Baking a Homemade Gingerbread House

          I’ve wanted to make a homemade gingerbread house for as long as I can remember.  I figured it would be too difficult, so I never tried.  I have made countless pre-baked, boxed gingerbread houses but you can only do so much with those.  They are so limiting.  They don’t taste very good either.  I think I have officially outgrown them and moved on to the next level of gingerbread house making.  I loved this whole process so much that I think I want to make it a new Christmas tradition.  My husband is really happy about this new tradition as well because he can’t stop breaking little bits off to eat.  

          I made this design and pattern myself.  It took a little while to figure out what I wanted it to look like and how it would all fit together.  I made a paper pattern and taped it all together to make sure it would work out.  I really wanted to make the pattern downloadable but I don’t have a scanner right now because it broke.  Because of the pandemic, I haven’t been able to buy a new one.  There seems to be a shortage.  Anyway, I can always do that next year when I am a little more experienced.  This house is kind of beginner level so it wouldn’t be too hard to replicate if you wanted to try it for yourself.  I know it doesn’t look perfect but I am totally fine with that because I honestly didn’t think it would even turn out at all.  

          This is the recipe that I used.  I’m not sure if it is a great recipe because this is my first time making gingerbread dough.  It tastes really good but you don’t have to bake the pieces for as long as the recipe says.  They started to burn in about half the recommended baking time.  I should have used a smaller piping tip for my icing but I didn’t think it would come out of the bag.  I have never used royal icing and it seemed to be super thick.  Other than that, I am really happy with the end result!  Merry Christmas!