Gingerbread House Dough & Icing

Submitted by ncmysteryshopper

"Dough designed for gingerbread houses to with stand cracks and sagging but still delicious. Tips: * If your dough is too tough to roll-out, microwave for 10-15 seconds. * Use aluminum foil to roll-out, transfer and bake your pieces. Cut a piece of foil the same size as your baking sheet. Wipe your working surface with a damp sponge and lay the foil on top. This will prevent the foil from slipping. Sprinkle the foil with flour, roll-out your dough, cut your pieces, lift the entire piece of foil onto your baking sheet and bake. Use a fresh piece of foil for each roll-out. * A pizza cutter provides a quick, straight line for large pieces like walls and roofs. * Cut all windows and doors before baking. * Prevent a lopsided house by holding the sides in place until dry. * Pint-size zip-lock freezer bags make excellent frosting bags. Snip off the corner of the bag, fill with frosting, zip-lock closed and decorate. * Variety of candy used to decorate is more important than quantity. * Rice Krispie Treats, tinted green, make fun uniquely shaped bushes and trees."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Yields: 1 House

ingredients

• Gingerbread House

• 3⁄4 cup molasses
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons ginger
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, chopped into cubes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg, beaten
• 5 1⁄2 cups plus flour

• Royal Icing

• 3 egg whites (or use alternative in instructions)
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 1 lb powdered sugar

directions

1. Bring sugar, molasses, ginger and cinnamon to a boil in a large saucepan. Add baking soda (it will boil up). Place chopped butter in the bottom of a large mixing bowl and pour the molasses mixture on top. Mix to combine and stir in beaten egg. Gradually add flour. Knead until thoroughly combined, adding additional flour to obtain a stiff dough as needed. Divide in two. Form into rectangle-shaped mounds and cover with plastic wrap and chill.
2. Roll dough into 1/4 inch thick rectangles according to the size you need for the templates. Cut out shapes and transfer to lined or prepared or non-stick baking sheets. Bake in a moderate oven 325°F for approximately 20 minutes or until the dough turns a uniform dark golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from sheet pan.
3. Royal Icing: Place all ingredients in clean mixing bowl. Using whisk attachment combine ingredients on low speed. Increase speed to high and whip until mixture is stiff, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from mixer. (Hand held mixer will take few minute longer).
4. Remove 3/4 of the mixture to another bowl and cover bowl with a damp towel until you are ready to use icing, or icing will dry and a crust will form. Replace mixer on machine, and on low speed, add additional powdered sugar for "cement" used to hold walls up.
5. Note: If worried about raw egg whites, use meringue powder available at decorating supply and specialty food stores. Replace each egg white with 1 tablespoon meringue powder and 2 tablespoons warm water. Proceed with recipe.
6. Icing tip: Caramelize about 1/2-1 cup of sugar use as "superglue" to construct the house. Dries fast and hard. Use the royal icing to cover up the seams and to stick on the candy.

Reviews

[Karyl Lee]

Just a little undersweet for cookies, this dough is great for houses! I didn't need all the flour, so I didn't use it. I think my total amount was a hair over 4 cups, but I was using a non-dairy butter substitute and that might have had an impact on the pliability. I'll be using this dough again soon for Christmas.

 

[SmrJunior]

i used this for my brother's gingerbread house party (think 12 college boys expressing their creative sides...) and it was so easy and worked so beautifully. someone on the boards had suggested baking standardized pieces the night before to allow the gingerbread to harden, but i made two batches during the party and handed them out while they were still warm, and they still managed to withstand the pounds and pounds of royal icing these kids used. thanks for such a great recipe! i'll definitely be using this one the next time i need gingerbread.

 

[A Messy Cook]

This is fantastic for gingerbread houses. I sprinkled a little water over the chilled dough to make it more pliable. The house is strong, with thin, hard walls, and smells wonderful!

 

[ursula]

This recipe seems to work well if you are doing a gingerbread house that isn't really meant to eat--it is very stiff and solid when baked, extremely conducive for construction. However, the dough is difficult to work with since there seems to be about 1 1/2 cups too many of flour in the recipe and it makes the dough very dry and crumbly. The resulting cookie is also very dry and tough, although the flavor is good.

 

[An_Net]

I used this recipe to make a gingerbread house for my youngest DD to practise on. She is wanting to make a gingerbread house for my parents for Xmas 2007. I used the aluminium foil tip and it worked a treat. The dough was very easy to work with and cooked up wonderful. I can't comment on the taste as she won't let us near it. Will certainly be using this recipe to make the 'real' house.