Itsy Bitsy Foodies

Growing up we made gingerbread houses just about every year using graham crackers and milk cartons.  As I kid, I really didn’t care what they were made out of because I was so focused on all of the candy.  These days you can buy gingerbread house kits that come with candy, frosting and the works.  But I have always wanted to try making them from scratch so this year my three-year old son had a couple of friends over for a gingerbread house decoration party.  I figured that at three years old, even if the houses were a disaster, they wouldn’t care because they would just be excited about the candy.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it turned out to be to make basic gingerbread houses. 

They definitely take more time than buying a kit but by making them from scratch you can customize your design and candy supply.  And if you have older kids, they can help with the baking and construction, too.

I planned to start making the houses during the week before the gingerbread house party but, as is typically the case, life got in the way and I ended up baking and building four gingerbread houses the day before.  I made the dough in the morning, let it chill during the afternoon, and then started baking in the evening.  Admittedly, I was stressed at first, thinking that I wouldn’t get them done or that they would be a disaster.  Then I got into the therapeutic baking mode and realized that it was a piece of…gingerbread.  I was able to eke out four houses from three batches of gingerbread cookie dough using a pattern that I got from an old newspaper clipping. 

I used a basic Gingerbread Cookie recipe with buttercream frosting.  Royal icing is typically the icing of choice for gingerbread houses because it dries really hard.  I didn’t want to mess with raw eggs knowing that the kiddos would most likely sample the frosting so I opted for my basic buttercream frosting.  It ended up being stiff enough to hold the houses together without any problems.  {I can’t comment on how the buttercream frosting would hold up if you are planning to store your house and keep it for years to come.}

I made patterns out of waxed paper and then used a pizza cutter to cut the house shapes out of the dough.  I knew that I wasn’t going to have much extra dough so I cut out the pieces prior to baking them so that I could roll out the scraps for additional pieces.  If you have plenty of dough, I have read that baking the gingerbread in large slabs and then cutting out the pieces while the gingerbread is still soft and warm works well, too, and allows you to get really accurate with your patterns.  My way worked fine because I was making such basic shapes and houses.  Even though the pieces puffed up a bit while baking the houses still fit together without any problems and the icing trim covered up any major holes.

Maybe some year I will decorate a house again but this year it was all for the kids.  I bought a variety of candy and then we let them loose with a cup of buttercream frosting.  I am already planning ideas for next year because I think we have a tradition in the making!