Few images evoke the whimsical magic of the holidays as much as a brightly decorated gingerbread house, trimmed with snowy white icing and sparkling gumdrops, perhaps nestled in a frosty forest scene with a snowman. Lovely as it sounds, the thought of constructing such an edible display can be as intimidating as it is appealing, especially if kids are involved.
My sister, Anne, has been making fabulous gingerbread houses for over 15 years. We chatted recently about how she’s sustained this annual tradition of building gingerbread houses with her two boys.
“When I was little, mom would make these incredible gingerbread houses with stained glass windows and ornate little candies on the roof, but I wasn’t allowed to help or touch them,” she said. “They were beautiful, and I get that she wanted them to look a certain way, but still, I really wanted to help.”
Anne eventually started making her own holiday gingerbread houses when her boys were just infants and too small to participate. But, she said, as they grew up, “I really wanted them to be a part of this and so I had to let go of needing it to look exactly how I wanted it to look,” she said. “I wanted them to be able to help.”
Certain tasks, like baking and cutting the gingerbread, obviously need to be done by adults, but let the kids take the creative lead when it comes to decorating.
“If you want a gingerbread house that looks like Martha Stewart made it, then do it when the kids are not around – otherwise, it’ll just be stressful because they’re not doing it right. If you want the kids to have fun memories of it, just let them go wild,” Anne advised.
Find a trusted recipe and follow it
“I use the template and recipe from the New York Times and it makes a tonof dough,” Anne cautioned. “The recipe says to make in batches, and one year I thought I’d just make it all in one go because I have a really big mixer. That definitely didn’t go well.” King Arthur Flour is another source for an excellent recipe and template. Whichever recipe you choose, be sure to read it all the way through and assemble the ingredients before you start.
Manage the time
Creating a gingerbread house is a multi-day endeavor. Anne recommends chilling the dough overnight, then letting the gingerbread slabs rest for a day before cutting them into what will become the roof and walls. Don’t wait more than a day before cutting, she cautions, or they’ll be harder to cut. From there, she allows an additional two to three days for the gingerbread slabs to dry further before decorating and then another day for the decorated slabs to dry before erecting the house. “I plot the whole thing out over the course of a week,” she explains.
Decorate the walls first
Anne strongly advises decorating the slabs while they’re still flat. “It may seem less fun at first, but it really makes it so much easier because the icing can fully dry,” she said. She doesn’t bother with pastry bags and instead simply uses a zip-top plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Lay all the candy out and divide the icing into multiple bags so you can work simultaneously. If you have multiple kids, they can each work on their own wall.
Set the scene
As the boys have grown the houses, as well as the scenery around them, have become more intricate. “I use a big acrylic disk that’s large enough to set the house on and landscape it. I flood it with frosting because it dries hard and it lets you prop things up on the ‘lawn,’ she said. “Last year I actually made a real door in the house and put a little lighted bottle brush tree inside. There are even little presents inside. It tickles me so much!” she said with a laugh.
Ashley Meyer is a chef, freelance writer and mom of two based in Springfield.
This article appears in Parent Winter 2025.
