These gingerbread house cookies are much easier to make than traditional gingerbread houses, but they're just as cute and taste even better! Instead of assembling an entire gingerbread house, you simply bake gingerbread cookies shaped like little houses and decorate them with buttercream, candies, and sprinkles.
If you’re planning a holiday baking day, don’t miss my 40+ Christmas Cookie Recipes for more classic and festive cookies to add to your Christmas cookie trays.
I've never made a traditional gingerbread house from scratch. The kits are hard enough to work with! That's actually why I created my Pop Tart gingerbread house back in 2020. It went viral, so I think a lot of families feel the same way I do. There is something so nostalgic about gingerbread houses, though, and these cookies give you all of that Christmas charm without the frustration of trying to get the walls to stay up.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- All the fun of gingerbread houses without the construction. You get adorable little gingerbread houses without worrying about frosting the walls together or having the whole thing collapse.
- A tried-and-true gingerbread cookie recipe. This is the same soft and flavorful gingerbread dough I've used for years. The recipe originates in Nauvoo, Illinois, at the historic Scovil Bakery.
- So much fun to decorate. Pull out your favorite Christmas sprinkles, candies, colored sugar, and frosting tips and let everyone decorate their own little gingerbread house.
- Soft and flavorful. These aren't hard gingerbread cookies meant for construction. They're soft, delicious cookies that are meant to be eaten.
- Great for Christmas cookie trays. The little house shapes make these cookies stand out on a holiday platter, and they're sturdy enough to package and give as gifts.
- They stay fresh for days. Gingerbread cookies stay fresh for up to a week when stored properly, and they freeze well. I actually think they taste even better on day two!
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Tips and Tricks
- Best gingerbread house cookie cutters. I bought a set of gingerbread house cookie cutters that come in a variety of sizes so that I'd have options. Gingerbread house cookies are fun to decorate, fun to eat, and fun to give as gifts during the holidays. Let's get started!
- Best frosting for gingerbread cookies. 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 it easy to transport.
- Chill the dough. 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.
- Helpful supplies. 5 and 7 are small round tips. They are very similar in size, so just use what you can find! Disposable Frosting Bags are convenient, and you can just toss them after use.
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.
- Frosting. You'll need frosting for decorating. You can use store-bought or make my buttercream frosting, which uses butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Gingerbread House Cookies
Step 1: Combine sugar, molasses, and softened butter. Mix until smooth. Add hot water and mix. Mix in eggs.
Step 2: Add dry ingredients and mix until dough forms.
Step 3: Divide the dough into two sections. Wrap each section in plastic and refrigerate for 60-90 minutes.
Step 4: 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.
Step 5: Fill a frosting bag with buttercream and a small round frosting tip. Outline the cookies with buttercream details, then add candy and sprinkles.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Gingerbread House Cookies FAQs
For assembling gingerbread for making houses, I prefer royal icing because it is sturdy and hardens quickly. For decorating gingerbread cookies to eat, I use buttercream. It tastes delicious and is a dream to decorate with.
You need to chill the gingerbread cookie dough for the best flavor and texture. Some recipes only require 15-30 minutes to chill, but this one needs an hour, and it is worth the wait.
Gingerbread cookies stay fresh for up to a week (I think they taste BETTER on day 2!) and freeze well.
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.
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.
Yes. Let the cookies cool completely and freeze them in an airtight freezer-safe container. You can freeze them decorated or undecorated for up to 2 months.
More Gingerbread Recipes To Make
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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.
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!