Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Gingerbread Cookie House
Never made a cookie house before, or maybe you’ve decided it was too difficult? No worries, we’ve made making cookie houses a piece of cake. No more rolling out the dough to get the walls and roof the same size and thickness. With our silicone cookie molds, just press the dough in the mold, bake, assemble, and have fun decorating!
A gingerbread house is a wonderful way to decorate for Christmas, but there’s no need to limit this fun family activity to just once a year. How cute would it be to create themed houses for all your favorite holidays or summertime gatherings? Plus, you’re not limited to gingerbread, we’ve included recipes for sugar cookies and chocolate cookies using store-bought refrigerated cookie dough.
The true joy of cookie houses is in the making as you’ll see in the pics sent by inspired cookie house makers. So have fun making some cute cookie houses and creating some wonderful memories.
Gingerbread House Dough Recipe
When making gingerbread cookies from scratch, you’ll want to use a Gingerbread Dough recipe which that is sturdy enough to support lots of decorations, but still tastes delicious. Use any remaining dough to make other fun shapes to match the season. It’s best to chill the dough for 30 minutes before pressing into the molds.
Or, you can use an easy gingerbread recipe that comes together in minutes using refrigerated sugar cookie dough found in most grocery stores. You’ll add some spices and flour to make the dough firmer, better for constructing a gingerbread house.
To plan ahead, you can make your dough a week before your planned decorating day and keep in the fridge. You can even freeze the dough for up to a month if it’s wrapped in plastic wrap.
After you press the dough into the molds, place them on a cookie sheet for stability. After baking, set the molds on a cooling rack for 12 minutes before removing the cookies from the mold. Let cool completely before assembling the house.
Easy Sugar Cookie Dough
To make one cookie house, use a 16.5-oz. (470-g) package of cookie dough and add ½ cup (125 mL) of flour.
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Crumble the cookie dough into a mixing bowl. Stir in the flour until well combined (you may need to use your hands).
- Brush the mold with oil and press the dough into the mold with your fingers to cover the full
surface area of the pieces. Smooth out the top of the dough. - Place the mold on a cookie sheet and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the cookies from the mold.
Assembling the Gingerbread Cookie House
Use a cake board, cake plate, or platter for the foundation. Or, you can cover a sheet pan with brown paper. Another idea is to use a Lazy Susan to construct and easily decorate the house. After the gingerbread pieces are completely cooled, fill a pastry bag with Royal Icing. The icing dries very quickly, so cover with a damp towel when it’s not being used.
1. Start With the Front Door Piece and Left Side First
Pipe icing on to all the connection points. Gently press together and hold for about a minute, or until icing sets. You can decorate the pieces before assembling, just make sure the decorations are completely set.
2. Continue Until All Four Sides Are in Place
3. Add the Roof Pieces One at a Time
If you are icing the roof or placing a lot of decorations on the roof, you might want to decorate first to avoid adding pressure when in place. Once all pieces are in place, fill in any gaps in the seams with additional icing. Let the icing completely dry before decorating.
Just for Show
If you want to make a cookie house to use as a decoration only and not to eat, use a glue gun instead of icing to build the house and attach the decorations. This way you won’t have to wait until the icing hardens before moving or transporting. Our test kitchen team took a cookie house on the road from Illinois to Ontario, Canada using this trick and it stayed together and still smelled great!
Glowing “Glass” Houses
And now for something completely different. How about a “glass” house that twinkles made from fruit-flavored hard candies like Jolly Ranchers®.
You’ll need 18 pieces for each side of the roof, 18 pieces for the front and back walls, and 16 pieces for the side walls. We used all the same colors but you can mix and match.
- Put the unwrapped candy pieces in the mold. Place the silicone molds on a cookie sheet and bake at 350°F (176°C) for 12 minutes.
- Place on a cooling rack until completely cooled. As the candy cools, it will harden. Because of the flexible silicone, you can easily pop out of the mold.
- Assemble using icing in the same order as a gingerbread house (above).
- Let the icing completely set then place battery-operated tea lights in the house for a glowing effect, or use flickering lights for a twinkling effect. A small flashlight propped up also works great.
Sure the Deluxe Cooking Blender is great, but this is my favorite product in the new fall line 🙂 I love you all on the product development team! Keep all those fantastic ideas coming!
How do you get the bubbles out of the melted jolly ranchers?
I know this is an old question, but in case anyone else needs to know: once you remove your candy from the oven, you need to tap them on the counter to make the bubble come to the surface and break. Just lightly bang the pan on the countertop a few times, or until you don’t see anymore bubbles.
Bang it on the counter a few times when u pull it out of the oven . The bubble will surface and bubble gone
Thank you for this! I’m going to try to make one tomorrow using Jolly Ranchers. I appreciate the tip!
I don’t care for the taste of gingerbread. Would sugar cookie work just as well? Be sturdy enough?
You can use this recipe and omit any ingredients you don’t like. https://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe/Desserts/Easy+Gingerbread+Cookies/1335021
Anyone know the dimensions of a finished house?
