The BEST Ways to Use Tiny Gingerbread Houses!

All my life I have loved gingerbread houses. I’ve made them out of gingerbread and EVERYTHING else in between.

Some were made from graham crackers added to milk cartons.

Others were created from cardboard.

Kits have been used…and then there is the gingerbread house recipe that I used in my classroom EVERY year.

My students gingerbread house ideas were brilliant.

Each and every one of them were so creative and always demonstrated a new skill that they learned which made this teacher’s heart happy.

I began making gingerbread houses at home and then when I began teaching foods to high school students…there was an entire unit added on gingerbread house creation.

There is NO better way to motivate students than making gingerbread houses….and then having a competition.

Let’s just add in raising funds for a charity as a focus to truly take gingerbread house making over the top.

Gingerbread Houses raised HUNDREDS of Dollars for St. Jude!

WIN! WIN!

Now, I haven’t done gingerbread houses much since I retired, but this year it’s happening.

What could I create with that gingerbread house recipe that would be easy and fun?

Then it hit me!

I LOVE decorating with gingerbread houses and tiny ones would be perfect.

Wouldn’t tiny ones make a perfect Christmas tree ornament. Should I make them flat with my gingerbread house cookie press? Or should I make those tiny houses miniature 3D ones?

Well, if you guessed the 3 D version, you are correct!

Searching through the packets of lesson plans, I located the gingerbread house recipe and the royal icing recipe that was always used.

Ingredients were gathered and plans were made on the design for each one. This would be a fun project for little ones, too. I might even need to recruit a few little great nieces and nephews to help with the event.

Here’s the recipe that has been used for MANY years:

Gingerbread House Recipe

A tried and true gingerbread house recipe that has been used for decades in making the perfect gingerbread houses.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Equipment

• oven
• cookie sheet
• tiny cookie cutters for tiny houses
• Ziplocs or bags and tips for decorating
• Kitchen Aid stand mixer with paddle attachment for gingerbread and whisk attachment for royal icing.

Ingredients

  

• 8-9 C plain flour
• 2 1/4 C shortening
• 2 C white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 C molasses
• 2/3 C light corn syrup
• 1 T ground ginger
• 2 t ground cinnamon
• 1 t ground cloves

ROYAL ICING

• 5 C powdered confectioner's sugar
• 4 egg whites OR 12 T. liquid egg whites
• 1/2 t cream of tartar

Instructions

 

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and shortening until fluffy. I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for this with the paddle attachment.
• Add in the eggs, molasses, spices, and corn syrup until mixed.
• GRADUALLY, add 1 C of flour at a time until the dough can be easily formed into a ball.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and not sticky, adding more flour if needed.
• Place in a ziploc bag and chill for several hours or overnight.
• Make your patterns for your house design out of poster board. You will need side walls and roof pieces.

  Cut out the patterns and make sure that they fit together perfectly.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Place parchment on a cookie sheet large enough to hold all of your pattern pieces.

  Roll the dough out directly onto the parchment paper on the cookie sheet 1/8" for the small houses…1/4" thick for larger houses.
• Use the tiny cookie cutters for the tiny houses and cut two of each: front/back with doorway; roof; and sides.

  If you are making larger ones, create patterns out of poster board for the sides, roof and front/back and lay the patterns on the rolled out gingerbread dough and using a knife, cut out each pattern.

  When all patterns are cut out, remove the excess dough from the cut pieces and place back into the ziploc and into the refrigerator.
• Be careful not to place cut pieces too close together or they will spread and touch one another.
• Bake small houses for 10-12 minutes until done. Larger houses may take 12-14 minutes or until edges just begin to brown.
• When out of the oven, make sure that you cut between any pieces that may have touched one another during baking.

  For large pieces that you used a pattern, place the pattern back onto the baked pieces and trim off any excess while warm. Waiting until cool will cause the pieces to crack or break.
• Let the pieces cool completely on the cookie sheets.
• Repeat until all pieces are baked.

ROYAL ICING INSTRUCTIONS

• In a stand mixing bowl, beat all ingredients on high with the whisk attachment for 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form and icing is glossy.

  Keep covered with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel while using.

  Makes 4 cups.

Notes

This is the gingerbread house recipe that I used with my classes for many years.

TIP: Make sure that the gingerbread is really cold when rolling out to bake. Letting the baked gingerbread harden for several days or weeks before assembling is great. 

IDEA #1: If you are making these tiny gingerbread houses for hot chocolate toppers to eat, you can dunk them into the hot chocolate to soften for eating. 

