Reviewed: Dec. 15, 2008

This recipe is fantastic. I usually use a different recipe to make my gingerbread house, but decided to change it up this year as I've never been thrilled with the other one. I was a little skeptical at first, but I decided to give it a go. I did as others suggested and VERY carefully measured the flour and added it into the pan slowly using a spatula. I wasn't sure from the recipe instructions when to turn off the heat so I waited until I had some of the flour in the pan and mixed in then took the pan off the heat and stirred in the remaining flour. The dough was warm, but not too hot when I went to roll it out. I used my stenciles (cut out form a cereal box) to measure the dough on parchment paper and left it directly on the pan (it's difficult to move the large pieces from a rolling board) then when they came out of the oven, I immediately put the stencil on the still warm dough and used a pizza cutter to cut along the edges that were not straight and uniform any longer, this worked great to give me uniform sides and roof pieces that baked up perfectly flat (unlike my other recipe that would bubble and give a wobbly looking house). I love this icing/cement recipe too, I only made half and put it into my mechanical icing piper and it is still not cement hard! Makes it perfect for sticking pieces onto the house and decorating!! thanks!

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Katrina

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Dec. 12, 2008

I worked with this recipe for about two hours last night only to run out of dough at the end. I was only making one house but there's not enough for the roof. The dough got crumbly fast so I also did the microwave thing. We all have the day off from school today (snow day in Maine!) so my son's and I will try to put the finished parts together (sans roof) and see what happens!! Thanks for the recipe. I'll try again next year. Merry Christmas! :-)

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bevvie

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Nov. 21, 2008

If you are looking for a strong firm gingerbread that will not spread or warp this is it. BUT, having said that, you need to realize that this is not your typical cookie dough recipe. This is a HOT cookie dough and if you let it cool down you will have a crumbly mess. I followed other reviews and added the hot mixture to the dry (minus one cup of flour for my double batch) and mixed until combined. To roll out the dough I covered my cookie sheet with parchment and microwaved a large handful of dough for 25-40 seconds until it was very warm and soft. Working quickly I rolled the dough out on my prepared cookie sheet cut out my pattern and removed the (by now) crumbling dough extras. My pieces took between 15-18 min. to bake but I was making large walls mostly. Once I removed them from the oven I quickly put my pattern back on the cooked pieces and trimed the edges to ensure that my building's edges were straight. This recipe was VERY different from anything I have worked with before but the results were just what I was looking for. This is not a recipe for beginning cooks but if you are up for a challenge give it a try. Just remember it needs to be warm!!!!!

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Beth

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Nov. 19, 2007

I gave it 4 stars because I tweeked the recipe to make it a 5 star! What I did different: I used 4 3/4 cups of flour instead of 5. And I added a little bit of cinnamon and cloves to make it smell yummy. I put all the dry ingredients into my mixer bowl then proceeded to make the shortening, molasses, sugar mix. After I melted the shortening on the stove and mixed in the sugar and molasses, I added it to my mixer bowl (that already held the flour mixture in it.) mixed throroughly for about 1 minute. I formed it into a big ball, then I put it all into a gallon sized ziploc bag. From there, I took 1/3 of the dough out of the ziploc and rolled it out onto parchment paper, did the cutouts and removed the excess(instead of the cutouts). Slid the parchment onto a cookie sheet and baked in the oven for 5-7 minutes. If the dough in the ziploc hardened, I popped it into the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds. The dough was warm to work with but easier. I didn't use any flour when rolling the dough out. It is fairly greasy dough if you warm it in the microwave. Just work quick and if it gets hard, put in micro. The pieces of my house turned out nice and hard. Perfect to build with!!! Good luck.

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DOODYBUG1

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Loomis, California, USA

Living In: Prescott Valley, Arizona, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 24, 2006

I should have read the reviews prior to starting. As with most people, this came out very crumbly, we added another 1/4 C. oil to mix. It was very hard to work so we rolled it out directly on the greased cookie sheet and cut pieces to size, left the pieces on the cookie sheet removed the excess and baked the peices. The end result was a great looking house, just a little hard to work the dough.

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JONIRENE

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Dec. 20, 2006

this was more the consistancy of graham cracker powder by the time it finished mixing, it did not hold up well at all, it was nearly impossible to roll out and to get the shapes measured out right, i would not recomend this recipe to a beginning baker at all

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sarah

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Reviewed: Dec. 16, 2006

I had success building this gingerbread house but did have to start over because I didn't roll out the dough soon enough and it got to be too stiff. But it was fun to decorate and fairly easy to cut out using the gingerbread diagram on allrecipes.

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Kate Linske

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Okemos, Michigan, USA

Living In: Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte D'azur, France

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Reviewed: Dec. 14, 2006

Crumble, Crumble, Crumble mess. I had to microwave dough and add corn syrup to smooth it out enough to work with. I don't know how the recipe found its way into the book but, hats off to those who can pull this one off.

