Welcome To Day 22 Of “25 Days Of Christmas Sweet Treats”!
Last year I did “25 Days Of Christmas Cookies“. Please click the link to find all those wonderful recipes and please check back here every day for Christmas Sweet Treats all the way up until Christmas Day!
I am so excited for Christmas! How about you? I know I have asked a few times already but I know some people wait till the very last minute to do just about everything and for many different reasons.
Today was a lot of fun for me and as a bonus it has snowed. PERFECT DAY.
We make a Gingerbread House every year since we’ve been married. Mind you, they have not all been “homemade”, you know, making and baking your own gingerbread. There have been several times where the thought of it all was a bit much and so in the past we have bought the Wilton or Wonka sets from whatever store.
Then there are those other times, where you have the energy and space & time to tackle the whole project. Today was that day for me and my husband. We turned on the Christmas music and got to baking, cutting and decorating our 2013 Gingerbread House.
It really was fun! Before we did anything we cut out our “blue prints” for a pretty simple and basic design. Some day we will go for a prize winning design but simple is also very fun and beautiful.
We always use Royal Icing to put our houses together. It always works well and dries super fast, it’s a wonderful kind of putty.
I would also recommend it being a 2 day process for the simple fact of fully drying out the gingerbread after it’s been baked but if you are like me (us) and don’t want it to be so drawn out, just let it rest for a few hours before assembling.
Merry Christmas!!
Feel Free To Use Whatever Icing You Desire. I Used A Royal Icing Recipe From Wilton.
- 5 Cups Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Ginger
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 Teaspoon Cloves
- 1 Cup Solid White Shortening
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1¼ Cups Molasses
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- Thoroughly mix together the flour, soda, salt and spices.
- In a saucepan melt the shortening. Let it cool slightly and add the sugar and molasses. Add eggs when cool.
- Add the oil mixture to your mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Add 4 cups of the flour. Mix together thoroughly. Add remaining flour a little at a time to make a stiff dough.
- Roll out the dough on the back of greased cookie sheets to about ⅛th inch thick. Lay your pattern pieces on top and cut out with a pizza cutter. Place cookie sheets in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, you can skip this too.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 6 minutes for smaller pieces and up to 12 for the larger pieces like the roof. Let set on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Let pieces dry overnight before assembling, or if you are impatient just let them dry out for a few hours at least.
