Gingerbreadhouseminigingerbreadhouses Recipes

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Steps:

• Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Add the eggs and molasses and blend well.
• Add remaining ingredients and beat well.
• Divide dough into 4 sections and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• On a very lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 inch thick.
• Transfer cut pieces to an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE (MINI GINGERBREAD HOUSES)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180°C (170°C fan bake), with the rack just below the middle. Line a baking tray with baking paper or a Teflon liner.
• Cut three shapes from cardboard. (Each piece of card will be used twice to cut the 6 gingerbread shapes for one house. Cut an 8 x 10 cm rectangle (for the roof) and a 6 x 8 cm rectangle (for the side walls). To make the peaked end-wall shape, draw a 10 x 6 cm rectangle, then make a mark 4 cm from one end on the two long sides, and another mark in the middle of the short side nearest the other two marks. Join this mark to the other two, then cut out.
• Warm the first four ingredients together (butter, brown sugar, golden syrup, treacle and extra treacle), mixing until smooth. Take off the heat and stir in the egg yolks.
• Then the sieved dry ingredients (plain flour, ground ginger, & baking soda). Knead to form a smooth dough, adding a little water or extra flour if necessary. Cut the dough into four even pieces and wrap until using.
• To make one house, roll one piece out about 3 mm thick on the floured board. It should be just large enough to cut two each of the three cardboard shapes from it. Re-roll dough scraps if necessary.) Place the shapes on a prepared baking tray.
• Bake for about seven minutes or until evenly browned. (Do not under cook.) While pieces are warm, carefully lift them onto a cooling rack. Repeat for other houses.
• To construct and decorate houses, make 'White Icing' for Piping. Whisk two egg whites until foamy. Beat in about one cup of sifted icing sugar at a time, until the icing holds its shape when piped from an icing bag (or a tough plastic bag with a small hole in one corner). This icing sets hard and can be quite brittle if not stuck firmly to (or supported by) the biscuit base.
• Pipe the icing on the walls and roof making shingles, doors, windows, etc. Leave plain or decorate with sweets if desired. Using more of the icing, "glue" the walls together on a cardboard base. When the walls are firm position the roof on top using more icing, and leave to set.
• Enjoy.

OMA'S GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Steps:

• Mix ingredients in order given.
• Flour liberally! It will start out a bit sticky. Just keep adding flour to your board and your rolling pin. Turn it often.
• Roll to a maximum thickness 1/4" (1 cm).
• Bake at 350°F until brown and slightly crisp. It is hard to give a time for how long to bake. It depends on how many pieces you have on your sheet, how thick they are, etc. I found that they all needed a minimum of 8 minutes. And then I just kept checking every 3 minutes after that.
• Dust the flour off of the pieces after they have cooled. A pstry brush works well for this.
• Glue: Melt a fair amount of sugar in a large heavy pan over low heat. Mom used a cast iron pan. We started with about 2 cups of sugar and ended up adding about another cup. Keep stirring and waiting. You want the sugar to get to the point where it is almost a clear brown. Be careful though, the "glue" burns BADLY if dripped on skin.
• Mom would simply "dip" the edge of the piece that she wanted to glue into the sugar and then press it with the other piece. When it cools, it is VERY hard and holds very well. It does cool quickly though, so work fast.
• For Icing: Beat egg whites until stiff. Slowly add in all of the icing sugar.
• To make cookies: Bake until lightly browned for soft cookies. Crisp cookies will keep better though.
• There is enough dough to make a house and a free form base to put your house on. Or you can simply make a bunch of cookies with the "leftovers".
• Mom has some hand drawn pictures of how to cut out the house. Here are her measurements and directions.
• Cut 2 side walls: 7" x 4".
• Cut 2 roof panels: 9 1/2" x 8".
• Cut 4 chimney pieces: 2 1/4" x 1 1/4" (in two of them, cut a 1" V into the bottom so that it will "straddle" the peak of the roof).
• Cut 2 end walls: 6" x 9" (4" up the sides, cut diagonally to the top center to make a point). In one end, cut out door and two windows. Bake the door along side.
• For the windows: Place foil underneath and fill with crushed lollipop. Bake as usual.
• Base: Simply roll out the leftover dough to make a free form base. Make sure that it is wide enough for the house.
• NOTE ABOUT CLEAN-UP: Don't fret! Your pan that you melted the sugar in is certainly not ruined! All you need to do is add some hot water, let sit for a little while (5-10 minutes) and then rinse it out. If for some reason, that isn't quite working, simply heat the pan full of water over low heat for a short while (again, about 10 minutes).