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BLOOP30

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Reviewed: Dec. 12, 2006

I tried this recpe and the dough became crumbly. I don't know what happened, I went by the directions and I ended up throwing it away.

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Denise M

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Reviewed: Dec. 23, 2005

The dough comes out very crumbly, it comes out to the consistency of pie crust, only slightly more crumbly still. I read the reviews and they were very helpful, thanks everyone! This was my first house and it came out good. I used a combination of heating in the microwave and sprinkling water on it and with that i was able to get the shapes cut. Also the recipe says it yeilds 1 house, i think maybe that should have been more specific, i had to make two batches to make the house. And these are also very strong on the molasses (they taste like molasses cookies) but they taste good. All in all good recipe is great but hard for the beginner

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jamc100

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Mancelona, Michigan, USA

Living In: Traverse City, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2005

The dough came out a bit crumbly, but I just pressed it into my mold and it baked out wonderful. Thanks!!

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bakerbaker

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2005

This was my second gingerbread house attempt. I ended up adding an extra cup of shortening to it to try to fix the crumbly mess I got, and I was only able to make wall-shapes after re-melting the crumbles (and burning it) on the stovetop. However, the walls certainly were hard and stable, especially after re-burning them in the oven. It doesn't really matter what they looked like or tasted like, though, because if you cover it up with enough icing and candy no one can tell anyway.

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HORSEFLESH

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Granville, Ohio, USA

Living In: Columbus, Ohio, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2005

This recipe goes against all "rules" of typical rolled cookies. This dough needs to be *hot* to be workable, and I wouldn't use any flour at all while rolling - the shortening keeps the dough from sticking to anything, and extra flour just makes a goo out of the oil. I microwaved the dough for about 10-20 seconds between each rolling, and the results seem fine and strong. The flour-to-liquid ratio is critical in this recipe. I was very light-handed with the flour, and it turned out fine. You might want to sift the flour first, or spoon it very lightly into the measuring cup. I also doubled the spices and added 2 t. cinnamon and 1 t. allspice for extra flavor. I was able to make 2 6-inch square roof pieces, 2 5x5-inch side walls, and 2 front/back pieces extending up to 7 inches tall - and I still had plenty of leftover dough for trees, a chimney, etc.

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JENSPIN

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Living In: Orlando, Florida, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 5, 2005

To all those who have tried this recipe and ended up with a crumbly mess (like me!) I have some valuable advice. Once you've melted the shortening, keep the heat on medium as you add the rest of the ingredients GRADUALLY using a whisk to mix it in, rather than dumping all the dry ingredients in all at once. Keeping it over the heat helped keep it warm and pliable. It's amazing how much of a difference this all made. It turned out PERFECTLY and I will be sure to use this recipe every year!

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kats_snguyen

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Reviewed: Dec. 21, 2004

My first time doing a gingerbread house and working with gingerbread dough. I worked the dough in between plastic wrap and it made it so much more workable. It was perfect as well as the frosting.

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family of five

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Racine, Wisconsin, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 12, 2004

This was the first time i've ever made a gingerbread house... i found that while the dough was still warm it was easy to work with..as it cooled down i had to add water because it got crumbly..i thought it was a great recipe..the frosting was also excellent glue! i will definately use them both again.

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JEWLSIS

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Reviewed: Dec. 21, 2003

This is a great recipe that doesn't puff too much for houses. As other reviewers have noted, it is a bit crumbly so I sprinkled warm water on the dough, mixed it in by hand when necessary and it was perfectly workable. Thanks for the great recipe!

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SANDRA DEE

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Reviewed: Dec. 19, 2003

This recipe is great, but to make it easier for the beginner to work with, I'd suggest taking the yolks from the eggs --you're using 2 whites for the frosting - and add them to the dough mixture. Any good baker knows not to pack flour either, the only ingredient you usually ever pack is brown sugar, so be sure to measure flour by sifting or spooning and level it carefully with the blade of a knife and you'll have a terrific house. The icing works great even heavy things like ribbon candy can be 'glued on' with it. This was a fun little house to build.

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THUNDERINGOAK

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Reviewed: Dec. 17, 2003

This was a great recipe. It was my first attempt at making a gingerbread. A word of advice, I cut the flour by about 1/4 cup, and before each side was rolled, I microwaved the dough for a few seconds to keep it warm and pliable. (It crumbled when I didn't do this)The frosting is great. We were able to "glue" the house and have it set within 20 minutes. I'll definitely do this again next year. Thanks!

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CTISOR803

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Reviewed: Nov. 29, 2003

This was my first attempt at making a Gingerbread house. This is an excellent, easy recipe. Thanks to Doris C for the advice. It was helpful and made the dough perfect. This will defintely become a family tradition.(Even my husband had fun helping!!!)

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schutzie

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