Tips for a successful gingerbread house

Decorate, assemble and enjoy! 😋

Decorating a gingerbread house is a classic holiday activity. Whether you want to bake your own or buy a ready-made kit, follow these tips for guaranteed success.

Doing it yourself?

Here are a few tips for making your very own gingerbread house from scratch:

• Find a gingerbread house template, either in a book or online. Choose models with straight lines to make the pieces easier to assemble.

• Prepare a recipe designed specifically for making gingerbread houses — not cookies.

• Once the dough is baked, carefully cut the outlines of the pieces according to the chosen template.

• Decorate the four cooled “walls” to your taste and use the icing to glue them to the base (e.g., a piece of cardboard), then wait for everything to set before carefully placing the roof.

Using a ready-to-assemble set?

Here are a few tips for putting together a store-bought kit:

• If you have multiple family members, share the sections among the group to adorn with icing and candy decorations.

• Wait for the decorations to set before assembling and finishing. It’s best to give this honour to the adults.

To keep the fun going, you can also get creative by adding decorations around your gingerbread house. You might add a quaint fence made of pretzel sticks or a family of snowpeople made of marshmallows. The only limit is your imagination!