It’s ~5.25 inches long x 5 inches tall by about 4.5” wide at the widest point. I used a Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cake & Cookie mix. To the dry mix I added 3 tbsp of melted butter, 1/4 cup of water, 1/8 tsp of ground clove, 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger and 3/4 cups of flour. Baked it on 350 for 17 minutes and it was perfect!
If you use store bought sugar cookie dough just add about 3/4 cup of flour to create a sturdier dough and you should be fine. ?
You can use corn syrup instead of molasses and keep out the ginger, add a flavor you like instead. My family loves cinnamon and apple so that’s what I use. I’ve also put in half of the ginger for a milder flavor and that is what I love.
Yes u can use sugar cookie dough houten in the tube and add a 1/2 cup of flour to it in a bowl
Yes, I want to know if sugar cookie dough would work, as well. Do you have any other cookie recipes that adapt to this set? It’s soooo cute!
If I make the hard candy house in a convection oven, I think I should turn off the fan. Does this sound right?
Would shortbread cookies work? Never tried to build from scratch.
Can you clarify the candy pieces. Is it 18 pieces for each roof, 18 foe each front and back, and 16 for each side walls??
Yes, that’s right. 18 pieces of candy for each roof piece.
okay, in addition to the roof, please clarify the piece count for each set,as originally asked. It is not clear as to how many pieces per each tray is needed. A clearer recipe for each house piece would be greatly appreciated in order to advice customers who are asking. I would also like to create this display for parties and for persona use. Thank You
Roof piece #1: 18 pieces
Roof piece #2: 18 pieces
Front of house: 18 pieces
Back of house: 18 pieces
Sidewall #1: 16 pieces
Sidewall #2: 16 pieces
Total pieces: 104
We used only half the amount in each. It looks like it would overflow if you used the full amount above. Has anyone else tried it with the full amount of candy?
How well did it work with half?
How did half the amount of Jolly Ranchers work out for your house?
Were the walls still stable?
Yes, I used the suggested amount and didn’t have any overflow.
I’ve just mad it with the full amount and it is the perfect amount. Don’t use any less. If you do, your walls may not be supportive enough.
The candy count is perfect! 18-18-16
I was misunderstanding the directions and did half. My house sunk in on itself after two days. I guess the walls were too thin.
What is the dimensions of the houses when done ?
Love these!! Made the candy houses and now I’m going to try the gingerbread. Has anyone used melting chocolate for a chocolate house? I wonder how that would come out!!
Or I’m guessing underbaked a little?
Does it take a full Royal icing recipe for each candy house?
I’m making 12 of these for my grandkids ?
That’s a lot of icing!!!
For the glass house – do you grease the mold first?
the molds are silicone. It’s not recommended to use sprays or grease them.
Has anyone tried using jolly ranchers in the holiday molds? Curious how it turned out.
I’m still at a loss on how to keep the jolly rancher house pieces together, other than making the icing. Glue gun? It may slide off like the glue did lol
A glue gun works great!
Yes. We crushed the jolly ranchers first…. kids loved that part! Filled the molds, baked at 350 in convection oven 10 minutes, cooled and they came out great. Have not put the house together yet, as I have not made the royal icing frosting. But they are beautiful! So fun!
They work perfectly.
Does the easy gingerbread recipe make enough to fill a house mold?
You would still use royal icing
Yes I just made the easy recipe and it’s the perfect amount to make a complete house – just enough I might add!
What do you do after to put the house together
Yes but not quite enough for ALL the accents. So for my first batch I picked a wreath or two, chimney, sled and 2 people.
I made one house with one recipe. Didn’t have enough to make the Christmas molds.
Getting ready to try this recipe and wondering does the gingerbread dough recipe make enough for the house and the Halloween mold or do you have to double a recipe?
Double the recipe to make sure you have enough for fun character cookies. The single recipe makes enough for the house only.
Made our first house last night! The recipe for dough had enough to do the house, all the extra pieces, and still had some left over!
Was that just the recipe, as is, or doubled?
I plan on making a house with the Halloween extra mold pieces, just wasn’t sure if I should double the recipe.
Also, do I just press the dough into the molds or roll it out first?
I experimented today with my ginger bread mold I made a sugar cookie house a chocolate chip cookie house all with premade dough I also made a sugar cookie house with stain glass windows using jolly ranchers and I also made a jolly rancher house all came out amazing
What size is the finished house?
Did you just use the premade dough as is or did you add flour? I am ready to put my jolly rancher houses together with the Royal icing so our cookie ones are next. We don’t like gingerbread so I am going to experiment with sugar cookie dough. Any one have any tips?
As 100136 & 100134 come with two house molds, is the gingerbread recipe is enough dough to make two houses?
The two molds are enough to build one house. each mold has one roof, a front or a back and one side.
I have an old recipe to make hard candy and flavor any way you like. We called this Glass Candy as a kid. Was wondering if this recipe would work in the molds? Candy is cooked to the “Hard Crack” stage.
