Basic Gingerbread Dough and Icing Recipes

Gingerbread Dough 

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups molasses

2 eggs, beaten 

In large saucepan, melt shortening on stove over low heat. While shortening is melting, in a separate bowl stir together flour, salt and spices (if using for cookies, add 1 tsp. baking soda). When shortening is half melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until completely melted. Add sugar, molasses and beaten eggs. Mix well and quickly (to prevent eggs from cooking). Add molasses mixture to flour mixture. Mix well. Dough will be soft. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle. 

When dough is firm enough to handle, remove from refrigerator and let sit until room temperature (about an hour). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prevent aluminum foil from slipping, wipe counter with wet sponge then smooth aluminum foil over damp counter. This will prevent the foil from slipping while dough is being rolled out.

Working with a small handful of dough (about the size of a baseball), roll dough onto aluminum foil that has been sprinkled with flour. Sprinkle dough with flour to prevent dough from sticking to rolling-pin. 

IF DOUGH IS TOO STIFF, MICROWAVE FOR 10-15 SECONDS TO SOFTEN THE DOUGH.

Roll dough to about 1/8” thickness. Place gingerbread house pattern pieces onto dough and cut-out dough pieces (don't forget to cut out windows). A pizza cutter works great for cutting out walls and roof sections. Remove excess dough pieces. Lift entire piece of foil and place on large cookie sheet.

Place cookie sheet in oven. Check frequently to prevent burning. Bake until golden brown. Large pieces may bake as long as 14 minutes. Smaller pieces might take 6 – 7 minutes. Unused dough may be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks (bring to room temperature and knead briefly to use again). To prevent from sagging, I bake my roof sections until dark brown, almost burnt. 

When dough pieces are done baking, remove baking sheet from oven. Quickly lift foil from baking sheet and place on a flat area for gingerbread pieces to cool. If pieces have distorted while baking, while still warm, run knife or pizza cutter along sides of walls/roof sections to create a straight edge. If pieces have curled up during baking, while still warm, gently push edges down to lay flat. 

With gingerbread pieces still on the foil, let cool overnight. Next day – gently peel foil off of gingerbread pieces. You are now ready to assemble, or add windows!
 

Royal Icing - Glue Frosting

3 tablespoons meringue powder

6 Tablespoons warm water

1 pound powder sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon Vanilla or Almond flavoring

Note: 3 egg whites may be substituted for 3 tablespoons of meringue powder. Omit the water if using real egg whites.

Because this frosting dries quickly, and very hard, this is the recommended frosting to use for gluing together the walls and roof sections.

1. Keep all utensils completely grease-free. Combine all ingredients, mixing slowly with stationary mixer until peaks form. Beat at high speed for 7 to 10 minutes. This is important for the frosting to be soft enough to use with pastry bag.

2. This frosting is fast drying – keep bowl covered with a damp cloth. If icing is too thick when using fine tubes, add a few drops of water. For thicker icing, beat in a little extra confectioners sugar. Store leftover frosting, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for weeks. Re-beat before using again (if using real egg-whites, the frosting will not keep its cementing properties after the initial beating). This recipe makes about 3 cups of glue frosting.

Frosting Tip: When working with egg whites or meringue powder, keep all utensils grease-free. Any oil or grease will break down the frosting mixture. Note that the "decorators frosting" contains grease (shortening). When decorating, it is helpful to keep one bag exclusively to be used for "glue frosting", and another bag to be used for the decorators frosting. This helps to keep grease away from the "glue frosting". 

Decorating Frosting

2/3 cups water

4 Tablespoons Meringue Powder or 4 egg whites

12 cups powdered sugar (3 lbs.)

1 1/4 cup shortening

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla Flavoring

1 teaspoon Almond Flavoring

Decorators frosting works well for decorating, instead of the “Royal Icing / Frosting Glue”. This frosting is softer and does not dry (set) as fast. However, either frosting may be used for decorating.

Combine water and meringue powder. Whip at high speed until peaks form. Add 4 cups of sugar, one at a time, beating at low speed after each addition. Alternately add shortening and remaining sugar. Add salt and flavorings. Beat at low speed until smooth. Makes 7 cups. This icing can be stored for up to two weeks in an airtight container in refrigerator.

White frosting is good for decorating and adding candy to the house. If you have food coloring or frosting coloring, you can color some of this frosting to use as accent color in addition to adding candy to your house. Yellow, Green and Red frosting are good to use for accenting. Blue frosting is handy if you want to add a pond or creek as part of your landscape.

 

Ready-to-use Decorating Frosting

You can also purchase “Ready to Use“ Wilton Decorating Icing at most craft stores and grocery stores. This icing comes pre-packaged in tubes that accept Wilton standard size decorating tips and couplers. This icing is handy if you don’t have the time to prepare extra frosting for coloring, or if you only need a small amount of accent color (Red, Black, etc). “Ready to Use” icing should not be used to ASSEMBLE(glue) your gingerbread house.