How to Make a Tasty Gingerbread House

For adventurous bakers who would like a fun Christmas baking time and a great Christmas decoration, try this recipe for a gluten free gingerbread house.

Building a gingerbread house is a Christmas tradition in many households. Try this recipe for building a good gingerbread house from scratch. This recipe not only makes an attractive gingerbread house, but one that is tasty and gluten free.

Making a Gluten Free Gingerbread House

Gingerbread Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups rice flour
• 3/4 cups potato flour
• 6 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp brown sugar
• 9 tbsp butter (or shortening)
• 6 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tbsp molasses

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients except for the brown sugar.
3. In a small sauce pan, heat the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and molasses until it is melted. For lactose intolerance or dairy allergies, shortening can be substituted equally for the butter.
4. Add the melted mixture to the dry ingredients and blend together until the dough forms. Add the egg if the dough is dry and crumbles. It will most likely be needed. It may work best to work the dough by hand.
5. The spices added to the dough need not be carefully measured, but bear in mind that ginger should be the dominant flavour.
6. On a well floured surface, roll the dough to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. It works best to roll the dough a little at a time.
7. Roll the dough out into two separate rectangular shapes. Cut the rough edges to create the rectangles. Place the rectangles onto a large cookie pan or two separate cookie pans and bake for 7 or 8 minutes.
8. The leftover dough from the edges can be rolled out again and cut into shapes with cookie cutters, or shaped by hand. These shapes can also be baked for 7 or 8 minutes.

Gingerbread Icing Ingredients:

• 3 cups icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
• 1/3 cup soft butter
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 egg whites

Directions:

1. Beat the egg whites and lemon juice together. Add the butter and sugar and mix until soft icing forms.
2. The sugar measurement for icing can depend on the desired softness of the icing. Add more for more textured icing, and less for softer icing.

Cutting Gingerbread House Shapes

Allow the gingerbread to cool 5 to 10 minutes after removing it from the oven. Cut one rectangle width-wise into three even parts. Use one of the parts to measure a similar cut from the second rectangle, so that there are four parts the same shape and size. Two parts are for the sides of the house, and two for the roof.

From the rest of the second rectangle will be the gables. Measure the height of the side pieces against what is left of the second rectangle and make a mark to know where to start the point of the gable. Measure the widths of the roof pieces from that mark to know how tall to make the point of the gable. Once one gable is cut out, it can be used to measure the second.

Building A Gingerbread House

Choose a flat dish or pan on which to build the house. Layer enough icing on the pan to help the house stand. Stand a side piece adjacent to a gable and fill the corner between them with icing, on the inside and out. Stand the other side and gable to complete the rectangle and fill the rest of the corners with icing. Spread icing on the top of the sides and gables and allow it to harden a little before placing the roof pieces. Once the roof pieces are placed on top, spread icing on the seam between them.

The icing in the cracks and corners should keep the house together while decorating. Decorate with what is left of the icing, candy, sprinkles, chocolate and goodies to taste. The extra gingerbread shapes can also be used to decorate the house.

For a fun Christmas activity and good baking experiment, try this recipe for gluten free gingerbread house from scratch.