Oh Snap! Homemade Gingerbread Recipes

Making a gingerbread house is a traditional holiday activity. For 2018, add a few other tasty gingerbread treats to your holiday cookie making and even check out easy ways to make a gingerbread house.

Make and Decorate Cute Gingerbread Cookies

Easy to make from scratch and fun to decorate, use this simple recipe to kick off the holiday.

3/4 cup room temperature butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup molasses

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses.

Mix all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves). Add dry ingredient mixture slowly to the butter mixture. When thoroughly combined, roll into two balls and chill for a few hours.

Roll dough on a floured surface. Use cookie cutters to create shapes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Cool on racks before decorating. Use royal icing and any assortment of sprinkles and candies to decorate.

Creating a Traditional Gingerbread House

Learning how to make a homemade gingerbread house takes patience, but it is totally worth it.  Download templates from the internet to shape the walls. Making the gingerbread is easily made with flour, ginger, cinnamon and other spices combined with shortening and molasses. Depending on the template you use, you may need to make a few batches. Mix up Royal Icing by combining a pound of powered sugar with 3 tablespoons of powdered egg whites and 6 tablespoons of water. Use this icing as the glue to hold the house together, the cement to attach decorations, and to add icing touches.

If you want a quicker way to make a holiday treat house, get creative. Use graham crackers to cover a small box or carton to create the house. Try pretzel rods to make your own log cabin. Wafer cookies make great building blocks. Beyond the candy cottage, use shredded wheat cereal for roof shingles for a holiday barn and marshmallows to build snowmen.

Yummy Gingerbread Fudge

For a twist on a familiar flavor, try marrying two traditions of the holiday: fudge and gingerbread. Add 1 teaspoon ginger, cinnamon, and allspice to a mixture of 12 ounces melted white chocolate and 1 cup of condensed milk. Once combined, pour into a butter coated glass baking dish. Dot with colored sugar or sprinkles and let set before cutting.

Whatever your tradition, the most important thing is to enjoy the time spent together. Document your gingerbread houses or your baking. Have a decorating contest. Most of all, have some fun!