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The Easiest Way To Make A Gingerbread House

December 22, 2020

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Every year we make a gingerbread house from a kit.

This year we baked our own with a molded pan and it was fabulous. Here are all the DIY details!

Sugar Cookie Gingerbread House

We've been making gingerbread houses around here at Christmastime for as long as I can remember.

I guess you could call it a tradition. 

It didn't start out that way. I mean I never made them as a child.

And frankly, I don't even like gingerbread.

But one cold, holiday weekend, when the kids were small and bored, I dipped into my kindergarten teacher bag of tricks and pulled out the milk carton gingerbread house plans.

You remember those.

They were a crafty Christmas staple back in the day. And who knows they may still be. It's been a long time since anyone here was in a primary classroom.

The basic idea was, you gathered small lunch size milk cartons, slapped some royal frosting on the sides and roof, pushed on a few graham crackers and candy and poof! Instant gingerbread house.

The kids had a ball making them, so we indulged them. It was messy, but entertaining.

Then about a decade ago, the kits came out. How wonderful.

Everything you needed to make a house or castle or village came in the box. And with a 40% off coupon, they were reasonable.

However, this year, my daughter used her time during lockdown to learn how to bake. And bake she did. She made everything from lemon bars and chocolate chip cookies to shortbread cookies and pumpkin pie.

And all from scratch.

So when a friend told me she was having a Pampered Chef party, I figured why not join? Maybe I could find something fun for my little baker.

Pampered Chef Cookie House Molds

Well, needless to say, I bought several things. Among them a gingerbread house mold kit. 

To be honest, I was a little bit skeptical about the process and the pans. I've tried these things before and they haven't worked out. Early on in the house making game, I got a pan from Williams Sonama and it was disappointing.

The recipe was heavy, the cake never came out of the pan in one piece and it rusted after two seasons.

So let's just say I didn't have high hopes.

Which is why I'm sharing today, because friends, it was fantastic!! And I'm rarely this enthusiastic about anything that has to do with cooking. Seriously.

I was so taken with it, I decided to post in case anyone else wanted to give it a try.

How To Make A Pampered Chef Gingerbread House


To start, I want to state that we did not use gingerbread. We cheated - I do this often - and made our house with sugar cookie batter.

Like I said, we're not big fans of gingerbread, and while it does smell great, I didn't have the ingredients necessary, so we went basic.

If you would like to make it the right way, the pan does come with its own recipe.

We started by making the batter, greasing up the pans and baking them according to the directions. 

When they came out of the oven, we let them cool, again, as directed. When it was time to remove them from the pan, I was sure we were headed for disaster.

Gingerbread House Mold

However, to my total shock and surprise, the panels just lifted out, in one piece. No harm, no foul. Amazing. 

At this point, we abandoned the instruction sheet and followed our gut. I didn't look, it might say something about trimming the pieces. Or not. But we did.

Cutting Edges On Gingerbread House Mold

Using a butter knife, we just trimmed off any pieces that were jagged or uneven.

Basically anything that would keep the sides from adhering well to one another and sitting straight.

How To Make A Gingerbread House

Next up, it was time to make our "glue". In the past, I've used royal frosting. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Either way, I was never a fan.

Then someone suggested caramelized sugar. Perfect. 

It was super simple to make. You just place the sugar in a pot and heat it, stirring well, until it turns to liquid.

Heat Sugar Until Liquid

The one caveat here is that it's hot, folks.

And I mean super hot.

So hot that I dropped a teeny bit of it on my finger and now I have a nasty blister kind of hot. So please, please, please be careful if you try this.

Once the sugar was in a liquid form, we dipped each side of the house into it and pushed the pieces together.

Everything stuck almost immediately.

Building A Gingerbread House

It was like cement. Except it tasted really good. Well, once it cooled down. 

While we were waiting, we frosted a few ice cream cone trees to add around the house.

Frosted Ice Cream Cone Trees

Next up, it was time to decorate. This is another place we used to run into trouble. Everything looks great until you try to add a gumdrop.

Then you risk collapse.

But ours didn't.

It held up through those gumdrops and candy nutcrackers. It stood strong when we frosted the roof and decorated the door.

That sucker didn't budge at all, no matter what we stuck to it.

Frosting A Gingerbread House

When we were happy with our cottage and its forest of evergreens, we gave it a dusting of powdered sugar snow.

And like I said, it was fantastic!

Pampered Chef Gingerbread House

Easy to make.

The pans performed like they stated they would- always a bonus.