GINGERBREAD HOUSE DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix the shortening, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt and cloves in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until a smooth paste forms, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, molasses and vinegar and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the bowl and mix, about 30 seconds more. Add about half of the flour and mix on low until combined. Add the remaining flour and mix until smooth. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead until smooth, sprinkling the work surface and dough lightly with flour if sticky. Divide the dough in half.
• Working with one half at a time, roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper until it is 1/4 inch thick, sprinkling it with flour if it starts to get sticky. (Don't go too thin! I place 1/4-inch dowels on either side of my dough to ensure that it is evenly rolled out.) Repeat with the second portion of dough. Chill the rolled dough on baking sheets until the dough feels chilled and is slightly firm, about 1 hour in the fridge or 30 minutes in the freezer. (Alternately you can wrap both pieces of dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight before rolling.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the basic gingerbread house template, cut out the following patterns: One rectangle panel measuring 7 x 5.5 inches for the sides of the house (you will use this twice). One rectangle panel measuring 8.5 x 6 inches for the front and back roof panels side (you will use this twice). And, one piece measuring 6 inches wide at the base, 6 inches to the roof line and slanted to a peak 9 inches from the bottom for the ends of the house (you will use this twice).
• For the advanced gingerbread house mansion, make 2 more batches of dough. For the advanced gingerbread house mansion template, cut out the following patterns: One rectangle panel measuring 10 x 8.75 inches for the front and back of the house (you will use this twice). One rectangle panel measuring 11 x 6.5 inches for the front and back roof panels (you will use this twice). And, one piece measuring 9 inches wide at the base, 9 inches to the roof line and slanted to a peak 12 inches from the bottom for the ends and center support of the house (you will use this three times).
• Plus, one piece measuring 2 inches wide, 2 inches to the low slant line and 3.25 inches to the high slant line for the sides of the chimney (you will use this twice). One small rectangle panel measuring 2 x 3.25 inches for the front chimney panel. And, one small square panel measuring 2 x 2 inches for the back chimney panel.
• Plus, one piece measuring 4 inches wide at the base, 5 inches to the lowest roof line and 7 inches to the highest roof line for the extra room (you will use this twice). One square panel measuring 4.5 x 4.5 inches for the extra room wall. And, one rectangle panel measuring 5.5 x 5 inches for the extra room roof.
• Plus, one triangle measuring 4 inches at the base and 1.5 inches high at the center peak for the front porch. One small rectangle panel measuring 1.5 x 3 inches for the front porch roof panels (you will use this twice). One small rectangle panel measuring 2 x 0.5 inches for the flower box panels (you will use this eight times). And, one rectangle panel measuring 2 x 3.25 inches for the front door.
• Use the gingerbread templates and a sharp chef's knife or craft knife to cut out the pieces, rerolling the scraps as needed. Leave about 1/2 inch between each piece. I like to cut the pieces directly on the parchment and then peel away the scraps to avoid moving the cut pieces.
• For the basic gingerbread house: From one of the pieces with the peaked roof (this will be the front of the house), use a square or rectangular cutter to make a door and a round cutter to make a center window above, cutting straight down and leaving the perforated pieces in while the dough bakes.
• For the advanced gingerbread house mansion: From the side panels of the house, use a round cutter to make a center window, and from the front and back of the house, use a square or rectangular cutter to make windows, cutting straight down and leaving the perforated pieces in while the dough bakes.
• To make the trees, use tree-shaped cookie cutters or a tree template to cut out trees in pairs. Use a sharp paring knife or a craft knife to cut one tree in each pair in half. Use a round cutter to cut out one circle per pair to use as the base of the tree.
• Bake until the centers are firm to the touch, rotating the pans back to front and top to bottom during the last 10 minutes of baking, 25 to 28 minutes total (20 to 25 minutes for the smaller pieces). For the extra-large pieces for the advanced gingerbread house mansion, lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Don't be afraid to bake the gingerbread a few minutes longer if you are unsure--we need these pieces to be strong!
• While the dough is still warm, use the cutters or a paring knife to remove the doors and windows to achieve a clean cut. Transfer the parchment with the gingerbread house pieces to a flat surface and allow to cool completely before removing from the parchment. For larger or more detailed houses it is helpful to allow the baked gingerbread to rest uncovered overnight.
• For the advanced gingerbread house mansion: To make the windows, separate the hard candies by color and use a rolling pin to gently crush them in a resealable plastic bag. Transfer the candies to separate silicone baking cups or microwave-safe bowls and microwave on high in 20-second increments, stirring with a skewer in between, until melted, 30 to 60 seconds. Place a clean piece of parchment under each window, then pour the melted candy into the window holes and let cool, 1 to 2 minutes. Use a cutter of your choice to gently press a design into the windows and let cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Assemble the gingerbread house or mansion and decorative elements as directed and allow the icing to dry completely overnight before decorating.

MINI GINGERBREAD HOUSES

Steps:

• Put about half the flour in a food processor with the butter and whizz until you can't see any lumps of butter remaining. Mix the remaining flour, spices and bicarb together with a pinch of salt. Tip both the floury mixtures into your largest mixing bowl and stir in the sugar. (If you don't have a food processor, rub the butter into all of the flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Then stir in the spices, bicarb and sugar.) Whisk the eggs with the golden syrup and stir into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. Using your hands, knead together into a smooth dough.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll a quarter of the dough out at a time on a sheet of baking parchment, to the thickness of 2 x £1 coins. Use a small, sharp knife to cut around the house templates (see tips, below)- remember that each time you'll need 2 x A, 2 x B and 2 x C for one house. Remove trimmings and lift the gingerbread, on its parchment, onto baking trays. Re-roll trimmings to cut out all the shapes you need.
• Bake the gingerbread one tray at a time on a high shelf in the oven for 8-10 mins, until a lovely, rich brown and firm to the touch. As soon as each tray is baked, carefully sit the templates back onto the relevant shapes and trim any edges to neaten. Use a cutter to stamp out any windows or cut away any doors with a small, sharp knife. Let all the biscuits cool completely.
• Sieve the royal icing sugar into a bowl and stir in dribbles of water until you have a stiff icing. Spoon some into a food bag (cover the rest), snip the tiniest bit off the corner and pipe any icing decorations you want onto the gingerbread. Leave to dry.
• Arrange the wall biscuits as you are going to assemble them, then pipe icing along the side edges and stick the walls together. Pipe extra icing where the walls join each other on the inside of the house, and support the sides using your icing balls. Leave for a few hrs until set.
• Once dry, stick on the roofs, as above - you may need to hold the biscuits on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to set - or shape your icing balls to support the edges of the roof. Set overnight, then use any remaining royal icing to help you decorate your houses with sweets and sprinkles.