A (delicious) gingerbread A-frame cabin.

I LOVE gingerbread houses, but I don’t like how they usually sacrifice taste for the sake of design. Last year I challenged myself to make a gingerbread house that was cute AND delicious. There were three things I did here that I think really worked: 1) I started with a gingerbread recipe that tasted good; 2) instead of covering the roof with shredded wheat or gumdrops, I used homemade marshmallow; 3) I thought about each element being delicious, so even the isomalt windows are flavored with peppermint. None of these things hindered the design, and they all made my A-frame cabin delicious.

I adapted this NY Times recipe to make my gingerbread:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb of unsalted butter at room temperature (227 grams)

1 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar (300 grams)

6 cups + 3 tbsp of all purpose flour (825 grams)

1 heaping tablespoon of ground ginger

1 heaping tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of ground clove

3/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

1 cup of molasses (240 ml)

METHOD:

1. Sift your dry ingredients together.

2. Cream the butter and brown sugar with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until well blended and fluffy.

3. Add your eggs to the butter mixer and mix until fully combined.

4. Add the molasses, using a spatula to get every last bit and then taking this opportunity to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Now is the time to beat everything well, before you add the flour and then have to be careful about over-mixing.

5. Add the dry ingredients, in about three batches, scraping down the bowl as you go. By the last batch, the dough will be difficult to mix. Be patient and mix by hand if you need to.

6. Stop mixing once everything has been fully incorporated and separate the dough into four or more sections, individually wrapped, and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

7. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use templates to cut out your shapes.

9. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until edges are beginning to color and dough is set.

TO COMPLETE THE HOUSE:

You’ll need royal icing (I don’t have a recipe for this, but here’s one), isomalt (just follow the directions on the package and add a splash of peppermint extract), and homemade marshmallow (here’s my favorite).’

To make my exact design, download a PDF of the template I used by clicking on the button below.