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Building Gingerbread

Building Gingerbread

Name: Building Gingerbread
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 2 h 60 min
Yield: 1 gingerbread house
Ingredients: 5 cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1 cup shortening; 1 tablespoon ground ginger; 1 cup white sugar; 1 cup molasses; 2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar; ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar; 2 egg whites; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Rating: 3.84 stars

94 Ratings
78 Reviews
21 Photos

Every Christmas I design a new pattern and make a gingerbread house for the holidays. The kids love to help decorate.

By JBS BOX

Recipe Summary

prep:

30 mins

cook:

15 mins

additional:

2 hrs 15 mins

total:

3 hrs

Servings:

Yield:

1 gingerbread house

Nutrition Info

Directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

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Step 2

Melt shortening in a saucepan large enough for mixing the dough. Mix in sugar and molasses. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger; gradually stir into the pan, using your hands to work in the last bit. Dough should be stiff.
Step 3

On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out as desired. Make sure the gingerbread is of uniform thickness, or the edges may burn before the center is done. Place pieces onto cookie sheets.
Step 4

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for several minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to racks to finish cooling.
Step 5

When the gingerbread has cooled completely, make the frosting cement. In a medium bowl, mix together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Add egg whites and vanilla. Beat on high speed until frosting holds its shape. If necessary, add more confectioners' sugar to thicken the icing. Cover frosting with a damp cloth to prevent drying.

Partner Tip

Reynolds® parchment can be used for easier cleanup/removal from the pan.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

235.1 calories; 2.4 g protein; 40.9 g carbohydrates; 0 mg cholesterol; 127.8 mg sodium. Full Nutrition

Reviews (78)

Most helpful positive review

Rebekah

01/10/2004

My mom & I make approximately 40 gingerbread houses each year so I know what I am saying when I tell you this is a great recipe. We lost our recipe this year so tried this one and we like it better than our usual one. You will have to correctly measure the flour or it would be too dry. You scoop the flour into the measure cup and with a kitchen scoop then clear off the top with a knife WITHOUT tapping the cup. Then it should not be too dry. Also don't try to make them too thin. They should be app. 3/8" thick. Good luck with your gingerbread house! Read More

Helpful

(172)

Most helpful critical review

Julie

12/04/2002

The icing was fantastic but the gingerbread wasn't. I rolled it thicker than suggested and it burned on the edges after 8 minutes. Read More

Helpful

(11)

94 Ratings

5 star values: 45
4 star values: 21
3 star values: 10
2 star values: 4
1 star values: 14

Reviews: Most Helpful

Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest

Rebekah

01/10/2004

Helpful

(172)

Rebekah

01/10/2004

Helpful

(172)

kats_snguyen

12/05/2005

To all those who have tried this recipe and ended up with a crumbly mess (like me!) I have some valuable advice. Once you've melted the shortening keep the heat on medium as you add the rest of the ingredients GRADUALLY using a whisk to mix it in rather than dumping all the dry ingredients in all at once. Keeping it over the heat helped keep it warm and pliable. It's amazing how much of a difference this all made. It turned out PERFECTLY and I will be sure to use this recipe every year! Read More

Helpful

(126)

JENSPIN

12/18/2005

This recipe goes against all "rules" of typical rolled cookies. This dough needs to be hot to be workable and I wouldn't use any flour at all while rolling - the shortening keeps the dough from sticking to anything and extra flour just makes a goo out of the oil. I microwaved the dough for about 10-20 seconds between each rolling and the results seem fine and strong. The flour-to-liquid ratio is critical in this recipe. I was very light-handed with the flour and it turned out fine. You might want to sift the flour first or spoon it very lightly into the measuring cup. I also doubled the spices and added 2 t. cinnamon and 1 t. allspice for extra flavor. I was able to make 2 6-inch square roof pieces 2 5x5-inch side walls and 2 front/back pieces extending up to 7 inches tall - and I still had plenty of leftover dough for trees a chimney etc. Read More

Helpful

(55)

hosta53

01/10/2004

Lost my old recipe and had to try several until I found this one-it is really good. This makes a good stiff dough that yeilds a sturdy non-puffy cookie that works very well for building houses or making large cookies for hanging. NOTE: Flour must be measured very carefully and then should not be dumped into the fluids all at once. Flour varies in moisture content- the amount needed in any cookie recipe may vary somewhat from time to time even if it is same brand brand of flour. Don't pack the flour into the cup- spoon it into the cup then level the top off with a knife. This makes a very stiff dough but that is what is needed for house building. Use a different recipe for cookies to be used for eating only. Read More

Helpful

(41)

