Make a Gingerbread House With This Simple Dough Recipe (2024)

Jennifer McGavin

Jennifer McGavin learned to cook German food while living in Germany for 11 years and has worked in the food industry for many years.

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Updated on 01/3/20

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Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter (or margarine)
1 tablespoon orange peel (dried, ground or fresh lemon peel)
1 lemon (or lime, juiced plus water to equal 1/4 cup)
5 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks (divided; reserve the whites for the frosting glue)

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease a 12x17-inch jellyroll pan or cookie sheet with a 1/2-inch lip.
Mix the sugar, honey, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for several minutes. (The sugar will not dissolve, but the mixture should be light yellow in color and well-mixed.) Remove from heat, add the orange peel or lemon peel and lemon juice-water mixture, and stir until fully incorporated. Let cool slightly.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Remove 2 cups to a separate large mixing bowl, add the slightly cooled sugar mixture from the saucepan and beat together until smooth.
Add 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk and beat until smooth. Add the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time.
Adjust the consistency of the dough. (You should be able to handle the dough with your hands easily.) Add water or flour, if necessary, 1 tablespoon at a time to reach the consistency of refrigerator cookie dough.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board (almost no flour) to almost the size of your jelly roll pan. Transfer it to the pan and press or roll the dough into the corners, keeping the thickness even. If you are following the step-by-step guide for the Swiss Chalet house, roll one batch of dough into long ropes and lay side by side. Use the extra dough to make fascia and fence posts. Lay them on another cookie sheet.
Mix the second egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and brush over dough. Place decorative nuts on the dough, if you are using.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and cut into shapes using a template before it cools completely. Don't forget to cut doors and windows as desired. You have about 1/2 hour to do this. If the sheet of dough cools, you will need to use a jigsaw for further cuts or bake another batch.
Enjoy!

Tip

You can grind dried orange peel in a clean coffee grinder and add it to the sugar mixture. By the time it rehydrates and bakes, it feels and tastes a lot like candied orange peel.

Recipe Variation

You may use a product called Lebkuchengewürz, or gingerbread spice, from Germany which consists of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, coriander, mace, nutmeg, anise seed, pimiento, and lemon peel. Use 1 tablespoon and omit the other spices in this recipe.

Here is more information on building a gingerbread house with templates and a recipe for royal icing, the mortar that holds the house together.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
879	Calories
21g	Fat
162g	Carbs
18g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	879
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g	28%
Saturated Fat 6g	29%
Cholesterol 452mg	151%
Sodium 1351mg	59%
Total Carbohydrate 162g	59%
Dietary Fiber 3g	11%
Protein 18g
Calcium 546mg	42%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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