I was wondering this too. I think I will try it if the Jolly Rancher house turns out as well as I expect it too! 🙂 Would be so much better than sorting and unwrapping all of these … not to mention the obligatory eating of the unused Jolly Ranchers! LOL
we are going to try making our houses with hard candy tomorrow hope it works I have melting chocolate to use to put them together. it
has anyone tried any other candy besides jolly ranchers?
I used the butterscotch disks for my pumpkins in the Halloween mold. They turned out really cute.
What temp and for how long do you leave the gingerbread house in the oven? I’ve never made it before and I don’t see anywhere that gives time & temp. Recipe doesn’t either.
Theresa, the directions for the Ginderbread house say 350 for 25 minutes.
Would the Jolly Rancher idea work with the stone molds? I’m thinking of putting them in for the windows and gingerbread for the rest. Do you think that would work with the stone mold?
This was so much fun! I made the Gingerbread men and reindeer by melting Werther’s candies in the molds!
Pampered Chef, how many batches of the gingerbread recipe would I need to make 1 house and 1 tray of the christmas cookies that came with the house?
I made only 1 gingerbread recipe to make the Christmas tray and the house. I still had 4 oz left to make a few more cookies.
I’m a little confused on how to use these. Do I press the dough into each space and then back in the molds or do I roll out the dough and press the molds into the dough and then remove the molds? I want to try this with my daughter but want them to turn out right 😀
Bake* not back
I put a ball of dough into each mold and used my rolling pin to roll it all out flat, removing the extra to use again. Then I popped them out of the molds and baked them. I needed to make a lot so by the time I got one going (all the pieces fit perfectly on a large pan), I would use the mold to continue. Made 4 whole houses last night and plan to try the glass house one tonight.
Does the easy gingerbread recipe make only one house per roll of sugar cookie dough??
Warning…do not put the jolly rancher houses anywhere near the oven when you are cooking. Mine was beautiful and my son moved it off the table to keep the grandkids from playing with it. He put it on the counter next to the hot oven and it warped and fell apart lol.
The side of the candy mold piece that is against the mole is cloudy and it’s the side that goes to the outside. Did I do something wrong or is there a way to make it shiny like the other side??
You can use white almond bark instead of royal icing. Dries fast and keeps the house rock solid for little ones to decorate. Been doing that for years w my grands. We assemble the houses in advance- use muffin tins to hold candies and other decorations- invite the grands and have a party! Can’t wait to use my new molds this year,,
Carla, do you use melted candy melts and let them slightly harden before using to glue the house together?
Hi Carla hope you see this .. do you have a recipe for the candy bark to use instead of royal icing..and any other tips? Thank you
Your definition and my definition of “from scratch” are very different. From scratch is using ingredients like flour, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, etc. – NOT prepackaged cookie dough. Very disappointed.
They did provide a recipe link to make the dough from scratch, rather than using store-bought dough. Hope this helps.
Is there a gluten free version of the sugar cookie or gingerbread recipes that will hold up well?
I have a gf/vegan recipe if you are still interested
Does anyone have the dimensions of a finished house? I don’t have these and I have a customer needing to know.
Has anyone made this house with salt dough?
Is there a recipe for making dough from scratch? I prefer not to use the store bought dough.
Yes, there’s a link in the blog part at the top. For some reason, they neglected to put in bake time & temperature. Read the comments people made about the recipe for guidance. Looks like 350 for anywhere between 10-16 minutes is best. Bake until firm, so it holds up better.
I see that a number of people have asked for the dimensions of the finished house, but none of them received an answer.
When I was a kid making gingerbread houses, the first couple years I used royal icing and had problems getting the houses to stabilize. One year I melted plain table sugar and dipped the sides of the house that had to be glued and it worked liked magic; instantly they stuck together and were very stable. The roof was a little trickier as I sort of painted the underside and tops of the sides off the house, but it stuck solidly, too. The remaining melted sugar in the pan rinsed out easily with hot water.
Do you need to add any water to the sugar when you melt it? Do you need to caramelize the sugar or is it sufficient to just melt it?
Has anyone used the mold with a homemade sugar cookie recipe (one that doesn’t start with store-bought dough)?
Did anyone else have an issue with their glass house caving in on itself by the end of the first day. The candy was cooled before I put it together but it has completely sunk in on itself.
Is the mold dishwasher safe? I got it last year, but haven’t used it yet, so really want to do something with it this year.
About a week after setting our candy houses, the roofs started to droop. Any suggestions? Maybe we didn’t use enough candy pieces to make the panels firm?
I have the old stone molds. Has anyone melted the jolly ranchers in those molds.
Can I use store bought gingerbread dough?
Does anyone know if you need to spray the mold with cooking spray before putting the dough in it? I accidentally threw out all the papers that came with the mold.
If u don’t sort the jolly rancher colors will it be brown or do the colors stay separated when melted?