How To Make a Gluten Free Gingerbread House - Recipe + Video! (2024)

By Nicole Hunn | Published: | Posted In: Cookies, Desserts, Holiday season recipes, Holidays

How to make a gluten free gingerbread house, the easy way. All you need are two different shapes of gingerbread cookies, and plenty of icing!

How To Make a Gluten Free Gingerbread House - Recipe + Video! (1)

Does your family have a holiday tradition of making gingerbread houses?There are probably as many ways of making a gingerbread house as there are families that make them.

This is my new favorite way to make a gluten free gingerbread house. Because it can be so hard to describe the assembly using words, I knew a short how-to video of my assembling a house was the way to go.

I've dressed up my house a little bit with some extra little shapes, and some royal icing decoration. You certainly don't have to do that. In fact, the messier the gingerbread house, the more fun was likely had by little hands “helping.”

How To Make a Gluten Free Gingerbread House - Recipe + Video! (2)

I've used all sorts of templates in the past, but I've always longed for a simpler version. The cookie cutter set(affiliate link) that I used is as simple as they come, with only two types of shapes necessary. One is an end piece, and one a side/roof piece.

If you don't want to order the cookie cutters that I used, no worries. I've created a simplepaperGingerbread House Templatefor you to print out. And it's very easy to use.

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Once you've printed the template, cut out the 6 shapes (2 end pieces + 4 side/roof pieces) along the black lines. Make and roll out the dough according to the recipe instructions below. Then, place the paper shapes on top of the dough, and slice around them with a sharp knife.

The dough should be rolled about the thickness of a graham cracker, and in any case no less than 1/8-inch thick.

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For “perfect” decorating, the royal icing should be thicker or thinner depending upon its use. For finer decorations, like piping little dots on miniature evergreen tree cookies, it's helpful for it to be thinner. Forusing as glue to assemble a gluten free gingerbread house, it's helpful to have thicker royal icing.

But the truth is that it just doesn't matter that much. Once it dries, the thinnest lines of royal icing have a tendency to crack off anyway. The one thing you absolutely need your royal icing to do is to “glue” together the pieces of the gingerbread house. Everything else is nice, but not necessary.

This is the simplest way I know of for making a sweet little gingerbread house to celebrate the season. And I've tried plenty of ways. Have some fun! And have a happy, healthy holiday, with love from me. ?

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How To Make a Gluten Free Gingerbread House

Prep time:

Cook time:

Yield: 2 small gingerbread houses

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour (I used Better Batter), plus more for sprinkling

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (56 g) cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (75 g) granulated sugar

1/3 cup (73 g) packed light brown sugar

6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 tablespoons (63 g) unsulphured molasses

2tablespoons (42 g) honey

1 egg (50 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing

Gingerbread House Cookie Cutters, or my Paper Templateand a sharp knife

Instructions

  • First, make the gingerbread cookie shapes. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

  • In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar and whisk again to combine, working out any lumps. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, molasses, honey, egg and vanilla, mixing to combine after each addition. The dough will be thick and soft.

  • Sprinkle a large sheet of unbleached parchment paper lightly with flour, and place the dough on top of it. Sprinkle with more flour, and roll into a rectangle about 3/8-inch thick (more than 1/4-inch, less than 1/2-inch).

  • Dip the cookie cutters in flour, and use it to cut out shapes from the cookie dough. You’ll need 4 rectangular pieces and 2 side pieces. With each cut, jiggle the cutter back and forth to create a neat shape. If you’re using the paper template, print out the template and cut out all 6 shapes along the black lines. Lay the template pieces on top of the rolled out dough and, using a sharp knife, cut around each shape. Remove the templates.

  • Place the dough, with the cutout pieces still in place, in the refrigerator or freezer until firm.Once the dough has chilled, peel back the rest of the dough from around the cut-outs and gather the scraps. Then carefully peel off the cut-out shapes and place them, about 1 1/2-inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat the process with the remaining dough until you have used it all. You should have enough for two full houses (6 pieces each).

  • Place the baking sheets in the center of the preheated oven and bake until golden brown all over, about 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.

  • Decorate and assemble the house. Prepare the royal icing according to the recipe instructions. Decorate the panels with royal icing and allow it to dry for at least 2 hours before proceeding. Place the royal icing in a piping bag (or zip-top bag with the corner snipped off) fitted with a medium open piping tip.

  • Select one end piece and one side piece and place them together on a clean, lined surface. Pipe a thick, straight line of royal icing on the surface, underneath each piece and another line along the edge of the end piece. Assemble the two pieces and hold for 1 minute to allow the icing to begin to set. Repeat with the second side, and then the second end piece, holding the pieces in place for 1 minute after each placement. Allow the 4 walls to sit at room temperature for about an hour or until very stable. Ice all of the exposed top edges of the 4 walls, and between the two remaining cookie panels, and place the roof pieces. Fill in the any gaps with more icing. Allow the house to sit until completely set (about 4 hours).

