Ingredients
Gingerbread ingredients:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp finely ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup molasses
Icing Ingredients:
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- Variety of sugars and sprinkles for decorating
Directions:
- To make the gingerbread stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine molasses, brown sugar and butter in a saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir liquid into flour mixture. Mix well using hands to mix as dough becomes stiff. Chill dough for half an hour.
- Roll dough into 1/8 inch thickness onto parchment paper. Using a template or a cutter, cut into shapes. Remove the scraps and re roll into more dough to cut into shapes.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees. Cool completely on a rack.
- To make the icing, sift the sugar into a bowl. Place egg whites into the bowl of a mixer. Add sugar and lemon juice to whites while mixing. When all sugar is incorporated, turn mixer on high and beat until thick and very white, about 5-7 minutes. Cover the icing with a damp cloth until you use it because it dries very quickly.
- Pipe icing into a piping bag with a small tip (or into a ziplock bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner if you don’t have a piping bag). Ice one side to the front piece and let it dry completely before assembling the rest of the house.
- To make the roof ice the top and them cover in sprinkles or crushed candy canes and allow to dry completely.
- Attach the roof to the house. Decorate the fronts of the houses with patterns and dust them lightly with powdered sugar.
- Make a cup of hot chocolate with a nice large charred marshmallow and perch the mini gingerbread on the edge of a cup.
Click here for Cristina's Gingerbread House Template>>
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