Gingerbread House
Updated Jan. 22, 2025
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus resting
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound/454 grams unsalted butter (4 sticks), at cool room temperature
- 2½cups plus 3 tablespoons/595 grams dark brown sugar
- 12¾cups plus 2 tablespoons/1,648 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2heaping tablespoons/15 grams ground ginger
- 2heaping tablespoons/15 grams ground cinnamon
- 1½teaspoons baking soda
- ½teaspoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon salt
- 4eggs, at room temperature
- 2cups molasses
- Zest of 2 lemons (optional)
- Zest of 2 oranges (optional)
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make half of the batch: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together half the butter and half the sugar for 5 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down sides.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, sift together the dry ingredients — the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt — and set aside half.
- Step 3
With mixer running at low speed, add two eggs, one at a time. Mix in 1 cup molasses. Scrape down bowl.
- Step 4
In 3 batches, add half the dry ingredients, mixing just to combine. To prevent any flour from flying out, make sure the mixer is off when adding each batch, and drape a towel over it when mixing. Mix in zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange.
- Step 5
Pull dough out of mixer, and wrap in plastic wrap, or transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Repeat Steps 1 to 5 to make the remaining dough. Refrigerate overnight.
- Step 6
When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 7
Roll out dough: For each square, weigh out about 20 ounces of dough. The goal is to end up with five 9-inch squares, so you’ll roll them out a bit larger, bake them and trim off the edges.
- Step 8
Lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper with flour. Place the chilled dough on top. Roll side to side and up and down to make a rough square shape. While you roll, make frequent quarter-turns so that the dough remains even.
- Step 9
Roll until dough is about 10 by 10 inches and a generous ¼-inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. (Any dough left after the squares have been prepared can be rolled out ¼-inch thick and used for cookies.) In the oven, the slab will rise to about ⅜- or ½-inch thickness, which will make the house extra sturdy.
- Step 10
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until even and firmly set. Place pans on racks to cool. To prevent bending and cracking, carefully transfer to racks by lifting parchment paper. When completely cool, stack the slabs, still on parchment, and set aside to dry out at room temperature for 3 to 7 days. (When ready to assemble, see How to Make a Gingerbread House guide for full instructions.)
Private Notes
Comments
Tip for perfectly cut walls - 1. roll the dough 2. score the exact outline of the wall 3. Leave a small (2cm is fine) border around the scores edges 4. Bake and when ready, cut through the soft gingerbread along the scored lines with a sharp knife before it hardens. Don’t wait until the gingerbread is hard as it will crack easily. Doing this method is better than cutting the dough to the exact template as you will prevent the edges from spreading.
Yield: Half recipe-gingerbread dough (metrics removed) 1/2 pound unsalted butter (2sticks) 1 1/4 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 6 cups + 6 Tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 1 heaping tablespoon of each ground ginger and ground cinnamon 1\2 teaspoon + 1\4 teaspoon baking soda, level 1\4 teaspoon baking powder, level 1\4 teaspoon salt, level 2 eggs, at room temperature 1 cup molasses Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange (optional, but I would add)
I am in the process of trying this for the first time. As I bake the sheets of gingerbread they are getting bubbles on the surface... can anyone tell me why and how to prevent it? I am baking at 175 degrees C in a convection oven.
I love this recipe! One recipe makes enough for three small (6" square) houses. I make the dough in two batches as written, then separate each batch into three portions before I refrigerate them. This makes it easy to roll out portions that will fit on a half-sheet pan. The best thing about this gingerbread is that it is sturdy enough for houses but also great to eat! It tastes great, even weeks later.
Has anyone tried to make a few larger slabs in a jelly roll pan? I found that 5 individual slabs were different sizes and cooked unevenly in my oven. I’m hoping that if I make 3 slabs total (two about the size of a jelly roll pan and one about the size of a sheet pan) it would work better.
This is always my go-to recipe for gingerbread houses- I would only change 2 things: Pre portion the 20oz dough balls/squares before refrigerating. It’s so much easier to do when the dough is at room temp. I’ve done it after refrigerating and it takes so much longer to put the multiple dough pieces together. Second thing is to cut before baking or at least when they are warm.
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