Mini Gingerbread Houses For Your Mugs Recipes

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.

MINI GINGERBREAD HOUSES FOR YOUR MUGS

Steps:

• Mix together the gingerbread cookie mix, butter, water and egg.
• Roll dough out on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cut out eight large rectangle cookies, using a 3D gingerbread cookie cutter as a guide. Remove the excess dough and re-roll as needed.
• Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes.
• Remove from oven and immediately flip the cookies over.
• Press the 3D gingerbread house cutter into the hot cookies, cutting out the parts for eight houses.
• Break apart the gingerbread house cookie pieces. Cut out and remove the doors. Use kitchen shears or a knife to trim the jagged edges on your cookies.
• Allow cookies to cool for 10-15 minutes before assembling the houses.
• Use the white cookie icing to attach the cookie pieces together. Allow the icing to dry completely.
• Decorate houses using cookie icing and sprinkles.
• Set houses over the rims of hot cocoa mugs and serve.

THE CUTEST MINI-GINGERBREAD HOUSES

Steps:

• Print out the shapes, see this one, on paper and then draw again and cut out on stronger paper.
• For the gingerbread dough, bring honey, water and sugar to a boil, add butter and take off heat, stir and let cool.
• Add all other ingredients and mix well until it forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour in the fridge or overnight. The dough will keep in the fridge for about a week.
• Roll out dough on a generously floured surface, place your 'cookie cutters' on it and cut out all pieces for the little houses with a knife. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the pieces on it. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until brown. Let cool.
• For the royal icing mix egg white with about 180 grams of icing sugar with a mixer for about 5 minutes. The consistency should be of a toothpaste. If it is too thick, add a little bit of water, if it is too runny, add a bit sugar.
• First glue pieces together, starting with the front and sides. Glue on the roof last. Decorate as desired. If the icing gets too hard, you can always spray on a little water and stir it again.