Makes 15 houses or 45 cookies.
- Prep time: 3h 20min + dough chilling time
- Cook time: 10min
- Total time: 4h + drying time
- Difficulty: Intermediate
These tiny gingerbread houses will sit on the edge of your mug, making them a festive way to serve tea (or mulled wine) and cookies. The template includes two door pieces, one approximately 1 cm wide and one approximately 1.3 cm wide. I discovered that the wider door accommodated the majority of my mugs. I recommend cutting both door pieces out of cardstock and trying them on your mugs. The width you want for your door is the one that slides easily onto the edge of your mug and has a little wiggle room. This recipe yields approximately 15 tiny houses, but you can easily make fewer houses and use the remaining dough to make gingerbread cookies. The dough is extremely adaptable. You can also make one large gingerbread house, but the dough recipe must be doubled. This recipe’s amount of royal icing should be more than enough to decorate and glue a large house, so you don’t need to make a larger batch.
For the gingerbread.
Ingredients:
- 300g flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 100g butter, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 egg
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Work the butter, cut into small pieces, into the dry ingredients with your fingertips. When the mixture resembles bread crumbs, add the honey and egg and knead with your hands until smooth. Add a little more flour if the dough sticks to your hands. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of cold water until it is smooth.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight after dividing the dough in half and wrapping each piece in plastic wrap.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Two baking sheets should be lined with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator 30 minutes before rolling it. Roll out one half of the dough to a thickness of 2-3 mm on a lightly floured surface. Because the cookies will puff up in the oven, roll the dough as thinly as possible. Using a template, cut the dough into pieces with a small pizza cutter or a pairing knife. Peel the excess dough from around the house instead of picking up the small pieces. Use a thin palette knife to carefully transfer each piece to a baking sheet so they don’t distort. Gather the leftover dough, roll it out again, and cut it into pieces. Repeat with the remaining dough half.
Refrigerate the baking sheets for at least 20 minutes before baking. This will prevent the gingerbread from spreading excessively. 8-10 minutes in the oven. As soon as the edges of the cookies begin to color, remove them from the oven and trim any pieces that have puffed or spread too much while they are still hot. Before assembling the houses, allow the cookies to cool completely.
For the royal icing.
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg white
- 220-330g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp white vinegar
Directions:
In the bowl of your standing mixer, whisk the egg white until it begins to froth. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar and vinegar until the icing is thick and smooth. The amount of sugar required is determined by the size of your egg white. If the icing becomes too thick to pipe, thin it out with a little cold water. If it’s too runny, add more powdered sugar until it’s the right consistency. A thick batch of icing will be required for gluing the houses together and decorating them. Place the icing in a piping bag and begin assembling the gingerbread houses.
Assembly.
Ingredients:
- edible sugar decorations (snowflakes, hearts…)
- powdered sugar
Directions:
I recommend that you decorate the roofs (and walls, if desired) before putting the houses together. When you’re finished with the decorations, set them aside for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, to dry. You are now ready for the assembly.
Assemble the matching gingerbread house pieces. You should have two walls, two roofs, and two door pieces. Make sure both doors are the same width, or the house will not fit on the rim of your mug. Begin gluing the puzzle pieces together. Pipe a thin vertical line of royal icing on both edges of one piece with a door slot. (on the inner side). Glue the walls to the royal icing, making sure they are at a 90° angle. Now, take the other door-shaped piece, pipe royal icing on both edges (as you did with the first), and place it against the walls. Hold it tightly together for a few seconds, then let it dry for 5 minutes before adding the roof. Make sure that the wall pieces are sandwiched between the door pieces so that the roof fits properly. Pipe some royal icing around the top of the house and carefully place the roof pieces on top. Hold it in place for a few seconds, then pipe some snow on the rooftop and around it to give the appearance of snow. Set aside the house to dry. Continue with the remaining pieces.
The houses should be dry in a couple of hours (depending on humidity), but I recommend leaving them to dry overnight. When completely dry, store in an airtight container and serve with warm milk, tea, or mulled wine. To give the appearance of fresh snow, dust them with powdered sugar.
Commentary.
Also known as Minijaturne Kućice Od Medenjaka.
Category: Cookies
This year, Christmas arrived early. The wonderful aroma of cinnamon and winter spices has already permeated our entire apartment, reawakening our holiday spirits. Our cookie jars are nearly empty, and it’s only December 1st! Christmas is still a few weeks away, but it certainly feels like it around here.
Typically, I create edible Christmas tree ornaments. The tree smells like a giant gingerbread cookie as the lights warm up. It adds a special touch to everything. This year, I decided to make edible ornaments to decorate the apartment for Advent. Making gingerbread houses seemed like an obvious choice. I knew I’d have to spread the work out over several days because I can only work at night after the baby has gone to sleep. This was actually beneficial because it allowed the pieces to completely dry in between phases of construction. We ate some of the houses and saved the rest to make a miniature gingerbread village for our holiday decorations.
I made a batch of Christmas cookies and ornaments, as well as some super cute reindeer cookies for my daughter, with the same dough. Every time I open the cookie box and see those red noses, I smile. I topped them with tempered chocolate and royal icing colored with red food coloring. Red M&M’s could also be used and glued onto the cookies with melted chocolate.
I get all warm and fuzzy inside just looking at my tiny snow-covered gingerbread village. Oh, and did I mention how wonderful the apartment smells?
