DIY Gingerbread House

Have you ever made your own gingerbread house from scratch??

I have a pretty simple recipe that I'd like to share with you.

Ingredients:

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c molasses

1/2 T vinegar

1 beaten egg

3 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1 T cinnamon

1/2 t ginger

1/4 t salt

1 serving platter to build your house on

an icing bag and tip

 LOTS of colorful candy!!!!

*I start saving candy around Halloween and keep it stashed away until Christmas each year.  I save anything that we don't finish or that I think would look cute on our house.  I usually only purchase a few candy items to add to our stash.  This year I bought Twizzler bites and Dots but the rest was candy that I gathered.

Mix the shortening, sugar, vinegar and molasses in a mixer until well combined.

 Heat the mixture in a saucepan until it starts to boil.

It'll change from light brown and fluffy to dark brown and liquidy.

 Once it starts to boil add in the beaten egg and whisk together.

 Remove from heat and add in the rest of the ingredients leaving the flour last.

 Stir together with a spatula and refrigerate for a few hours.

 While the dough is chilling, prepare your candy tray for decorating.

 Royal Icing Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1 lb powdered sugar

1/2 t cream of tartar

Mix together for 6-7 minutes.

The icing will have a pearly shine to it when it is done.

It's also pretty thick.  If your icing ends up being runny, add more powdered sugar.

It must be stiff to hold your house together!!!

Take the dough out of the fridge and knead it a bit.

Mine was hard as a rock so I broke it up and added a few tablespoons of milk.

It was much more pliable and was ready to be rolled out.

I use these cut outs:

two small rectangles (sides of house)

two large rectangles (roof) 

2 end pieces (one with a door and one without)

 Lay your templates on top of the rolled out dough.

 Cut was a knife and place on a greased cookie sheet.

 All the pieces for one house should fit on one cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

You don't want it to be soft so make sure that the edges are crispy.

 Use a spatula to transfer the royal icing to an icing bag.

 Let the pieces of your house cool for about 30 minutes and start assembling.

It's easiest if you do the side walls first, do the front and back of the house next 

and the roof last :)

 Again, your icing has to be stiff for this to work.

If it seems too running or doesn't hold its shape, STOP and add more powdered sugar.

 Let your house sit for a few minutes before starting to decorate it.

 Get ready, get set, GO!!

I was so excited to do this with my baby because it's her first Christmas!!

I wasn't sure if she'd enjoy it or be bored.

Olive takes after her mama and LOVES candy.

I put all of the icing on and my husband helped me decorate.

Olive was the supervisor and the candy wrapper holder.

 Our family had so much fun!!

 Olive lost interest after about 15 minutes 

so she played with toys while I finished our house.

Ta Da!!!!!!!!

 I put our house on display in our kitchen for us to enjoy throughout the holidays.
Bonus: It smells AMAZING!!