Simple Free Templates for Gingerbread Homes
Use a simple free template for a gingerbread home to make your personal gingerbread home from scratch. Make a conventional gingerbread home, or a cabin or a-frame home.
Get the never-fail gingerbread home recipe right here and browse all our pro-level ideas for adorning a good looking gingerbread home, too.
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Principally, ever since I used to be born… now we have had a household custom to embellish gingerbread homes. My beautiful mom would make about 14 gingerbread homes from scratch yearly. I believe that virtually makes her a saint.. have you ever tried it? I’ve, and simply making 4 or 5, was HARD work!
Since I’ve had little infants (crap, they aren’t actually infants anymore…they develop TOO quick), I’ve been a little bit extra relaxed about home made vs retailer purchased. For instance, final 12 months we purchased some at Ikea for about 2 bucks a pop. Value each penny!
This 12 months I made a decision to purchase them once more. Solely I purchased a little Wilton mini gingerbread town kit from Walmart. Every had 4 homes, so we purchased 2 to make an entire city!
Gingerbread Village Kits
Make much less vacation stress and construct an entire village from only one premade gingerbread home package — nice for households so children can construct and beautify their very own gingerbread home. Plus, check out all these fun gingerbread kits I found at Joann’s!
It’s superb how a lot simpler it’s… subsequent 12 months, I believe it will be enjoyable to make them once more from scratch, however I’ll let you know how I really feel then! We will all the time construct the kits and luxuriate in consuming the gingerbread as drop cookies as an alternative.
What’s vital to me is the custom now we have collectively, and I like that the simple gingerbread kits can keep the custom *and* my sanity as a busy mother.
Printable Free Templates for Gingerbread Homes
We liked these tiny homes a lot that I had Justin draw up some free printable fancy gingerbread home templates so you may use our recipe (under) to construct your personal! He’s so superior!
Simply click on the button under to obtain the PDF templates.
The free template for gingerbread home patterns usually are not for use on the market, please don’t repost these wherever.
Gingerbread Home Shapes
Justin drew up three totally different free templates for gingerbread homes for you.
A conventional massive cottage with a peaked roof:
A extra rustic slant high cabin:
A darling little A-frame gingerbread home template! This one is so enjoyable to embellish all of the roof house.
How one can Make a Gingerbread Home Template
When you’re trying to construct a customized gingerbread home, listed below are a number of ideas for making a gingerbread home template:
- Select easy shapes and hold corners sq.. This ensures that sides are symmetrical and the home can stand.
- Issue within the width of the baked gingerbread. To be sturdy, items are typically going to be 1/4 – 3/8 inch thick so make sure that your partitions, aspect items, roof, roof overhang, and so on account for that.
- Hold home windows and doorways supported by sufficient dough round them (and reduce out holes for home windows and doorways *after* putting the dough on the baking sheet, or reduce and bake the entire sheet of dough within the pan like Jenny does.)
Gingerbread home cookie cutters are an awesome choice, too!
How one can Use a Gingerbread Home Template
- Minimize out the printable gingerbread home template items with scissors.
- When you’ll be utilizing the gingerbread home shapes for a number of homes, be sure you print on thick paper or perhaps a shiny picture paper.
- When you’ve rolled your gingerbread home dough to an excellent thickness, both on the counter or slicing board or proper within the pan like Jenny does, place the template items fastidiously on high.
- Minimize out the items with a pointy knife, holding the knife as perpendicular to the dough as doable for straight edges.
- Switch the reduce gingerbread to the pan (or depart it within the pan if you happen to’re following Jenny’s technique) to bake.
- After baking, trim the sides as wanted (utilizing a knife or kitchen scissors) and let the gingerbread sit not less than in a single day to harden. Gentle gingerbread is scrumptious however laborious gingerbread makes the perfect homes!
The Greatest Gingerbread Home Recipe
This recipe has been utilized in my household for years! This gingerbread dough bakes into both sturdy shapes for for constructing gingerbread homes or scrumptious simple chewy gingerbread drop cookies, too.
- 1/2 c butter softened
- 1 cup Crisco shortening
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/2 c molasses
- 2 t baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. floor cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4+ cups all goal flour (add extra to knead and roll out dough)
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Preheat oven to 350 levels.
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In a big bowl mix all dry components: baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger salt and 4 cups flour. Stir with a whisk, and put aside.
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Cream the butter, shortening and sugar collectively. Add the eggs and molasses, mix. Now add the dry components to the moist, a couple of cup at a time until utterly included.
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On a clear counter floor, unfold out about 1/2 cup flour, pour the dough onto the flour and knead in additional flour till it’s a good consistence for rolling. Use a rolling pin to roll to a 1/4 inch thickness, and reduce out the shapes.
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Place with just a bit room for every form on the cookie sheet bake for 9 minutes, hold an in depth eye in order that they don’t burn, if you happen to roll them out too thinly they will!)
As a result of this recipe makes use of primarily shortening, it does NOT want wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled. You possibly can in order for you, or if it is advisable combine the dough someday and bake one other.
How one can Construct Gingerbread Homes
We have now an entire submit about construct gingerbread homes!
Learn all of Jenny’s pro-level gingerbread constructing ideas right here.
