Christmas Eve is when I make my ginger bread men and these houses however you can make them anytime during the holidays. Baking is my therapy and downtime. (The calm before the storm). The kitchen smells amazing with the warm spices.  The mini gingerbread houses are perfect for gifting, decorating mugs or having as place names.

What do I need to make Gingerbread Houses

You need a cutter or template to make gingerbread houses. Amazon have the cutters for less than £5. (Affiliate link) . You can alternatively make your own template with cardboard and this is what I initially used to do. You need 2 rectangles for the side of the house, 2 rectangles for the roof and two house shapes for the front and back of the house.

Ingredients for gingerbread biscuits

This is my go to recipe for all gingerbread biscuits. I like mine with more spice hence I use some masala chai powder. You can use all spice instead. I think a gingerbread biscuit should be packed with flavour, crunchy on the inside and slightly soft inside. That is exactly what this recipe will give you. This makes 10 mini houses.

Gingerbread Dough

• 125g softened salted butter 
• 175g light muscovado sugar
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 350g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp chai spice or all-spice mix

Royal Icing

• 1 tbsp meringue powder
• 4–5 tbsp water
• 335g icing sugar
• Granulated sugar for assembling 

How to make gingerbread houses

These houses may be a bit fiddly but once you make one you will get the idea.

Make the Dough

• Line baking trays with parchment or lining paste.
• Cream butter and sugar until smooth.
• Mix in golden syrup and egg.
• Add flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, and chai; mix or knead into a smooth dough.
• Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 180°C.

Roll & Cut

• Flour your surface and roll dough to 3–4mm thickness.
• Cut out house shapes: 2 roofs, 2 sides, 2 front/back per house.
• Leave 1 cm between cutouts; trim excess dough.
• Transfer to trays and re-roll trimmings as needed.
• Bake for 8–10 minutes until edges are golden.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.

Make Royal Icing

• Whisk meringue powder and water until frothy.
• Gradually add icing sugar until thick and pipeable.

Assemble Houses

• Melt sugar in a shallow pan (or use royal icing).
• Dip edges in melted sugar and stick pieces together.
• Start with sides, then attach roofs.
• Let houses set.

Decorate

Fill piping bag with icing and snip the tip. Pipe your houses and then add some edible decorations.

Serving Suggestions

These mini gingerbread houses are also known as mug toppers. It’s a great idea to have this with your hot drinks.

They are a great gift idea and brilliant on the table as place names.

Storage

These mini gingerbread houses keep well for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.

You can make the gingerbread dough beforehand and freeze it for a month or chill it for 3 days before using. If you freeze the dough ensure you thaw it fully before using.

Print Recipe SaveSaved!

Mini Gingerbread House Recipe

How to make the perfectly spiced gingerbread biscuits for the festive season. These cute gingerbread houses are great as place names on the table, gifting and as mug toppers.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Chilling time1 hour hr

Servings: 10 houses

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread Dough

• 125 g softened salted butter
• 175 g light muscovado sugar
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 350 g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp chai spice or all-spice mix

For the Royal Icing

• 1 tbsp meringue powder
• 4 –5 tbsp water
• 335 g icing sugar
• A couple of drops of orange essence optional

For assembling

• Granulated sugar or Royal icing

Instructions

Make the Gingerbread Dough

• Line two baking trays with parchment or lining paste ( see notes on lining paste)
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the golden syrup and egg and combine
• Add in the flour, bicarb, cinnamon, ginger & chai to the wet mixture to the flour mixture and mix with a spoon or Knead lightly to form a smooth dough.
• Cover in cling film and chill for about an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Roll & Cut the Mini Houses

• Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough to about 3–4mm thickness.
• Use mini gingerbread house templates or cutters to cut out your houses. For each house you need 2 roof pieces, 2 side walls and 2 front/back pieces (yes lots of cutting and calculations). Leave about 1 cm in between each cut out.
• Trim and remove the excess dough edges so you only have the cut out houses left on your baking tray. If you are rolling them on a work top , Transfer the cut outs onto the prepared trays, spacing them slightly apart. Combine the trimmings and roll them out again and repeat
• Bake for 8–10 minutes, or until the edges turn golden. When they come out of the oven the houses will be soft so you can trim any edges with a shape knife. I like to leave mine rustic
• Let the pieces cool completely on a wire rack—they firm up as they cool.

Make the Royal Icing

• In a mixing bowl, combine the meringue powder and water, whisking until frothy.
• Gradually add the icing sugar, whisking until thick, smooth, and pipeable.
• If needed, adjust consistency: More icing sugar = thicker “glue” and More water = smoother piping icing

Assemble the Houses

• Melt sugar on low heat in a shallow wide pan.
• Build your house by dipping the edges into the melted sugar then sticking it with the appropriate side * be careful because the sugar is hot. It is easy to start with the sides then the attach the roof pieces. If you don’t want to use melted sugar to assemble the houses, you can use the royal icing. Let them set

Decorate

• Add icing into a piping bag fitted and either add a small tip at the end or cut a little bit off to make a hole.
• Pipe snowy rooftops, door outlines, icicles, or tiny window frames. Add sprinkles, sugar pearls, or whatever festive patterns you like.

Notes

I prefer to roll out my biscuits onto a baking tray and trim it there. This way i do not need to lift the cookies every time and change their shape. I use https://mostlyfoodandtravel.com/best-baking-hack-for-perfect-cake-release/ . You only need a thin layer. 

You can use this recipe to make a Gingerbread Tree. Need more Christmas inspiration. The link below has chocolate bombs, santa pancakes, cinnamon palmiers and pear and chai savarin.

Neha