WHAT YOU NEED
- Gingerbread Dough (see recipe below)
- House template
- Scissors
- Plain paper (at least 8 1/2-inches x 11-inches)
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Rolling Pin
- Tree or girl and boy cookie cutters (optional)
- Baking sheets
- Wide spatula
- Cooling racks
- Royal Icing "Glue" recipe (see below)
- Base such as a board, baking sheet, flat platter or cake stand
- Foil (if using board as base)
- Narrow spatula
- Plastic pastry bag or sandwich bag
- Colored icings in tubes (with decorating tips)
- Mini Chewy SWEETARTS
- Mini Chewy SPREE
- SPREE Candy Canes
- BABY RUTH Fun Size Bars
- NESTLÉ CRUNCH Santa Pooh
- NESTLÉ BUTTERFINGER, NESTLÉ CRUNCH Fun Size Bars or Miniatures, or NESTLÉ Milk Chocolate JINGLES
- NESTLÉ CRUNCH Medallion
- Flake coconut (optional)
- Craft hot glue gun with craft hot glue sticks (optional)
GINGERBREAD DOUGH
Ingredients:
- 2 cups vegetable shortening
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups dark molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (can be omitted if you are not eating recipe)
- 8 to 10 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 teaspoons ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons salt
Directions:
- BEAT shortening and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add molasses and mix well.
- MIX 2 cups of flour with baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt in separate bowl.
- ADD flour mixture to shortening mixture and blend.
- GRADUALLY add more flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition until stiff dough is formed, working in last cup of flour with hands.
- DIVIDE dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap.
- CHILL at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- PREHEAT oven to 325° F.
- ROLL piece of gingerbread dough out on floured surface to 1/2 -inch thickness.
- CUT out two side pieces, two end pieces, two roof pieces, and four chimney pieces using patterns as a guide. Cut notches in two of chimney pieces.
- REROLL edge pieces and scraps to cut out tree-shaped or girl- and boy-shaped cookies to use in your gingerbread house "yard" or to make window shutters.
- TRANSFER all pieces to baking sheets and bake 10 to 12 minutes for smaller pieces and 20 to 25 minutes for larger pieces.
- TRANSFER to cooling racks using wide spatula and cool completely. (If edges need trimming, do so while still warm.)
ROYAL ICING "GLUE"
Ingredients:
- 6 egg whites
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Directions:
- BEAT egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer until foamy.
- GRADUALLY beat in sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- KEEP covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Use same day.
HOW TO DO IT
- If using board or inverted baking sheet for base, cover with foil.
- Place some Royal Icing Glue in pastry or sandwich bag. Cut tip of pastry bag or one corner of sandwich bag to make small opening.
- Pipe two straight lines of icing (or, parents only, substitute hot glue for faster assembly of house) at a 90 #176. angle to mark placement of one side wall and another end wall. Pipe icing on one side edge of one side wall and one end wall. Place walls on base, touching each other. Support them with small boxes (empty LIBBY'S JUICY JUICE boxes work well). Let stand until dry, about 15 minutes.
- Repeat with remaining two walls, piping a line of icing along all corners. Support with small boxes until dry.
- Corners can be reinforced as well as decorated by adding SPREE Candy Cane posts at corners, both inside and out
- When corners are completely dry, attach roof pieces, gluing supporting with JUICY JUICE boxes as needed.
- While roof is drying, glue chimney pieces together in same manner.
- Pipe icing along bottom edges of chimney and attach to roof.
- Attach door, propped open, and window shutters with icing glue.
- Let the house dry completely, preferably overnight, before decorating.
DECORATING
- Outline windows, eaves, etc. by piping from prepared frosting tubes with desired tips attached. Add lattice work, window boxes, etc.
- Glue alternating red and green SWEETARTS on roof to make shingles.
- Trim corners with SPREE Candy Cane posts.
- Use SPREE Candy Canes to make a railing door and shutters for the windows.
- Make a doormat out of an unwrapped BUTTERFINGER Fun Size Bars.
- Decorate edge of roof and walls of house with red and green SPREE candies.
- Attach an unwrapped NESTLÉ CRUNCH Medallion to the front of the house and encircle it with a wreath of red and green SWEETARTS.
- Attach a NESTLÉ JINGLE above the door as a doorbell.
- Using royal icing, glue two or three unwrapped NESTLÉ JINGLES into a stack and decorate with green frosting to make a tree.
- Draw a front path in icing and sprinkle it with red SPREE "bricks."
- Enclose the yard of your house with a log fence, using unwrapped BABY RUTH Fun Size Bars or Miniatures and SPREE Candy Canes for the fence posts.
- Light each post with a gold foil wrapped NESTLÉ JINGLES.
- Create curved gate posts at the front of the house using SPREE Candy Canes.
- Decorate the log fence with icing "snow" and red and green frosting holly berries.
- Sprinkle the yard with white flaked coconut (spread coconut out on a cookie sheet overnight to dry before using).
- Trim the bottom of NESTLÉ CRUNCH Santa Pooh into a "v" shape that fits into the chimney.
- Pipe icing around Santa to hold him in place.
- If using gingerbread cut-outs, decorate with frosting.
COMPLETED CRAFT IS FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES ONLY AND CANDY HOUSE SHOULD NOT BE EATEN.