Want to make an adorable gingerbread house without all the work? Make gingerbread house cookies! Soft, delicious, and easy to decorate for the whole family! This post contains affiliate links.
You might also like our gingerbread cookie bars or our iced gingerbread man cookies!
Watch our step by step video!
Confession: I've never made a gingerbread house from scratch. The kits are hard enough to work with! That's why I created the Pop Tart gingerbread house back in 2020. It went viral so I think a lot of families feel the same way about! Even though they can be a pain to put together, there is something so nostalgic about gingerbread houses. Gingerbread house cookies are the best of both worlds. Cute, nostalgic and EASY to decorate.
Best Gingerbread House Cookie Recipe
My gingerbread cookie dough is a good one. The cookies are so soft and flavorful! Their recipe is an old one that originates in Nauvoo, Illinois at the historic Scovil Bakery. The dough needs to chill for an hour or so, but it's worth the wait!
If you'd like a quicker gingerbread cookie dough you can try this recipe that only needs to chill for 15 minutes.
I bought a set of gingerbread house cookie cutters that comes in a variety of sizes so that I'd have options. You can use royal icing or buttercream frosting to decorate your cookies. Buttercream is always my go to for cookies. It's soft, but crusts making them easy to transport. Gingerbread house cookies are fun to decorate, fun to eat, and fun to give as gifts during the holidays. Let's get started!
Gingerbread House Cookie Ingredients
Sugar: I typically use a combination of brown sugar and white sugar in my cookies, but for gingerbread cookies it’s white sugar all the way.
Molasses: regular molassses, nothing fancy.
Butter: I always bake with salted butter, but you can use unsalted if you prefer.
Water: you’ll need hot water for this recipe. Hot tap water works fine, no need to use boiling water.
Eggs: for richness and texture.
Baking Soda and Salt: for leavening and flavor.
Ground Ginger, Ground Cinnamon and Ground Cloves: my favorite blend of spices for gingerbread cookies.
Flour: all purpose flour works great.
Decorating and Frosting
Gingerbread House Decorations
How cute are these sugar gingerbread men? They are perfect to add to holiday cookies! Mini red cinnamon candies are always a must. The flavor pairs great with buttercream and gingerbread cookies. I also pulled out a variety of sprinkles from my stash.
Best Buttercream For Decorating Cookies
I use this buttercream recipe to decorate all of my cookies (sugar cookies, gingerbread, shortbread, etc.) It crusts beautifully on top, but stays soft underneath. Just beat everything together until smooth and creamy!
- ½ cup softened butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 Tbsp. milk
Other Supplies
- 5 and 7 are small round tips. They are very similar in size, so just use what you can find!
- Disposable Frosting Bags: a disposable piping bag is convenient to have and you can just toss it after using.
How To Make Gingerbread House Cookies
- Combine sugar, molasses, and softened butter. Mix until smooth. Add hot water and mix.
- Mix in eggs. Add dry ingredients and mix until dough forms.
- Divide the dough into two sections.
- Wrap each section in plastic and refrigerate for 60-90 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Roll each section of dough ¼″ thick and cut with cookie cutters.
- Place cookies onto ungreased baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.
- Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets.
Once cookies are completely cool it's time to decorate! Fill a frosting bag with buttercream and a small round frosting tip. Outline the cookies with buttercream details then add candy and sprinkles.
Gingerbread cookies still stay fresh for quite awhile (I think they taste BETTER on day 2!) and freeze well. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Gingerbread House Cookies Recipe
Gingerbread House Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- ¾ cup butter softened
- ½ cup hot water
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 6 ½ cups all purpose flour
Frosting
- ½ cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3=4 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
- Mix sugar, molasses and butter together until smooth. Add hot water.Mix in eggs.Mix in dry ingredients.
- Divide dough into two portions. Flatten each portion into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.Chill the dough for 60-90 minutes.
- Roll the dough ¼" thick and cut with cookie cutters and place onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should puff up slightly and be set around the edges. Allow cookies to cool completely.
- Beat frosting ingredients together.Fill a frosting bag with frosting and a small round frosting tip. Decorate cookies with buttercream and candies.
- Store cookies in an airtight container to keep fresh.
Notes
Nutrition
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I use shortening for gingerbread cookies? Most gingerbread cookie recipes call for shortening or lard. You can absolutely use shortening if you’d like. I prefer using butter or a combination of butter and shortening in my cookie recipes, but my no chill gingerbread cookies call for shortening and are delicious. You can use whatever you’d like.
What kind of baking sheets are best for baking cookies? I bake on aluminum baking sheets. The light colored sheet (vs. dark metal sheets) bake more evenly. I like these ones (with almost 40K reviews) as well as the ones sold at Sam’s Club. The darker the cookie sheet, the faster the cookies will brown on the bottoms. It’s all personal preference, but light colored baking sheets have always given me great results.
Brandy says
Hi everyone! Brandy here, these cookies are such a fun twist on gingerbread houses. Super cute and they don't collapse if you don't use enough frosting, haha. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!