GINGERBREAD HOUSE KIT
INSTRUCTIONS
For best results, please read all the way through before starting
Our Chief Deer Trish Karter never waits for all these steps and her houses are always fun and fine.
You don’t have to follow the rules but, if you do we’re happy to stand behind our prediction of success.
Otherwise you’re on your own and Trish might be willing to bail you out!
IN THIS KIT
• 1 bag dry gingerbread mix
• 1 bag royal icing mix
• Gingerbread boy and girl cutters
• Piping bag
• House-shaped box is both the pattern for the
walls and roof and the support for your house
FROM YOUR KITCHEN
Ingredients
• 4 oz. butter (1 stick), softened
• 2 large. eggs at room temperature
• A little extra flour for rolling out the dough
and dusting the baking sheets
• A little butter or shortening for greasing
the baking sheets
• ½ cup water for royal icing mix
• Decorations such as candies, nuts, beans,
dried fruits, colored sugar, whatever!
Equipment
• Electric mixer
• Plastic food wrap
• Rolling pin
• Kitchen knife
• 2 Baking sheets
• 2 rubber bands
• Cardboard or wooden base or “lawn” for
the house: at least 12” X 12”
Optional: ruler, string, parchment paper, icing spatula, tape, scissors, plastic zip-top bags
TIMELINE
Making a gingerbread house requires both active steps and waiting steps. The steps that require full attention
are in bold. The waiting steps are in regular text.
1. Mix the dough
2. Chill dough
3. Roll out dough; cut & bake pieces
4. Cool pieces
5. Make the royal icing
6 Assemble house
7. Let house dry
8. Decorate
20 minutes
2-3 hours (or up to 4 days)
1 hour
1-2 hours
15 minutes
20 minutes
3 hours
however long you want to take!
MIXING THE DOUGH
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter
on medium speed until pale and creamy, about
2-3 minutes.
2. Add the eggs and mix on low speed, scraping
down sides of bowl, until well blended, about
1 minute. The mixture may appear curdled.
3. Add gingerbread mix and beat on low speed
for about 30 seconds. Increase to medium speed
and mix for 3 minutes until dough comes together
in a ball. If it’s dry and crumbly add 1 tablespoon
water, or more as necessary, until dough comes
together. This dough is pretty forgiving, so don’t
be afraid of ruining it – just go slowly.
4. Remove dough from mixer and form into two
flat discs, wrap in plastic food wrap and chill for
2-3 hours or up to 4 days.
CUTTING AND BAKING THE HOUSE PIECES
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with
parchment paper or lightly grease and flour.
2. Place one disc of dough onto a lightly floured
surface. Use your rolling pin to roll out dough
into a rectangular shape, 1/4 inch thick.
3. Look at the house-shaped box. It has six sides:
four walls and two roof pieces. So you’re going
to need six pieces, but only three different shapes.
Lay the empty box onto the dough as a pattern
and use a knife to cut the following pieces:
A.
two
triangletopped
end walls
C. two roof
pieces
B. two
rectangular
side walls
C Note: add an additional
1/2 inch all the way around
each roof piece. This way,
the roof will hang out over
the end of the house for a
cottage effect.
Use both discs of dough and save the scraps, as
you will press them all together and re-roll to
finish cutting out all the shapes
.
4. Place all your house pieces onto the prepared
baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes,
or until lightly brown around the edges. Don’t
underbake the pieces as they will be too soft.
As soon as they come out of the oven, trim any
rough or uneven edges with a sharp knife. Cool
completely before constructing your house.
5. Roll the remaining dough about 1/8” thick
and cut gingerbread folks. Bake them at 350°F
for 14 minutes.
Tips for working with the dough
• Use the minimum amount of flour to keep
the dough from sticking
• Brush off excess flour before baking
• If the dough gets soft or sticky, rewrap it and
return to the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
M I X I N G T H E R O YA L I C I N G
1. Place the entire contents of the royal icing mix
into the bowl of the mixer.
2. With the mixer running on medium speed, pour
in the water. Mix for 30 seconds, then stop and
scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Turn the mixer on to high and continue to beat
until the icing holds a stiff peak, about 10 minutes.
4. Separate the icing into two bowls: about 2 cups
to glue the house together and the rest for decorating. Cover both tightly with plastic wrap.
5. The icing will hold at room temperature for one
hour, or two days in the refrigerator. The icing may
soften on standing. Just re-whip for a few minutes
on high until it is stiff again.
BUILDING YOUR HOUSE
You will be attaching the baked pieces directly onto
the house-shaped box. Have your box, six gingerbread pieces, cardboard or wooden base, 2 cups of
royal icing and rubber bands ready. You may also
want a helper. Work with one house piece at a time.
1. Tape the roof flap down or tuck it into the box.
2. Spread a heaping tablespoon of icing onto one
end wall of the box.
3. Place one triangle-topped gingerbread piece
onto the box and hold it firmly in place for about
two minutes to allow the icing to set. This is where
a helper comes in handy!
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the three other sides.
5. Place a rubber band horizontally around the
center of the house.
6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to apply the two roof pieces,
placing the other rubber band vertically around
the center of the house.
7. Use tape or royal icing to attach the gingerbread
house to the wood or cardboard base.
8. Let the house sit for 2-3 hours before the final
decorating is done. Snip the rubber bands away
with scissors before decorating.
USING A PIPING BAG
1. To fill the piping bag fold down the sides, scoop
in some icing, then fold the sides back up. Don’t
overfill the bag.
2. Twist the open end tightly closed and tie it off
with a piece of string. This will prevent the icing
from oozing out the top of the bag when you
squeeze it.
3. To pipe the icing, snip the tip of the bag with
scissors; the size of the hole will determine the
width of the line of the icing. Start with a very
small cut. You can cut more off later if you want to
pipe heavier lines, but there’s no going back once
you’ve cut a big hole.
4. If you need more piping bags use zip top bags.
Just fill, zip the top and snip off a corner to pipe.
D E C O R AT I N G YO U R H O U S E
For a controlled, professional-type of finish it is easier to decorate all your pieces and let them dry before you
actually assemble the house. But it’s usually more fun to decorate the assembled house.
Look to the contents of your pantry for decorating inspiration. Check out our website www.dancingdeer.com for
ideas, too. Our philosophy is to keep chemicals and artificial ingredients out of food. All-natural candies, sugar,
cinnamon sticks, dried fruit like raisins & cranberries, nuts, mushrooms and dried pasta are great for
decorating gingerbread houses. You can also use dried peas, beans, and lentils for making beautiful stone
pathways and foundations. Have fun with the gingerbread boy & girl cookies: decorate them and add them
to the scenery or just gobble them up.
Enjoy!
We are passionate about food, nature, aesthetics and community. Our inspiration comes from nature and
each other. We observe extraordinary individuality out there and appreciate what a good thing that is.
We bake yummy cakes, cookies & brownies from scratch with the finest ingredients, our best ideas, and
NOTHING artificial. When people are happy it shows in the food.
Dancing Deer Baking Co., Inc. Boston, MA 02119 [Voice] 888.699.DEER [Fax] 617.442.8118
Send Goodies and Gifts www.dancingdeer.com