Gingerbread House Dough

This Gingerbread House Dough creates a sturdy cookie that’s perfect for building gingerbread houses and other structures. Alternatively this recipe makes about 3 dozen 3 inch cut-out cookies.

Gingerbread houses: I would move into one if humanly possible.  Cookie walls, chocolate fondant roof, and a nonpareil walkway…  yep.  Those are all the amenities I’m looking for in life.

Tiny mistletoe  hangs above the entry.

If you don’t have a gingerbread recipe for building purposes – no worries. I’ve got you covered!  This Gingerbread House Dough slices easily with a knife, so it is ideal for cutting around templates.  It bakes up sturdy but not too hard, so you can also use the dough for cut-out cookies if that is your preference.

Need a good template?  I use and recommend this one from bbcgoodfood.com.  Just print out 3 copies and cut out each of the shapes.  It is just the right size for a single batch of dough with a little left over to roll out and cut into cookies.

I had planned to decorate this house with gumdrops and colorful candies, but obviously the muse led elsewhere.  I’m not sure where the Bavarian influence came from, but… I like it!     The roof shingles and other “wood” ornamentation are pieces of chocolate fondant that were striated with a toothpick and adhered with dabs of corn syrup.  The trees are cupcake picks placed randomly around the house  in the powdered sugar “snow”.

Gingerbread House Dough

This dough creates a sturdy cookie that's perfect for building gingerbread houses and other structures. Alternatively this recipe makes about 3 dozen 3 inch cut-out cookies.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
• ½ cup molasses preferably "golden", "mild" or "sorghum" molasses
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in another large bowl at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat 1 minute. Add molasses; beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture; beat on low speed just to blend.
• Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Form each half into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic; chill until firm, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to ¼-inch thickness. Use gingerbread house templates or decorative cookie cutters to cut-out shapes and transfer to prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather scraps, roll out dough, and cut more shapes/cookies, repeating until all dough is used. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are firm on top and slightly darker around edges, about 8 minutes for smaller shapes and up to 15 minutes for larger shapes.
• Cool completely on rack. Line baking sheets with fresh parchment as needed.
• Cookies will not spread much during baking, but for precise gingerbread house construction, cookies can be perfectly re-cut while still hot. Place the paper templates on top of the hot cookies, and quickly cut with a plain-edge knife – but be careful not to burn yourself!

Keyword ginger, molasses

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