all the hard work. Plus, it will taste amazing! I place all our gingerbread houses on our school shelf, which makes the whole area smell like gingerbread. If you’re up for a new Christmas tradition, then give this recipe a try.