IDEA #2: Adding hangers to the center top icing to hang from the Christmas tree make serving them extra special. Just be sure to allow the royal icing to harden before adding them to the tree near the cocoa station.

IDEA #3: Won’t these tiny gingerbread houses make the best addition to Christmas place settings? In the center of plates or even to use as place cards. How fun!

Happy Christmas!

Keyword Christmas cookies, Christmas ornament, gingerbread house, tiny gingerbread houses

A tiny gingerbread house cookie cutter was ordered…

and I may have laughed out loud when it arrived!!!

Seriously, this was so tiny I wasn’t sure if I could truly decorate a gingerbread house that small.

Then my wheels began turning. Okay…

Idea #1- Tiny Gingerbread House cocoa toppers

Yep. That was perfect for the hot chocolate lovers during the holidays who will join us. Won’t they love them?!

Again, adding littles into the mix became a plan.

Idea #2- Tiny Gingerbread House ornaments

What could be better? My brain began thinking of using tiny twine like on tea bags added in between the royal icing on the center of the roof. But, if they sit perfectly on a branch, I might be in luck!

Idea #3- Well, what could be better than adding those Tiny Gingerbread Houses to place settings?

Perhaps they could hold place cards? Houses could be centered onto plates for a festive Christmas place setting. Are you getting excited yet?

Idea #4-Add them to a Christmas cocoa bar.

Add those tiny gingerbread houses to your cocoa bar or your island or another prominent place in your kitchen that needs decorating.

Idea #5- Wouldn’t those sweet gingerbread houses added to your Christmas tablescape be the best?

So much creativity here, friends, to add them to your dining table!

Now I have created so many ideas that I may be making multiple batches of these.

It’s truly so loved by me, that I really can never get too much of a good thing this time of year.

Well, the day was planned for creating these sweet tiny houses.

Then plans were altered a bit.

You see, we live close to Mayfield, the community that was destroyed by the tornado last weekend.

My niece and family live there and were 2200 feet from the mile wide span of that tornado’s destruction.

Huddled under the house with their four littles, my niece and husband waited while the local weather team shared the line that the storm was traveling. Their road came into view on the screen.

And then it skirted to the other side of their interstate and devastated all in its path. Homes, businesses, churches, belongings and lives.

They were spared and their home untouched; but, power and water supplies came to a halt.

I held my breath and sent my niece a text…

My niece responded that they were all okay. I offered our home, 25 minutes away, and they accepted.

Those 6 pairs of feet were tucked into beds for the evening to settle down and were under my table for several days waiting for power and water to be restored.

Then their neighbor’s children joined us for feet under the table, lots of outdoor fun, and their feet tucked into upstairs beds with heat and clean water provided.

It was on the day when all of us were gathered that we had the “gingerbread house” class.

There were 8 littles and 5 bigs to join in the fun.

They loved it! And at the end, some decided that having them with hot chocolate was the perfect ending!

Then there were some who decided that those tiny gingerbread houses needed to be saved for a bit longer.

Can I tell you how happy I was to have the flurry of activity in my kitchen?

The excitement of littles creating their own version with icing and candy and sprinkles. Glorious!

Sometimes when life throws hard things at you, you simply have to create experiences that provide joy and creativity.

Times where laughter and teamwork followed by great hot chocolate are the perfect solution for a hard day.

I hope that you will make these with others and for others in your life this year.

These will grace my dining table on Christmas Day.

They are tucked into trees and arrangements; and many are ready for Christmas morning mugs of hot chocolate.

December has continued to be a continuation of thankful hearts.

Littles and bigs have now returned home.

The house is a bit more calm and the return to decorating and baking and gift wrapping will continue this afternoon.

But, for now, my heart is overflowing. With love for that sweet family and their feet under my table, heads on my pillows and laughter resounding that still leaves a bit of echoes in my heart.

Take time to be thankful, sweet friends.

Give of yourselves to others. Giving is much more than gifts that are not yet under my tree.

It’s giving from the heart, feeding mouths and souls, comforting and loving, and caring for those who need your touch.

I’m in! Are you?

And if you need more recipes that I love this time of year…I’m sharing here:

Christmas sugar cookies

Scottish short bread

Favorite molasses cookies

Nuts and Bolts savory snack

Our favorite cheese roll

If you’d love to make these tiny gingerbread houses…I have included the recipe and I’m attaching affiliate links for your shopping convenience at no extra cost to you, but may help this little blog continue with bringing you things you love.

Happy Christmas, friends! Don’t forget to share ALL of your great gingerbread houses with me!