Short answer
Roll the gingerbread dough a little thicker than for ordinary biscuits and cut out two gables, two long walls and two roof halves from a template. Bake the pieces at 200 degrees until nicely coloured, and trim the edges while they are still warm. Decorate with royal icing before you build, let it set and glue the house together with melted sugar or thick royal icing. The roof goes on last.
The template pieces
| Piece | Size | Number | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| A – Gable | 12 cm wide, 8 cm wall, 14 cm to the ridge | 2 | Cut the door in one, windows in both |
| B – Long wall | 16 × 8 cm | 2 | Two windows in each |
| C – Roof half | 18 × 10 cm | 2 | Gives a little overhang all round |
| D – Chimney | 2.5 × 3 cm and 2.5 × 4 cm cut at an angle | 2 + 2 | The angled cut is 45 degrees, like the roof |
The gable point is 6 cm high on a 12 cm width, so the roof slopes at exactly 45 degrees and the chimney pieces fit.
A gingerbread house is the biggest baking project of Christmas – and one of the most fun to do with children, as long as the house holds together. This house is a little mountain cabin with a steep roof that slopes at exactly 45 degrees so that all the pieces fit. The template below has measurements for every part, and we go through the order to do everything in, so nobody has to watch their house collapse on Christmas Eve.
The dough is ordinary gingerbread dough – the recipe is in gingerbread biscuits. Make it the day before, so it is firm and easy to roll.
The template
Draw the pieces with a ruler on thin card and cut them out. Save the template – then next year's gingerbread house is already halfway done.
1. Roll, cut and bake
- Roll the dough to 3–4 mm, a little thicker than for ordinary gingerbread biscuits. Ideally roll it straight onto baking paper, so you do not have to move the large pieces.
- Lay the template on the dough and cut around it with a sharp knife. Cut out the door and windows straight away.
- Remove the dough around the pieces and slide the paper onto a baking tray.
- Bake at 200 degrees for 8–10 minutes until the pieces are a nice gingerbread colour. Small pieces, like the chimney, bake faster – put them on a tray of their own.
Tips: Lay the template over the pieces again as soon as they come out of the oven and trim the edges with the knife. The dough rises a little in the oven, and straight edges are what make the house possible to build. It only works while the pieces are warm.
Let the pieces cool completely on the tray. Warm pieces are soft and bend.
2. Decorate before you build
It is much easier to pipe patterns on flat pieces than on a finished house. Mix royal icing from icing sugar and egg white – it should be thick enough to hold its shape. Make it runnier with a little more egg white or firmer with more icing sugar.
Pipe window bars, door frames, roof tiles and hearts, and press on sweets and almonds while the icing is wet. Let the icing set for one to two hours before you assemble the house.
3. Build the house
Glue: There are two ways.
- Melted sugar holds best and sets in a few seconds. Melt granulated sugar in a large frying pan over medium heat until golden brown, dip the edge of the piece and hold it in place until the sugar has set. The sugar gets hotter than 150 degrees and sticks to the skin – this is a job for an adult.
- Thick royal icing also works and is what the children can use themselves. It takes longer to dry, so support the walls with tins, for example, while it sets.
Order:
- Join a gable and a long wall at a right angle on the base, a cake board or a chopping board.
- Add the next long wall and finally the other gable, so you have a box.
- Wait until the walls stand firmly. With royal icing it can take an hour.
- Put on the roof halves one at a time and hold them in place for a while.
- Glue the chimney together separately – the angled pieces should rest against the roof – and put it on last.
4. Snow and details
Pipe a line of icing along the ridge and the edge of the roof so it looks like snow on the roof, and sift icing sugar over the house and the yard around it. A piece of a gingerbread tree, a few sweets for a path and a lit LED candle inside – and the windows glow.
Who does what?
- Ages 3–5: press sweets and almonds into the icing and sift icing-sugar snow.
- Ages 6–9: cut out the pieces from the template with an adult beside them and pipe patterns.
- 10 years and older: build the house with royal icing and make the chimney.
- Adult: the oven, the hot trays and the melted sugar.
While the icing sets you have time to make a star made of sticks – or go out and cut your own Christmas tree. We gather the rest of Christmas crafts and outings in the Christmas guide, and a cup of glögg and a plate of lussekatter go well with the gingerbread house.
What you need
Frequently asked questions
How thick should the dough be for a gingerbread house?
Around 3–4 mm, a little thicker than for ordinary gingerbread biscuits. Thinner pieces look finer but break more easily when the house is built.
What do you glue a gingerbread house together with?
Melted sugar holds best and sets in a few seconds, but it gets very hot and should be handled by an adult. Thick royal icing made from icing sugar and egg white also works and suits children building on their own better, but it takes longer to dry.
How long should gingerbread house pieces bake?
About 8–10 minutes at 200 degrees for large pieces such as walls and roof, less for small pieces like the chimney. Bake small and large pieces on separate trays.
Should you decorate the gingerbread house before or after building it?
Before. It is much easier to pipe on flat pieces. Let the icing set for one to two hours before you build.
Why does my gingerbread house fall apart?
Usually the edges are uneven or the glue has not set. Trim the edges while the pieces are warm, build the walls first and wait until they stand firmly before the roof goes on.