How to Construct and Decorate the Cutest Gingerbread House

Making gingerbread houses is a classic holiday tradition—what kid doesn’t love getting his or her hands in the icing and adding festive candy accessories? Here we share some creative decorating tips to spruce up a pre-packaged gingerbread house.

Dancing Deer Gingerbread Cookie House

Yield: 4 servings
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1hour and 15 minutes

Icing

2 pounds powdered sugar
5 pasteurized egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Water, as needed

Decoration ideas

Shredded coconut
Marshmallows
Hard candies
Fruit strips
Stroopwafels

Put together the gingerbread house according to the package instructions.

Place the powdered sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip on high for 5 minutes until frosting has gone from a gray tone to pure white, and turns fluffy and
stiffened. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, to create the desired consistency. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small tip or a sealable plastic bag with the corner cut off.

Then go crazy with the decorating! Here we made window shutters out of Stroopwaffels, used fruit strips for a cute front door, and lined the walkway with hard candy. For “snow,” we sprinkled coconut over the top, and for snow people? Stacked marshmallows.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont