Platinum Celebrations
Gingerbread House Decorating Party
By Jeanne Benedict
Gingerbread Man Invitation
Southwest Beach House
Towers: sugar cube towers with upside down ice cream sugar cone spires
Walls & Corners: green licorice whip ivy, rolled bubblegum tape roses, Skittles, chocolate chips, M&M’s, gumdrops, jelly beans
Windows: gummy diamonds, sugar cookies with colored sugar, spiral lollipops, chocolate or yogurt-covered mini pretzels, draw windows with icing
Draw Bridge: large Hershey's Chocolate Bar with red licorice as bridge chains
Accents: crushed hard candy or blue colored sugar moat, gummy fish, small candy rock pathways, candy canes, gingerbread cookie princesses and princes
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1. Cream together margarine, shortening and sugar. Beat in egg, and gradually add molasses and vinegar. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time to mixture, beating until thoroughly combined. You may have to knead in the last cup of flour mixture if you don’t have a strong electric mixer or you may burn out the motor. Form a ball out of the gingerbread dough, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours. Do not double this recipe.
2. Divide the gingerbread dough in 1/2, keeping any unused dough cover in plastic wrapped and chilled. Roll out 1/2 of the dough on a heavily floured sheet of aluminum foil. Use one sheet separate per each gingerbread house piece, that way you can transfer your cut cookie house pieces to the cookie sheet without stretching the dough out of shape. It is best to use a heavy rolling pin so you have a nice smooth surface for your walls. Scatter flour on top of the dough so the dough doesn’t stick to the pin while rolling. Roll out the dough to an even 1/4” thickness. Uneven dough will bake at different
rates, causing one part of a wall to be too soft while a thinner edge may brown too quickly. Scrape the rolling pin during the process as bits of dough tend to cling and make depressions in the surface or they stick to the surface and bubble while baking.
3. Place your cardboard house patterns* on the rolled out dough and cut out the gingerbread house pieces using a sharp knife. Place the individual sheets of aluminum foil with the cut house pieces on them on a cookie sheet. If you only have a couple of cookie sheets, don’t roll out all the dough and cut all the house pieces at once, leaving them unchilled while the other ones bake. Measure how many and which one of your house pieces will fit on each sheet and plan accordingly, keeping any unused gingerbread dough chilled until ready to use.
4. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until the gingerbread turns a rich brown color and is a little over baked. If your corners or sides are browning quicker than the center of the house pieces, with make an aluminum foil tent and cover directly over the problem areas only. Test for doneness by touching the center and if it is firm and almost hard, it is done. Let your gingerbread house pieces cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheets. Leave the gingerbread uncovered in a cool place so it has a chance to settle and wait at least three hours before building your house.
*You’ll find a simple gingerbread house pattern here, along with some construction tips.
Edible Construction Icing
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of water for a thick icing and use to put together a gingerbread house.
Share your passion and photos of Gingerbread Houses with the Celebrations Community! Just log in, click “create content” in the right side bar, and then “image” in the center of the page to upload pictures. We want to see your imaginative parties and if you’re looking for inspiration, visit our Christmas and Holiday Party pages to find festive food and seasonal décor ideas. As always, I appreciate a great question in my forum, Ask Jeanne, especially if it involves Gingerbread Houses!
Visions of sugarplums hardly compare to the confectionary splendor of a Gingerbread House Decorating Party. Make a child’s holiday dream come true by hosting this classic cookie celebration full of gumdrops, chocolate kisses, candy canes, fluffy white icing, and more sweets than Hansel & Gretel could ever imagine!
My childhood obsession with gingerbread houses led me to create a formula for a fabulous gingerbread house party for my little ones. From the invitation to the buffet table to, of course, the decorating station, this will be a Christmas party your kids and their friends remember forever.
Gingerbread Man Invitation
Gingerbread Man Invitation
Invite your friends to the party with a gingerbread man! Bake your own batch of cookies using my recipe below, or pick-up some gingerbread men from a bakery. Fasten a ribbon around the gingerbread man’s neck and attach a card with all the party details. Quote a storybook phrase for your invitation like, “Run, Run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!” Send the cookie in a flat box, so he doesn’t crumble on his journey through the mail.
Candy Land Buffet Display
Little hands will be busy at work, and little tummies will get hungry. To entice the kids away from the miles of candy on the decorating station, create a Candy Land display on the food buffet. Place a bright red cloth on the table and arrange oversize candy and wrapped Christmas presents in the center. Lean large 20” long candy canes and a giant 5lb. Hershey’s candy bar against the gifts. Fill in around the base with an assortment of colorful hard candies and plop down a couple of gumdrop trees. For a more affordable option, consider using faux candy decorations, such as these candy canes and peppermint candies.
Serve nutritious food in fun shapes and colors on candy cane plates and serving dishes. Use a gingerbread man cookie cutter to stamp out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Make mini pizzas with star shape cheese melted on top. Offer fresh veggies with bright red or green colored dip, made by mixing it with food coloring. Bowls of snacks, such as goldfish crackers are great, as kids can grab a handful and fill up on something other than candy. Holiday-themed pitchers of milk and bottled water with a red ribbon tied around the neck will make beverages merry!
Gingerbread House Decorating Station
Since this is a “decorating” party, you’ll need to bake and build the houses beforehand. If you have the time, go for it! Fortunately, many grocery stores sell undecorated gingerbread houses or look online for gingerbread house-making kits. Besides the fact that much of the work is done when purchasing pre-made houses or kits, you know that the cookies are baked evenly and will not be too soft. Gingerbread walls that are too soft could collapse when layered with icing and candy. I’ve included a gingerbread and icing recipe below for those who are feeling industrious!
