Traditional Christmas celebrations often include building a gingerbread house. Crafting a fancy house is such a fun task, however it includes multiple steps that can make the process feel stressful: designing (cannot be skipped!), baking, decorating, building the actual house and finalizing the decorations.
This year I decided to make the whole process easier and use cookie cutter shapes to make small gingerbread houses. Another option is to make building-shaped gingerbread cookies, if you want to skip the whole assembling-of-the-gingerbread-house step all together, as it might be a bit nerve wracking. This way you can concentrate on the decorations – which is at least my favorite part!
I prefer icing decorations on the cookies but feel free to add anything from sprinkles to different kinds of colorful candy. I take a shortcut and buy the gingerbread dough prepeared, however I find it is worth making the royal icing myself since I can then control the thickness of it. I use piping bags and round, 0.5 mm and 2 mm wide piping tips to decorate the cookies. Below you can find a recipe for an easy royal icing.
Easy Royal Icing
4 dl powdered sugar
2 egg whites OR ½ dl water
1 tsp lemon juice
Mix sugar, egg whites or water and lemon juice in a bowl. If the icing feels too thick add 1 tsp water and 1 tbsp powdered sugar if it feels too thin. Spoon the icing into a piping bag, attach the piping tip and start decorating!
Have a lovely time making Christmassy gingerbread cookie houses!
Along with her studies, Emilia is a cookbook author, a passionate sourdough baker, and a dreamer. She loves waking up early, going for a swim in the sea, and afterward drinking coffee while writing a journal. Breakfasts vary with the seasons from overnight oats to pancakes and granola bowls. In addition to early morning hours, Emilia enjoys planning and throwing dinner parties and baking excess amounts of sourdough loaves. Get to know Emilia on Instagram @emiliaaurorav.
