I am not an architect.
I am a competent cook, but a bad baker.
I am, however, immensely stubborn, and very spirited.
You also almost certainly need several days to prepare.
This is your new life.
This is not something you want to begin Christmas Eve.
For your own sanity, youll want a few days to build your house.
You are an architect of cookies, a holiday cheer summoner, a defier of physics.
I used a metal cookie sheet, but a solid cutting board would also work.
Even once youre building on a good foundation, its possible youll end up needing reinforcements.
you might use whatever you want.
Johnson built a wooden frame!
No one has to know.
The cookie covers all flaws.
you’ve got the option to definitely fancy it up with candies, cookies and other treats.
This was easy enough to fix.
(This would have been a good tip for me to follow, but I forgot.)
This is impossible in my opinion, and more work than a first time builder should take on.
But itisgood to have a stencil to work with.
and very narrow pieces which will snap in two when you make a run at stick them together.
In short: keep the design simple.
I also made these in smaller sizes for my dog house.
Most want you to at least let the pieces dry out for a few hours.
At the least, youll need a full work day of attention.
I baked my fairly big cookie walls at 250 for 30 minutes, and it worked well.
Everyone taking five days to make a house is in pursuit of incredibly dry gingerbread.
If your cookies are dryenoughyou can just cheat (as mentioned above) and spend less time waiting.
The other crucial thing to keep in mind with materials:You must.
Icing.This is not negotiable.
Its the only thing strong enough to keep the house stable, Moskin says.
And since it looks like snow, you’re able to always add more!
Donotuse buttercream or that delicious frosting in a can.
It wont harden, and while it will still taste delicious, your house wont stay properly glued together.
Start too soon, and your house will fall apart when you start pushing candy onto it.
I found particular success with red hots, peppermints, spiced gumdrops, and white chocolate Reeses cups.
Moskin recommends Jolly Ranchers.
I did not try this myself, because I was scared.
I love to put a snow-covered log pile on the side of the house, Moskin adds.
Its just pretzel rods stuck together with royal icing but it looks so real.
It was easy and I am impressed with myself.
I also consumed it before any photos were taken.
The cheat option
I had never made a gingerbread house from scratch before this year.
Growing up, we did decorate gingerbread houses, however, but of the easier, pre-made variety.
I thank the Royal Icing.
Congrats, were all architects now!