General Tips
Decorating Station Checklist
- Disposable tablecloth
- Gingerbread houses on cardboard bases
- Bowls of icing or canned frosting
- Kid-safe plastic spreaders, such as popsicle sticks
- Store-bought tubes of colored icing fitted with a decorating tip
- Bowls of candy (see guide below)
- Paper napkins
- Photos or books of gingerbread houses for inspiration
1. Know that this party is going to be a festive mess! Set up your decorating station in an area that can be easily cleaned.
2. For a kid’s party, use my icing recipe below, canned frosting, or Royal Icing made with powdered egg whites. Do not use icing with raw egg whites, as they may not be healthy for children.
3. Don’t buy a gingerbread house that is too big. The bigger they are the harder they fall, especially if they don’t have a cardboard structure underneath to support enthusiastic decorating!
4. Even if you are buying a gingerbread house kit, buy more candy and icing for decorating.
5. Consider purchasing some kid’s aprons for those who want to keep their party clothes clean.
Sweet Architectural Accents: A Candy Decorating Guide
The architectural focus on many gingerbread houses is the roof. Candy corns make a great southwestern terra cotta roof and Ande’s mints are perfect for “wood” shingles on a rustic, cottage-style home. I always use a candy bar for the front door and sugar cubes for a chimney, because they don’t smoosh down like caramel or nougat. I’ve included this candy, decorating guide to inspire the “Wonka” in you when shopping for your confections.
Traditional Gingerbread House
Roof: gumdrops, Necco wafers, round chocolate or pastel non-pariels, peppermint candies, chocolate kisses
Chimney: sugar cubes
Walls & Corners: Skittles, chocolate chips, M&M’s, gumdrops
Windows: gummy diamonds, sugar cookies with colored sugar, spiral lollipops, chocolate or yogurt-covered mini pretzels, draw windows with icing
Door: chocolate bar, sliced gumdrop doorknob, green gummy wreath, cinnamon candy holly berries
Accents: candy canes, lollipops, bubblegum tape bow, little gingerbread men, graham cracker teddy bears
Southwest Beach House
Roof: candy corn
Chimney: sugar cubes
Walls & Corners: yellow Good & Plenty sunflower petals with sliced black licorice centers, green licorice whip vines, breadsticks, pretzels
Windows: gummy diamonds, mini chocolate bar shutters, mini pretzel sticks, draw windows with icing
Door: chocolate bar, sliced red gumdrop doorknob
Accents: crushed blue hard candy ocean, rock candy wave crest, gummy fish, Sugar in the Raw sand, candy shells, nuts as a rustic path, gingerbread bathing beauties
Fairy Tale Castle
Roof: gumdrops, Necco WafersTowers: sugar cube towers with upside down ice cream sugar cone spires
Walls & Corners: green licorice whip ivy, rolled bubblegum tape roses, Skittles, chocolate chips, M&M’s, gumdrops, jelly beans
Windows: gummy diamonds, sugar cookies with colored sugar, spiral lollipops, chocolate or yogurt-covered mini pretzels, draw windows with icing
Draw Bridge: large Hershey's Chocolate Bar with red licorice as bridge chains
Accents: crushed hard candy or blue colored sugar moat, gummy fish, small candy rock pathways, candy canes, gingerbread cookie princesses and princes
Gingerbread House Cookie Dough
1/2 cup margarine1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1. Cream together margarine, shortening and sugar. Beat in egg, and gradually add molasses and vinegar. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients, 1 cup at a time to mixture, beating until thoroughly combined. You may have to knead in the last cup of flour mixture if you don’t have a strong electric mixer or you may burn out the motor. Form a ball out of the gingerbread dough, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours. Do not double this recipe.
2. Divide the gingerbread dough in 1/2, keeping any unused dough cover in plastic wrapped and chilled. Roll out 1/2 of the dough on a heavily floured sheet of aluminum foil. Use one sheet separate per each gingerbread house piece, that way you can transfer your cut cookie house pieces to the cookie sheet without stretching the dough out of shape. It is best to use a heavy rolling pin so you have a nice smooth surface for your walls. Scatter flour on top of the dough so the dough doesn’t stick to the pin while rolling. Roll out the dough to an even 1/4” thickness. Uneven dough will bake at different
rates, causing one part of a wall to be too soft while a thinner edge may brown too quickly. Scrape the rolling pin during the process as bits of dough tend to cling and make depressions in the surface or they stick to the surface and bubble while baking.
3. Place your cardboard house patterns* on the rolled out dough and cut out the gingerbread house pieces using a sharp knife. Place the individual sheets of aluminum foil with the cut house pieces on them on a cookie sheet. If you only have a couple of cookie sheets, don’t roll out all the dough and cut all the house pieces at once, leaving them unchilled while the other ones bake. Measure how many and which one of your house pieces will fit on each sheet and plan accordingly, keeping any unused gingerbread dough chilled until ready to use.
4. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until the gingerbread turns a rich brown color and is a little over baked. If your corners or sides are browning quicker than the center of the house pieces, with make an aluminum foil tent and cover directly over the problem areas only. Test for doneness by touching the center and if it is firm and almost hard, it is done. Let your gingerbread house pieces cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheets. Leave the gingerbread uncovered in a cool place so it has a chance to settle and wait at least three hours before building your house.
*You’ll find a simple gingerbread house pattern here, along with some construction tips.
Edible Construction Icing
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of water for a thick icing and use to put together a gingerbread house.
Share your passion and photos of Gingerbread Houses with the Celebrations Community! Just log in, click “create content” in the right side bar, and then “image” in the center of the page to upload pictures. We want to see your imaginative parties and if you’re looking for inspiration, visit our Christmas and Holiday Party pages to find festive food and seasonal décor ideas. As always, I appreciate a great question in my forum, Ask Jeanne, especially if it involves Gingerbread Houses!
