To the modern cook, making a gingerbread house may seem nearly as daunting as building a real house. But, like dyeing Easter eggs, it's a rewarding, hands-on way to connect to holiday traditions of the past. Stretched over a few winter evenings or a weekend, it's a festive effort - especially with a group. This guide, made with help from Bill Yosses, the former White House pastry chef (and our chief gingerbread adviser), will lead you through the process step by easy step. You won't even need a pastry bag.
Baking the gingerbread
Before you can start construction on a gingerbread house, you must first make the building blocks - the slabs. The recipe we're working with is adapted from Yosses'. Orange and lemon zests make it especially delicious, if you plan to eat your house (and you can, even weeks after baking), but feel free to leave them out. The recipe is large - enough for a 9- by 9-inch square house, with even some left over for cookies or decorations - so you may want to break it up into two batches.
We also strongly recommend using a scale. It will make the process much easier, both when accurately measuring the large amounts of ingredients and when evenly dividing the dough. You'll also want to start early - at least a few days before assembling the house, to let the dough rest and to give the squares time to harden before construction.
Cutting the gingerbread
Once you've prepared the recipe, you should have five 10- by 10-inch slabs of gingerbread. These will then be cut into neat 9-inch squares to serve as the walls and roof of your house.
Gingerbread House
Yield: Gingerbread for 1 9-by-9-inch houseTotal time: 2 hours, plus chilling and drying1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks), at cool room temperature2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar12 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting2 heaping tablespoons ground ginger2 heaping tablespoons ground cinnamon1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt4 eggs, at room temperature2 cups molassesZest of 2 lemons (optional)Zest of 2 oranges (optional)1. Make half the batch: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together half the butter and half the sugar for 5 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down sides.2. Meanwhile, sift together the dry ingredients - the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt - and set aside half.3. With mixer running at low speed, add two eggs, one at a time. Mix in 1 cup molasses. Scrape down bowl.4. In 3 batches, add half the dry ingredients, mixing just to combine. To prevent any flour from flying out, make sure the mixer is off when adding each batch, and drape a towel over it when mixing. Mix in zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange.5. Pull dough out of mixer, and wrap in plastic wrap, or transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Repeat Steps 1 to 5 to make the remaining dough. Refrigerate overnight.6. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees.7. Roll out dough: For each square, weigh out about 20 ounces of dough. The goal is to end up with five 9-inch squares, so you'll roll them out a bit larger, bake them and trim off the edges.8. Lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper with flour. Place the chilled dough on top. Roll side to side and up and down to make a rough square shape. While you roll, make frequent quarter-turns so that the dough remains even.9. Roll until dough is about 10-by-10 inches and a generous 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. (Any dough left after the squares have been prepared can be rolled out 1/4-inch thick and used for cookies.) In the oven, the slab will rise to about 3/8- or 1/2-inch thickness, which will make the house extra sturdy.10. Bake, in batches, for 25 to 30 minutes, until even and firmly set. Place pans on racks to cool. To prevent bending and cracking, carefully transfer to racks by lifting parchment paper. When completely cool, stack the slabs, still on parchment, and set aside to dry out at room temperature for three to seven days.
You'll want to use a bread knife or another large, sharp knife to trim off the edges, but use a smaller knife to cut out the door and a 2-inch round cookie cutter for the window. If you'd rather not bother with those two, you can always draw them on with icing instead.
Once you're done cutting, you should have a front and back wall, two side walls, two roof pieces and a door. Save any remnants: They can be used later for decorating.
A printable template for cutting the slabs is available at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/04/dining/gingerbread-house-template.html.
» Measure out and mark a 9-inch square onto the slabs, usng the template, a ruler or a 9-inch square of parchment or cardboard. Using a bread knife or another large, sharp knife, trim off the edges of all five slabs. Save the trimmings for later use.
