Recipes for Gingerbread and Graham Cracker Houses

Here are some recipes and directions for building houses to get you started on your own Gingerbread or Graham Cracker House. You can see larger versions of all the pictures on this page by clicking on them. After reading these recipes and seeing other people's projects, have fun coming up with your own great idea for a prize-winning Gingerbread House!

Do you have a favorite gingerbread recipe, or advice for gingerbread-house bakers? We'd love to hear your advice! Send email to ohioweb@oberlinheritage.org telling us about your gingerbread experiences, and we'll put them on the web site!

• Gingerbread Recipe
• Royal Icing Recipe
• Another Icing Recipe
• Spreading Your Icing
• Simple Graham Cracker House Instructions
• Basic Gingerbread House Pattern
• Tips and Tricks

Gingerbread Recipe

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves

Mix well and chill overnight. Roll dough out on a lightly oiled sheet of foil. Be careful not to roll it too thick. Bake on the foil at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Cut the gingerbread as soon as you remove it from the oven--it will be too hard to cut when it is cool. You might need to put the cut pieces back into the oven to harden them, as they will not stand if they are too soft. When the pieces are thoroughly cool, cover a piece of cardboard with foil, and build the house on it.

Royal Icing Recipe

• 3 egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix these ingredients and beat the mixture until it stands in peaks. Keep bowl covered with a damp towel to keep the icing from drying. A little water or more powdered sugar may be added to get the right consistency. It is best to leave the icing a little stiff, so that it will hold the houses together. Food coloring may be added.

Another Icing Recipe

• 16 oz. confectioner's sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 3 tablespoons meringue powder

In a large bowl, with mixer at a low speed, beat sugar, water, and meringue powder until mixture is stiff and a knife drawn through it leaves a clean-cut path. Thin the icing, when necessary, with additional warm water.

Spreading Your Icing

Naturally, spreading your icing with a knife works just fine. However, if you want a little more control over where your icing goes, there are other ways of spreading it. One is to put your icing into a Ziplock bag. Squash it down into a corner of the bag, and cut off the tip of that corner (about 1/8 of an inch). Then, as you squeeze the bag, a small string of icing will come out. You can get the same effect with a paper cone--cut triangles from brown paper bags or parchment paper and roll the triangle into a cone with a very sharp point. Tape the outside so it stays in a cone. Then, fill the cone with icing and clip off the very tip so you can squeeze icing out.

Simple Graham Cracker House

This graham cracker house is easy to make and fun to decorate.

• 6 Graham crackers
• base (piece of cardboard covered with foil)
• icing cement
• candy, pretzels, small crackers, or cereal to decorate

Using a sharp knife and swift movements, cut 2 of the graham crackers so they are the following shape:

Then, assemble the 6 graham crackers into a house, using icing as glue:

Basic Gingerbread House Pattern

Tips and Tricks

• If you are having trouble keeping your house stable before all the pieces are put together, you can use push pins to "nail" the pieces together until the icing dries.
• You can roll your gingerbread dough out between thin dowel rods--place two dowel rods on the table, and put the dough between them. Roll the roller along the dowel rods like a train rolls over railroad tracks. this will ensure that the dough has a uniform thickness throughout, and keep it in a rectangular shape that is easy to cut into the right size pieces.
• It is easiest to use the dough when it is cool--you can wrap it in plastic wrap or foil to refrigerate it, and then roll it out when it is chilled.
• Icing dries quickly, so don't make it until you are ready to use it. Extra frosting can be stored in an airtight container. When you are using the icing, you can cover the container with a damp cloth or towel to keep it from drying too quickly.
• Small, lightweight candies are better for graham cracker houses and other smaller houses. You don't want your house to collapse under the weight of the candy!
• You aren't limited to just houses! You can add trees, people, and other odds and ends around your house, or you can be creative and make some other sort of structure, such as the space shuttle at the right.