Why You Should Never Use A Cookie Recipe To Make A Homemade Gingerbread House

Making a gingerbread house is one of the most fun, creative, and whimsical things you can do during the holiday season. From a simple little four-wall cabin to elaborate mansions decorated with gumdrops and sugar icicles, you could spend an afternoon or you could spend several days putting one of these together. Kids have a ton of fun doing them, and you can even buy gingerbread house kits, some of which are pretty good. But if you're doing it the old school way, make sure you're choosing the right recipe. Gingerbread cookies made for snacking are not the kind of gingerbread you want for building a house.

No doubt you've noticed that a gingerbread house tends to be a lot thinner, harder, and drier than a typical cookie. That's very intentional, as gingerbread houses are designed to be structurally sound. Pastry chef Katherine Sprung, when going over mistakes people make with gingerbread houses, told us, "A gingerbread cookie is going to be softer and more flavorful, since those are really meant to be eaten." While you could have some success building a house out of them, the more elaborate the design gets, the less stable it will be. If you put a roof on top and decorate it, the whole thing could easily collapse. You need to find a proper gingerbread house recipe to get it done the right way.

The thing to remember about a gingerbread house is that, while the intent is for all components to be edible, that's not the purpose of making one. If you wanted something to eat, wouldn't you just make gingerbread cookies? Gingerbread houses were historically made to show off the technique and creativity of the bakers. Competitions featuring extremely elaborate houses happen every year. In fact, in 2013, a gingerbread house was built in Texas that reached 60 feet high and 60 feet long. Grandma's cookie recipe couldn't handle that.

Because a gingerbread house is meant to be decorative rather than a snack item, the recipe is adjusted for strength. A typical gingerbread cookie recipe, such as one used for gingerbread men, includes leavening agents like baking soda. You want that cookie to rise a bit and have some body to it. Alternatively, if you're making a competition-level gingerbread house like a pro, you'd use a recipe that removes the leavening and increases the flour while swapping butter for shortening. That makes the taste less impressive but produces a stronger cookie. Our gingerbread recipe offers the best of both worlds by creating a strong cookie that still tastes good and can be eaten after decorating. The butter, baking soda, and focus on spices and sugar over flour in a traditional cookie recipe make it taste great but cause it to hold up poorly.

If you're in the mood to get festive with your architecture this Christmas season, use our Christmas gingerbread house recipe and start with a great foundation.