How to Make Gingerbread Houses Using Graham Crackers
Separate your Christmas candies into bowls., Place an aluminum pie tin upside down in front of you. , Combine the egg whites and lemon juice in a large bowl to make royal icing., Place large spoonfuls of the royal icing into quart-size zipped style...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Separate your Christmas candies into bowls.
This step saves the hassle of opening bags of candy with sticky fingers later. -
Step 2: Place an aluminum pie tin upside down in front of you.
, Add powdered sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and blend the mixture with a mixer until the icing has the consistency of stiff peanut butter.
The icing will secure the graham cracker walls of the house and stick the candy decorations to the surface. , Avoid regular thickness sandwich bags because the plastic is too thin and will not hold up to the punishment of being used as a pastry tube.
Approximately 1 cup of icing each bag is enough.
Make sure that each gingerbread artist has his or her own bag of icing. ,, You now have an "icing tube".
As you decorate, you'll squeeze the icing toward the snipped corner and use it to dispense a bead of icing on your gingerbread house. , Set four of them aside to form the roof and the two long sides of your house. , Use a gentle "sawing" motion with a serrated knife.
Use the short end of a cracker to measure the angled line from the center of the long side to the centerline of the cracker. ,,, Stick the side edge of the gable end cracker to the bead of icing on the flat side of the wall cracker.
The walls should hold each other up. , Use a bead of icing along the bottom to stick the pieces to the pie tin.
Also, use a bead of icing where the two walls will join at the corners. , Then, stick the flat of the roof to the top edges of the gable ends and walls.
Allow the icing to set for 15 to 20 minutes before handling the house again.
If you place candies on it too quickly, you risk collapsing the house. ,, You can also use cereal for the shingles. , Look at these samples for inspiration:
A roof ridge.
A candy cane door.
Cobblestones.
A male teenager's house.
An adult's house.
Another adult's version.
A log cabin.
An additional small house. -
Step 3: Combine the egg whites and lemon juice in a large bowl to make royal icing.
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Step 4: Place large spoonfuls of the royal icing into quart-size zipped style freezer bags.
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Step 5: Seal the bags.
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Step 6: Use scissors to snip 1/4" (6 mm) off one corner of the icing filled bag.
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Step 7: Count out six whole
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Step 8: uncracked
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Step 9: unseparated
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Step 10: unbroken crackers.
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Step 11: Cut the two remaining cracker sheets to form end gable pieces.
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Step 12: Repeat for the second gable end.
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Step 13: Squeeze icing along the edges of a gable end and 1 whole graham cracker.
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Step 14: Place the long edge of the wall cracker vertical to the base edge of the gable end cracker.
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Step 15: Add the other gable end and wall in the same manner.
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Step 16: Add the roof crackers in the same manner as the wall crackers
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Step 17: but pipe the icing on the flat of the roof
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Step 18: not on the edges.
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Step 19: Line the roof with icing where you want to add shingles.
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Step 20: Add the shingles using your chosen candies.
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Step 21: Use your imagination and decorate the entire house whatever way you like.
Detailed Guide
This step saves the hassle of opening bags of candy with sticky fingers later.
, Add powdered sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and blend the mixture with a mixer until the icing has the consistency of stiff peanut butter.
The icing will secure the graham cracker walls of the house and stick the candy decorations to the surface. , Avoid regular thickness sandwich bags because the plastic is too thin and will not hold up to the punishment of being used as a pastry tube.
Approximately 1 cup of icing each bag is enough.
Make sure that each gingerbread artist has his or her own bag of icing. ,, You now have an "icing tube".
As you decorate, you'll squeeze the icing toward the snipped corner and use it to dispense a bead of icing on your gingerbread house. , Set four of them aside to form the roof and the two long sides of your house. , Use a gentle "sawing" motion with a serrated knife.
Use the short end of a cracker to measure the angled line from the center of the long side to the centerline of the cracker. ,,, Stick the side edge of the gable end cracker to the bead of icing on the flat side of the wall cracker.
The walls should hold each other up. , Use a bead of icing along the bottom to stick the pieces to the pie tin.
Also, use a bead of icing where the two walls will join at the corners. , Then, stick the flat of the roof to the top edges of the gable ends and walls.
Allow the icing to set for 15 to 20 minutes before handling the house again.
If you place candies on it too quickly, you risk collapsing the house. ,, You can also use cereal for the shingles. , Look at these samples for inspiration:
A roof ridge.
A candy cane door.
Cobblestones.
A male teenager's house.
An adult's house.
Another adult's version.
A log cabin.
An additional small house.
About the Author
Kimberly Miller
Creates helpful guides on DIY projects to inspire and educate readers.
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