Plus, we can continue our family tradition with a homemade, home baked holiday house from now on.

And for a DIY clan, what could be better than that?

Merry Christmas, friends!! 🎄🎄



Kim Signature


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  1. Awwww this is too cute. Love it and it looks better than any of those kits. Super sweet.
    Hugs. Kris

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    1. Thanks Kris! We aren't the best at decorating...we tend to eat more of the candy than goes on the house, but the structure itself was awesome! Hugs to you and Merry Christmas!! 🎄

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    1. Thanks Penny! It’s always a fun activity.

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  3. I always forget about the Pampered Chef, thanks for the reminder. This looks fabulous. My 60year old child always wants to make a gingerbread house. I'll decide and we may give it a shot next year.

    Cindy

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    1. I own a few things from them, but I have to say, I love them all. This was an impulse purchase and I checked out the reviews, but you never really know until you try it yourself. We were very happily surprised with the results. I say let him try it!

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  4. Goodness! That turned out great! I have never made gingerbread houses because they looked so complicated. I love how yours turned out.

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    1. Oh Briana, if I can do it, anyone can! This was super easy and I think it was sturdy enough to hold up with plain frosting...which is even easier than the sugar method.

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  5. I recently went to a Pampered Chef party (I love their stuff) and I saw that pan. So cool!
    I love how yours turned out.

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    1. Thanks Mari! It was definitely worth the price and I think it'll pay for itself after two houses!

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  6. It's wonderful...just the fact of doing something special that our kids and grandkids can remember is what is important (and most wonderful). I now have two grandkids (17 & 14). We used to make sugar cookies every year, but they outgrew that:( However, the absolute BEST tradition I started with them is the PICKLE HUNT. In fact, we will be doing it today...and we've been doing it even before granddaughter (14) was born. I know you visit my blog and you can read about past hunts there and I will probably post about this year's soon. You can also google the Legend of the Pickle. I tend to do it a little differently because when they were little I didn't want one of them to be disappointed (so I made up my own rules:) Then I eventually added more to it to make it even more fun. I asked my 17 yr. old grandson this year if he had outgrown it and he quickly assured me NO, he had NOT:) I know it is a tradition they will always remember and hopefully they will carry it on with their children and grandchildren...and that someday I will look down from Heaven and see that the tradition I started is still going strong and still bringing smiles to children's faces:)

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    1. I think it's wonderful that the kids still want to take part, Cheri! That means they really enjoy it and they'll remember it when they're grown up and may even do it for their own children. What could be better than that?? Happy New Year, my friend!

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  7. Again in Kim style, perfectly executed!! Well done (and I'm not talking about the Gingerbread house!)

    Merry Christmas Kim!

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    1. Thank you, Christine. All the best for a healthy and blessed 2021.

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  8. Wow! Kim what a beautiful gingerbread house. That looks like the perfect thing to make for the holidays. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas!

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    1. Thank you, Julie! I hope it was a lovely Christmas. All the best in 2021!

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  9. Kim, that is the sweetest little gingerbread house. It looks very old fashioned and hand done which is the best kind. How sweet that you have your girls to help. A very cute and delightful display. Have a wonderful Christmas my friend. I'm glad that you all live together so you can celebrate together. We will be talking on the phone a lot Christmas Day. Stay well in the New Year and celebrate!..xxoJudy

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    1. I hope it was a lovely holiday, Judy and thank you for the kind comments and wishes!! xo

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  10. Merry Christmas, I do like the idea. We bought a kit last season. We chose a barn, it was fun to make.
    When the boys where little we did the fun ones you create using graham crackers.

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    1. Those kits are so much fun, Carla. You can get really creative. Now that we know this works, we might add outbuildings next year! Happy New Year!! xxoo

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  11. Wowee, wow, wow! Your sugar cookie house is fantastic, Kim! And what an adorable scene you created in the finale. I love how you just jump in and boldly try new things, always doing it "your way". Merry Christmas! Hugs, Nancy

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    1. Thanks Nancy! It's easy to jump when you're holding hands with some very willing partners. Hugs!!

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  12. This looks like so much fun! I hope you had lovely Christmas, dear Kim.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. Thank you Amalia. All the best in 2021. xo

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    2. I've never tried to make one...kit or otherwise, but that one looks so pretty. Hope it tasted good! It is a nice tradition, but I get lazy at Christmas.

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    3. It was fun to make, Florence! And we ate the candy and the scraps we cut off the house. They were good!!

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