Gingerbread Recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine brown sugar and molasses.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, add the buttermilk and butter. Heat until butter is melted. Add the buttermilk mixture to the brown sugar mixture. Beat in the egg.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Slowly add an additional 1 cup of flour at a time until mixture comes together and you have a smooth, stiff dough. Divide the dough in half. Place each half in a large gallon size ziploc bag.

Roll the dough in the ziploc bag until it is flattened. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove one of the bags of dough from the refrigerator. Divide the dough in two pieces and return one of the pieces back to the refrigerator.

Lightly flour a large piece of parchment paper to roll your dough out on.

Roll the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick being sure to roll your dough as evenly as possible. Using your template, cut out your house pieces. You will need:

• 2 long side walls with windows or doors cut out
• 2 end walls
• 2 roof panels
• Any other pieces you might want, such as chimney, people, trees etc.

Repeat with the remaining dough until you have all the pieces you need. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a spatula under the pieces to free them from the baking sheet. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet.

Royal Icing:

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons meringue powder
• About 4 cups (1 lb.) of powdered sugar
• 4-6 Tablespoons of water

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat for approximately 5 minutes. For stiffer icing, use a little less water. For thinner icing, use a little more water.

To assemble your gingerbread house:

You will need a large stiff board to have as the “foundation” for your house. Pipe a generous amount of icing along the bottom of one of your long wall pieces. Place it on your board and either hold it there for a few minutes or use something to help prop it up. Pipe more icing along the back of the wall piece to help reinforce it. Next pipe icing on the bottom and side of an end wall. Attach it to the previous wall.

Repeat with the remaining wall pieces until you have a 4 wall-house structure.

For the roof, pipe icing along the end pieces and across the top of the long side wall. Place roof panel on icing. Pipe additional icing on the inside, as needed, to help reinforce the structure. To prevent the rood piece from sliding, use an object to help hold it up while it is drying. Wait at least an hour before repeating with the other roof piece.

After your house has been assembled, decorate as you wish! :)

A few other things:

• I used a plastic squeeze condiment bottle to pipe my icing while I was assembling it. It made it very easy! To keep the icing from drying out while I wasn’t using it, I just put plastic wrap underneath the top and then screwed the top back on. (I found mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but here is a similar one from Amazon)

• I used cookie cutters from a set similar to this one for the windows.

• In addition to the King Arthur link listed below, I also found this post on gingerbread houses from Simply recipes helpful.

Printed from: Southern Pink Lemonade