How To Make a Gluten Free Gingerbread House - Recipe + Video! (2024)

FAQs

Can celiac eat gingerbread? ›

Most typical gingerbread houses are constructed with wheat flour, so this means they are not gluten-free, and you should not eat them if you are gluten-sensitive.

What is the best ingredient to keep a gingerbread house from falling? ›

Royal icing is the edible "glue" or mortar that holds a gingerbread house together and can be used to make fancy sugar decorations. It's the best option for projects like gingerbread houses since, unlike buttercream frosting, royal icing will harden once dry and keep your gingerbread house from falling apart.

What is the trick to putting gingerbread house together? ›

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

How do you make a gingerbread house without falling apart? ›

Just melt the sugar in a pan over low heat. You want to allow it to turn brown, but make sure not to burn it (otherwise it won't taste so great). Then take your gingerbread house pieces, dip the edges in melted sugar and hold them together for a few seconds. That's it!

What are 5 foods someone Cannot eat when they have celiac disease? ›

If you have coeliac disease, do not eat the following foods, unless they're labelled as gluten-free versions:
  • bread.
  • pasta.
  • cereals.
  • biscuits or crackers.
  • cakes and pastries.
  • pies.
  • gravies and sauces.

What is the best fruit for celiac disease? ›

List of gluten free fruits
  • Apples and pears.
  • Bananas.
  • Citrus fruits, including oranges and grapefruit.
  • Berries, from strawberries to blackcurrants.
  • Peaches and nectarines.
  • Pineapples.
  • Melons and water melon.
  • Mangoes.

Why does my gingerbread house always fall apart? ›

“Most gingerbread disasters, collapses, and frustrations happen because the icing hasn't had an adequate amount of time to dry. It's not always easy for kids to be patient, so it's a good idea to have some other activity lined up in between steps to distract kids while they're waiting to work on the house.”

How do you make a gingerbread house stronger? ›

So to make sure our walls could stand strong, we sandwiched melted marshmallow cement between two graham crackers. The marshmallow adds weight, which helps stabilize the structure. It also acts as a sealant, ensuring that the cracker won't crumble.

What is the best glue to hold a gingerbread house together? ›

It's royal for a reason because royal icing is the king of glues for gingerbread houses. As my go-to choice for edible cement I can't really fault it's versatility and strength. Royal icing for the uninitiated is a mix of egg white and icing sugar.

What can I use to hold a gingerbread house together? ›

Royal icing is the “glue” that holds the house together. It's also the glue adhering any candies to the walls and roof. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on.

Why won t my gingerbread house stay together? ›

Why do gingerbread houses fall apart? Gingerbread houses fall apart when you're not using the right icing. The icing that comes in gingerbread house kits is not sticky enough and does not have the right consistency. It also takes too long to dry, which causes gingerbread houses to fall apart.

How do you fix a crack in a gingerbread house? ›

There are several creative ways to repair a gingerbread house. Use royal icing to attach the pieces back together. Another trick is to use candy melts as the “glue”. It dries much faster than icing.

What can I use instead of gingerbread for gingerbread house? ›

Any reasonably firm cookie dough will work. Sugar cookie dough is fine, as long as you don't roll it too thin. The thing to keep in mind is that gingerbread is made with both brown sugar and molasses. This keeps it flexible, even when baked, so it's less likely to break when you try to build with it.

What cookies can celiacs eat? ›

17 Gluten-Free Cookies That Taste as Good as the Originals
  • 02 of 17. Easy Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies. View Recipe. ...
  • 05 of 17. Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles. View Recipe. ...
  • 08 of 17. Gluten-Free Giant Ginger Cookies. View Recipe. ...
  • 11 of 17. Gluten-Free Blondies. View Recipe. ...
  • 14 of 17. Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies. View Recipe.
Nov 3, 2022

What allergens are in gingerbread? ›

Allergic solely to gingerbread? Ginger is not the sole ingredient in gingerbread besides flour. There is cinnamon (more than the ginger), allspice, cloves, unsulphured molasses, and egg. Any one of these might be causing the scratchy throat.

Can you eat cookies with celiac disease? ›

Baked goods are typically made with wheat flour or other gluten-containing grains. As such, people with a gluten intolerance should largely avoid these foods: cakes. cookies.

What biscuits can celiacs eat? ›

  • Nairns Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Biscuits 160G. ...
  • Tesco Free From Digestive Biscuits 160G. ...
  • Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties Biscuits 160G. ...
  • Nairn's Gluten Free Oaties Chocolate Chip Biscuits 160G. ...
  • Nairns Gluten Free Oats & Fruit Biscuits 160G. ...
  • Nairns Gluten Free Ginger Biscuit Break 160G.

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