Beth

11/21/2008

If you are looking for a strong firm gingerbread that will not spread or warp this is it. BUT having said that you need to realize that this is not your typical cookie dough recipe. This is a HOT cookie dough and if you let it cool down you will have a crumbly mess. I followed other reviews and added the hot mixture to the dry (minus one cup of flour for my double batch) and mixed until combined. To roll out the dough I covered my cookie sheet with parchment and microwaved a large handful of dough for 25-40 seconds until it was very warm and soft. Working quickly I rolled the dough out on my prepared cookie sheet cut out my pattern and removed the (by now) crumbling dough extras. My pieces took between 15-18 min. to bake but I was making large walls mostly. Once I removed them from the oven I quickly put my pattern back on the cooked pieces and trimed the edges to ensure that my building's edges were straight. This recipe was VERY different from anything I have worked with before but the results were just what I was looking for. This is not a recipe for beginning cooks but if you are up for a challenge give it a try. Just remember it needs to be warm!!!!! Read More

Helpful

(36)

THUNDERINGOAK

12/20/2003

This recipe is great but to make it easier for the beginner to work with I'd suggest taking the yolks from the eggs --you're using 2 whites for the frosting - and add them to the dough mixture. Any good baker knows not to pack flour either the only ingredient you usually ever pack is brown sugar so be sure to measure flour by sifting or spooning and level it carefully with the blade of a knife and you'll have a terrific house. The icing works great even heavy things like ribbon candy can be 'glued on' with it. This was a fun little house to build. Read More

Helpful

(25)

DOODYBUG1

11/19/2007

I gave it 4 stars because I tweeked the recipe to make it a 5 star! What I did different: I used 4 3/4 cups of flour instead of 5. And I added a little bit of cinnamon and cloves to make it smell yummy. I put all the dry ingredients into my mixer bowl then proceeded to make the shortening molasses sugar mix. After I melted the shortening on the stove and mixed in the sugar and molasses I added it to my mixer bowl (that already held the flour mixture in it.) mixed throroughly for about 1 minute. I formed it into a big ball then I put it all into a gallon sized ziploc bag. From there I took 1/3 of the dough out of the ziploc and rolled it out onto parchment paper did the cutouts and removed the excess(instead of the cutouts). Slid the parchment onto a cookie sheet and baked in the oven for 5-7 minutes. If the dough in the ziploc hardened I popped it into the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds. The dough was warm to work with but easier. I didn't use any flour when rolling the dough out. It is fairly greasy dough if you warm it in the microwave. Just work quick and if it gets hard put in micro. The pieces of my house turned out nice and hard. Perfect to build with!!! Good luck. Read More

Helpful

(21)

BJUBC

12/19/2003

Thanks this was a perfect recipe for a beautiful gingerbread house......it was easily doubled or quadrupled to give very creative house designs. The icing was great.....very strong...once again I recommened this recipe highly. Read More

Helpful

(15)

Julie

12/04/2002

The icing was fantastic but the gingerbread wasn't. I rolled it thicker than suggested and it burned on the edges after 8 minutes. Read More

Helpful

(11)

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Nutritional Information

Building Gingerbread

Servings Per Recipe: 30
Calories: 235.1

% Daily Value *

protein: 5 %

carbohydrates: 14 %

dietary fiber: 2 %

soluble fiber:

insoluble fiber:

sugars:

other carbs:

fat: 11 %

saturated fat: 9 %

mono fat:

poly fat:

trans fatty acid:

cholesterol:

water:

ash:

vitamin a iu:

vitamin a re:

vitamin a carotenoid:

vitamin a retinol:

vitamin a carotene:

vitamin b1 thiamin:

vitamin b2 riboflavin:

vitamin b3 niacin:

niacin equivalents: 9 %

vitamin b6: 4 %

vitamin b12:

biotin:

vitamin c:

vitamin e alpha equivalents:

vitamin e iu:

vitamin e mg:

folate: 10 %

vitamin k: 4 %

pantothenic acid: 2 %

calcium: 3 %

copper: 4 %

iron: 8 %

magnesium: 8 %

manganese: 18 %

phosphorus: 3 %

potassium: 6 %

selenium: 14 %

sodium: 5 %

zinc: 1 %

40 butyric:

60 caprioc:

80 caprylic:

100 capric:

120 lauric:

140 myristic:

160 palmitic:

180 stearic:

161 palmitol:

181 oleic:

201 eicosen:

221 erucic:

182 linoleic:

183 linolenic:

184 stearidon:

204 arachidon:

205 epa:

225 dpa:

226 dha:

omega 3 fatty acid:

omega 6 fatty acid:

alanine:

arginine:

cystine:

glycine:

histidine:

isoleucine:

leucine:

lysine:

methionine:

phenylalanine:

proline:

serine:

threonine:

tryptophan:

tyrosine:

valine:

alcohol:

caffeine:

pyramid bread:

exchange starch:

energy:

aspartic acid:

glutamic acid:

thiamin: 11 %

riboflavin: 7 %

monosaccharides:

disaccharides:

chromium:

fluoride:

phytosterols:

vitamin d iu:

vitamin d mcg:

pyramid fat:

exchange fat:

boron:

exchange other carbs:

iodine: 1 %

pyramid meat:

exchange very lean meat:

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.