» To cut the front and back walls, reserve the smoothest, most unblemished gingerbread square for the front of your house. Using the template as a guide, cut two of the corners to make the top into a peaked shape. Take a second gingerbread square, and, again using the template, cut it to match. Set this piece aside. It will serve as your back wall.
» For the side walls, use the template to cut one 9-inch square in half.
» For the roof, set aside the last two 9-inch squares.
» To cut the back wall, place the trimmed front wall on top of it and cut to match, following the lines of the front wall.
» For the side walls, cut one 9-inch square in half, to make two rectangles, each one 9 inches tall and 4 1/2 inches wide.
» For the roof, set aside the final two squares. You'll use the whole pieces.
Making a stained-glass window
You don't have to make a stained-glass window for your gingerbread house, but it's an easy way to make the project truly special.
» To start, heat the oven to 350 degrees. On the front wall, cut out a window, using a 2-inch round cutter. Lift out the gingerbread circle, and discard - or eat! (Feel free to put a window on the back wall as well, or to use a different shape of cookie cutter, like a star or a diamond.)
» For each window, unwrap three hard candies. Red, yellow or green work best, but you'll most likely want to stick to a single color. Using a large knife, cut them into three pieces. Place the blade on top of each candy and lean your weight onto it from above; it will snap into pieces.
» Place the wall on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Put the candy pieces in the circle in a single layer (you may have some left over).
» To bake, lay a sheet of parchment paper or a baking mat on top of the gingerbread slab, then another sheet pan on top of that. The weight of the top pan will prevent the melted candy from oozing out onto the bottom pan. Slide it all into the oven, and bake for 15 minutes.
» Remove from the oven, place on a rack and let cool at least 10 minutes. Lift the weighted sheet pan and let the wall cool completely, until the candy is hardened. To remove, lift the wall, gently peeling the liner from the candy.
» Once it is cool, you can pipe a thin horizontal, and then a vertical, line of icing across the window, dividing it into a grid, or simply leave it alone.
Assembling the house
After baking, cutting and piping designs on the walls comes the trickiest stage: assembling the house. Many a gingerbread-house builder has watched in frustration as one side falls while another is being put up. But with the aid of some savvily placed props and some sturdy royal icing, you can quickly move on to the last - and best - part: adding the finishing touches. To assemble the house, you'll first raise the front wall, then the side walls and finally, slide the back wall into place. The roof pieces go on last.
» To start, use a 9-inch square template to pipe a thick line of icing onto a sturdy board, like a wood or canvas painting panel, or an inexpensive cutting board, about 18- or 20-inch square. Then take the front wall, and place the bottom edge on top of one line of icing. Prop the wall up as it dries with a can, jar or mug.
» Wait a few minutes between the steps to allow the icing to harden slightly. If the square you drew begins to harden, add more icing.
» Next, pipe the icing up along the straight edges of the front wall. Press the short edges of the side walls against the iced edges of the front wall and down into place.
» Make sure that the front wall sits inside the side walls at the corners. (This is important because it will ensure the roof fits correctly.) This kind of corner makes for a sturdy house.
» Pipe more icing into both of the corner seams to strengthen the seal, and prop up the side walls with a mug or jar.
» Next, place the back wall: Pipe icing along the line you drew for the base of the back wall. Pipe icing up the edges of the side wall, and press the back wall into place inside the side walls. Let dry at least 30 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure the walls are straight and the icing seals are holding. Add more icing as needed.
» When the four walls are dry, place the roof, one side at a time. To do so, pipe a thick line of icing along the slanted edges of the house and along the top of the side wall. Gently place the roof slab, adjusting so that the top of the roof lines up with the peak of the house.
» If the slab wants to slide down, remove it, add more icing and place again, propping it up from beneath with a ramekin or anything handy. Let it harden before attaching the other side. There will be a gap at the top, along the roofline. Fill it with icing.
» Finally, step away from the house and admire it extravagantly. If there are still rough edges or any errors you'd like to conceal, cover them with royal icing; it will all look like snow in the end.