Best Gingerbread House Cookies Recipes

GINGERBREAD (FOR COOKIES OR A GINGERBREAD HOUSE)

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves to boiling, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat; stir in soda (it will foam up).
• Stir in margarine till melted.
• With a fork, stir in egg, then flour.
• On a floured surface, knead dough till mixed. Divide dough in half, wrap half with plastic wrap; set aside.
• Roll half the dough, with a rolling pin, slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.
• Cut with cutters.
• Bake at 325F on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
• Makes about 3 dozen 3" gingerbread people.
• NOTE: We make houses by cutting out our house design (the 2 sides of the roof, two sides, a front and a back of the house) on graph paper, and then placing the graph paper shapes on the dough and cutting the dough shapes out with a knife.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses and orange zest. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to creamed mixture alternately with water, mixing well after each addition. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until easy to handle. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 3-1/2-in. gingerbread house cookie cutter dipped in flour. If desired, create windows using very small cutters of various shapes. , Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Use icing or frosting and food coloring to decorate cooled cookies as desired.

EASY GINGERBREAD HOUSE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, water and egg until dough forms. Divide dough in half.
• Working with half of dough at a time, roll out on floured surface into 9x6-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle into 6 (3-inch) squares. Place 4 squares on ungreased cookie sheet. Cut remaining 2 squares diagonally in half to form 4 triangles. Place 1 triangle on one side of each square for roof; press dough to seal.
• Bake 8 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Decorate with frosting and candies.

GINGERBREAD MAN COOKIES /HOUSE

Steps:

• Warm molasses in a saucepan or microwave, but do not boil just to soften. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Let cool.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
• Add butter mixture and egg and mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour until dough becomes stiff enough to roll.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.
• Divide dough in half. Place each half between sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick. I also roll in between sil pads. And I find just rolling out on a slip pad is easy. Refrigerate one half while you roll out the other half, so dough is kept cold.
• For Cookies:.
• Dip the plastic cookie cutter in flour and cut shapes. I found without the flour was fine and had no problem with release from the metal cookie cutter. Place on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely on wire racks, then decorate cookies as desired.
• For houses:.
• Roll out dough right onto the bottom side of cookie pan or on a edge free cookie pan that is lined with parchment. Maximum thickness for dough should be 3/8-inch. For houses larger than 6 inches square, use 1/4-inch thickness and for smaller houses, use 1/8-inch. Weight-bearing walls should be just slightly thicker. Place the template and cut house pieces using a ruler to guide for smooth straight edges. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Proceed with decorating.

BEST SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES (PLUS GB HOUSE TIPS)

Steps:

• 1. Place cloves in hot water; set aside. Cream shortening and sugar. Add egg and beat. Add molasses, beat. Remove cloves from water, discard cloves. Add clove water, beat. *Dough will look "curdled". Add rest of ingredients, except the last 4 cups flour, and beat. Gradually beat in last 4 cups flour. Chill dough. Roll out to 1/2" thick or slightly less. (1/4" if you like your cookies crispy.) Cut into shapes. Decorate with raisins if desired. Place carefully onto ungreased cookies sheet. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake. *GB House directions: Make dough the same as above, but roll dough out thin, 1/4" at most. Bake in 325 oven for about 20 minutes. Remove to racks to cool, and let harden/dry out a bit overnight for sturdiness if making large pieces. *Doors and windows need to be cut out PRIOR to baking. Fill any with crushed hard candy before baking, too. And pieces filled with hard candy baked the best on foil. Non candy-filled pieces were baked on parchment paper. These directions are for houses that are not meant to be eaten. If making one to be eaten, just roll the dough the same as per the cookie directions. (My house above was a "look at" house! LOL!) We donated it to the children's wing at our local public library for the kids to play with and enjoy! They LOVED it! :D Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

GINGERBREAD COOKIES FOR GINGERCAKE HOUSE

Steps:

• Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
• Cream butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and molasses; mix 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in the flour mixture. Halve dough; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. Using a 1 1/4-inch scalloped square cookie cutter, make 80 pieces for roof, walkway, and small window; use a 1 1/2-inch scalloped square cutter to make 2 pieces for large windows. Using a scalloped pastry wheel, cut out 8 pieces trim (9 by 1/2 inch each), a 3-by-2-inch door, 2 squares (2 inches each) for doghouse roof, and a 1-inch arched door for the doghouse. Transfer to lined sheets; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Use a wooden skewer to make decorative holes along edges of trim, doors, and windows. Bake until set and edges are just beginning to darken, about 12 minutes. Transfer on parchment to a wire rack; let cool completely before decorating. Let icing dry at least 3 hours.