You’ll need sturdy gingerbread with clear edges.
And meaning trimming the sides of home-baked gingerbread home items after they’re recent from the oven. Hold your template items so you’ll be able to trim them simply.
For a gingerbread package, use an extended sharp knife to chop aside the items after which file off any tough edges utilizing a small knife or perhaps a zester.
You’ll want good frosting to attach the home collectively.
There are dozens of gingerbread home frosting recipes utilizing eggw hites — my go-to is the Wilton Meringue Powder Recipe. It’s simple to make and the icing is like tremendous sturdy glue that dries rapidly and in addition makes nice snowy icing results! One small tub makes lots for our household gingerbread constructing.
When you purchase a package — do your self a favor and make this frosting as an alternative. Use the frosting from the package to embellish the home, to not glue it collectively.
You’ll want sweet and adorning provides.
One factor we do actually love concerning the gingerbread home kits is that they arrive with the tiny enjoyable candies, just like the little Christmas gentle candies and holly berry candies. (You possibly can typically discover extras in the identical aisle because the kits, like this candy variety.)
We additionally like to choose up:
- laborious clear candies like Jolly Ranchers or Lifesavers (to make stained glass home windows)
- Pez – the tiny rectangles are nice for bricks, fences, and different accents
- M&Ms — pink, white, and inexperienced, and nice for gingerbread home lights, doorknobs, and so on
- rope licorice – outlines and particulars so nicely
- gumdrops
- marshmallows (massive and mini) – to make snow piles and snowmen
- Nilla Wafers and wafer cookies
- sweet canes (mini and common)
- Smarties and Neccos
Within the quest for enjoyable that’s additionally NOT simply sugary sweets, we additionally use a few of these non-candy decorations for our gingerbread homes.
Non-Sweet Options for Adorning Gingerbread Homes
Cardboard
The gingerbread kits typically look and style like cardboard (though I’ve by no means eaten a home made gingerbread home, both!). So take a shortcut, skip the baking and use clear cardboard for constructing your homes (or bushes, folks, pets, fences, and so on). Simply apply frosting and have a hay day!
Clearly a cardboard gingerbread home is simply to show… no baking, no consuming, good vacation enjoyable with out the energy!
Graham Crackers
We love the elementary faculty graham cracker homes constructed round a milk carton, and graham crackers are an effective way so as to add walkways, roof textures, or different parts to your gingerbread home and landscaping.
Cereal
Breakfast cereals are enjoyable additions, and an awesome snack for the littles to eat some as they beautify.
- Froot Loops and Cheerios each make nice decor parts (or mini wreaths!) and shredded wheat,
- Shredded wheat seems like a thatched roof in your gingerbread home — and snow-covered, too, if you happen to get the frosted shredded wheat.
- Wheat, Corn, or Rice Chex (or another varieties) make nice roof tiles.
- Golden Grahams look identical to a terra cotta tile roof.
Pretzel Sticks
Pretzels sticks or rod pretzels are nice for constructing fences, outlining walkways or doorways, or making your home appear like a log cabin.
(I actually wanna hear your concepts!!! Go away me a remark with different much less sugar concepts!!)
Simple Cool Gingerbread Home Concepts
Powdered Sugar
The royal icing is white to appear like snow — make it look much more fancy by sprinkling the home with powdered sugar! A little bit of sugar in a duster or sieve makes all of it magical.
Writing and Particulars
You possibly can colour the royal icing, after all, or purchase these simple Cake Mate writing icing for tremendous simple small-tip frosting tubes for small particulars or writing a home quantity or household identify.
Stained Glass Home windows
That is one in every of my favourite simple gingerbread home concepts! It seems tough but it surely’s simple — only a few minutes and a few laborious sweet (like Jolly Ranchers).
Learn make gingerbread home stained glass right here.
Then you definitely’ll simply reduce a gap within the plate or cardboard instantly underneath your home and add a small battery operated gentle to light up the colourful sweet stained glass window.
Making Gingerbread Homes Enjoyable for Youngsters and Simple for Dad and mom
I’ve realized a number of issues, since I’ve develop into in command of persevering with on this gingerbread custom in my family.
- Making stained glass sweet home windows is the good. factor. ever! Completely value the additional time and the children suppose it’s magical. (Learn how right here.)
- Constructing on heavy duty paper platters (bigger than plates) are quick and cute!
- You don’t want an excessive amount of sweet… ( I all the time purchase an excessive amount of!)
- Giving them away is extra enjoyable than consuming them! (I’ve by no means eaten a gingerbread home… They’re for show to me, so I don’t get that!)
- Let the children eat some sweet as you construct gingerbread homes. It’s a lot better then yelling at them the entire time, and it makes it enjoyable for everybody.
- Shopping for kits generally is a life saver! Benefit from the custom with out stressing concerning the effort and time baking.
What nice concepts to it’s a must to share?
Be sure you have enjoyable with it! Creating with sweet is so enjoyable!!!
Keep in mind to take a look at all our 12 Days of Christmas posts from this 12 months and others!
Extra Household Christmas Traditions and Concepts:
First revealed 11 Dec 2013 // Up to date 9 Dec 2022
