How To Make an Easy Gingerbread House

Design a house by cutting out pieces of poster board or cardboard for the walls, roof, and chimney. Don’t forget to cut windows and a door in some pieces.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for 10 minutes.

On a large piece of wax paper, roll out the dough to a quarter-inch thickness. Lightly dust the dough with flour to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin.

Use your cardboard cutouts as guides to cut the dough into parts.

Grease cookie sheets and carefully transfer the shapes to them, spaced one inch apart. Bake them for 6 to 15 minutes, depending on the size. The cookies are done when the edges begin to darken.

Trim the pieces as necessary while the cookies are still warm, and then let them cool overnight.

Spread royal icing on a foamcore base, which you can find at craft stores. Cover the remaining icing with a damp cloth to keep it from hardening.

Fill a pastry bag with icing and begin assembling the walls by piping icing liberally along the sides of two pieces and then holding them together until the icing is completely dry. Let the walls stand for at least an hour before you put on the roof.

Angle the cookies that make the roof so that about an inch hangs over the walls, then put on your chimney. When the house is fully assembled, let it sit at least eight hours before decorating it.

Time for the fun part – decorating! Use a variety of your favorite candies – and your imagination – to turn your basic house into a sweet dream home.