Make these mini gingerbread houses during the Christmas break with the kids. They are very easy to make and perfect mug toppers to serve with homemade hot cocoa and marshmallows.

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Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients and substitutions
How to make small gingerbread house
2 - Assembly of the little house
3 - Decoration
Conservation
Mini Gingerbread House

Why you'll love this recipe

If you love gingerbread cookies and other Christmas cookies, then you'll love this version of mini gingerbread houses decorated with royal icing.

Like the gingerbread house or Christmas tree made with cookies, these mini gingerbread houses are very trendy during the holidays.

Make with Christmas sugar cookies dough flavored with gingerbread, a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and with molasses, which is the essential flavor of gingerbread.

To make mini gingerbread house, you can use a cookie cutter kit or simply print out my template on cardstock, which you can use to cut out each cookie piece.

The cookies are then glued together with royal icing, which is also used to decorate the tiny gingerbread houses to give that snow effect.

Make these small gingerbread houses for a decorating party with the kids who will have fun decorating them during the Christmas break at home.

>> See all the cookies and shortbread recipes on the blog

Ingredients and substitutions

Put on your apron to make these pretty gingerbread houses at home, here is the list of ingredients and substitutions. And to see the quantities, simply scroll down the page to see the recipe card.

Gingerbread house dough

Butter: Use only unsalted butter, which should be softened.
Brown sugar: a flavored sugar such as dark brown sugar or cane sugar.
Egg: at room temperature
Molasses: essential for the gingerbread, you can replace it with a mixture of honey and maple syrup (the cookies will have a more soft taste)
Flour: white wheat flour, which can be replaced with a gluten-free flour mix.
Spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves or a ready-made gingerbread mix or my homemade pumpkin pie spice.
Yeast: Baking soda or baking powder.
Vanilla and salt: Essential to bring out all the flavors.

Royal icing and decorations

Royal icing is a very simple white icing to make, this recipe is very easy and made up of only 2 ingredients, powdered sugar and water.

You can also color the cookie icing with food coloring gels to decorate gingerbread houses with colored royal icing.

Decoration :

Sugar: simply sprinkle granulated sugar over the icing for a pretty effect.
Sprinkles: sugar pearls, sprinkles, colored sugar, crushed candy canes and other sugar decorations.

⚠️ You will find the quantities and complete instructions in the recipe card at the end of the page.

How to make small gingerbread house

1 - Gingerbread dough

In a large bowl, combine softened butter and brown sugar and mix with an electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes until creamy.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again with a mixer to incorporate.

Tip: Use an electric mixer, for larger quantities use a stand mixer with the flat spatula attachment.

Add the molasses to the mixture and mix again with an electric mixer until well incorporated.

Tip: Molasses adds a very fragrant flavor to gingerbread, if you don't have any you can simply replace it with a mixture of honey and maple syrup.

Add dry ingredients

Add dry ingredients, flour, spices, baking soda and salt, previously mixed together and sift.
Mix with a mixer or by hand until you obtain a homogeneous dough.
Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Cutting the house pieces

>> Download the mini gingerbread house template

Roll out the cookie dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 3mm.
Place the dough disc in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, then cut out the gingerbread house pieces using the pattern that you cut out of the cardboard and a small dough knife.

Tip: To make a house you need 6 pieces, use 2 times each template piece to make one house.

Baking

Place each piece of dough on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 347°F / 170°C for about 8 -10 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool slightly before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tip: To get perfect shapes, place the dough pieces in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes before baking.

2 - Assembly of the little house

Prepare the 6 pieces needed to assemble a small house.
Using a piping bag filled with royal icing, pipe a small amount of icing onto the two sides of the house.
Then immediately glue the two sides together, pressing well (see photos).
Then add icing to all the joints and glue the 2 pieces of the roof.
If necessary, add more icing on all the joints to consolidate the house.
Let dry for about 20 minutes before decorating.

3 - Decoration

Decorate gingerbread house with the piping bag containing the royal icing.
Immediately sprinkle with sugar decorations before icing dries.
Let gingerbread houses dry completely at room temperature for one hour before eating.

Tip: The mini gingerbread houses are the perfect size to make a mug topper or to decorate a holiday table.

Conservation

Gingerbread houses can only be stored at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks. You can place them in a large storage box with a lid to protect them from humidity.

More Christmas cookies

More recipes for the holidays

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Mini Gingerbread House

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Author: Fadela
Total Time: 10 minute
Yield: 8 houses

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Description

Recipe for mini gingerbread houses decorated with homemade royal icing (for 8-9 mini houses)

Ingredients

Cookie dough

90 g (¾ stick) Butter - softened
75 g (⅓ cup) Brown sugar
1 Egg - small and room temperature
½ tsp Vanilla
80 g (¼ cup) Molasses - or honey and maple syrup mixture
250 g ( 1 ⅔ cups) Flour
½ tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch Ginger ground
1 pinch Nutmeg ground
1 pinch Cloves ground
1 pinch of salt

Royal icing

200 g (2 cups) Powdered sugar
20 g (1-2 tbsp) Water

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Instructions

Cookie dough:

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, salt, and spices (sift them together if possible).
In a large bowl, place the chopped and softened butter with the brown sugar and beat with an electric whisk or in a stand mixer with a flat spatula for 2 to 3 minutes until creamy and smooth.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and molasses and mix again for a good minute to incorporate.
Add the dry ingredients and mix with a mixer or by hand until you have a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Cut out the cookies

Print the template for the gingerbread house on cardboard and cut it out with scissors.
Roll out the cookie dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Cut out the dough using the template and a small dough knife (count 6 pieces (2 times each piece of paper to make one house)
Place the dough pieces on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and put it back in the freezer while the oven is preheating.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 347°F / 170°C and bake the cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes until they are a little puffy and golden.
Let them cool a little before moving them to a cooling rack.

Royal icing

Place the sifted powdered sugar in a large container with the water.
Whip with an electric mixer for 5 minutes until you have a thick, fluid icing. (If the icing seems too runny add more powdered sugar or if it is too thick add more water)
Fill a piping bag with the icing and cut a tiny opening.

Assembly

Take the 6 pieces needed to make a house and start by applying icing to both sides of the house.
Then glue the two sides of the house together and press them together.
Add icing to the top of the house and glue the roof on.
Let dry for 20 minutes before decorating the houses with the remaining royal icing.
Decorate immediately with your decorations, sugar beads etc.
And let the houses dry completely at room temperature for 1 hour before enjoying.