Simple Free Templates for Gingerbread Homes
9 min read
Use a straightforward free template for a gingerbread home to make your individual 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 skim all our pro-level ideas for adorning a phenomenal gingerbread home, too.
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Principally, ever since I used to be born… we now have had a household custom to brighten gingerbread homes. My pretty 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 bit of extra relaxed about do-it-yourself vs retailer purchased. For instance, final yr we purchased some at Ikea for about 2 bucks a pop. Price each penny!
This yr 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 a complete city!
Gingerbread Village Kits
Make much less vacation stress and construct a complete village from only one premade gingerbread home equipment — nice for households so youngsters can construct and enhance their very own gingerbread home. Plus, check out all these fun gingerbread kits I found at Joann’s!
It’s wonderful how a lot simpler it’s… subsequent yr, I believe it might be enjoyable to make them once more from scratch, however I’ll let you know how I really feel then! We will at all times construct the kits and revel in consuming the gingerbread as drop cookies as an alternative.
What’s vital to me is the custom we now have collectively, and I really like that the straightforward gingerbread kits can preserve 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 might use our recipe (beneath) to construct your individual! He’s so superior!
Simply click on the button beneath to obtain the PDF templates.
The free template for gingerbread home patterns are usually not for use on the market, please don’t repost these anyplace.
Gingerbread Home Shapes
Justin drew up three totally different free templates for gingerbread homes for you.
A standard giant cottage with a peaked roof:
A extra rustic slant prime cabin:
A darling little A-frame gingerbread home template! This one is so enjoyable to brighten all of the roof area.
Find out how to Make a Gingerbread Home Template
Should you’re trying to construct a customized gingerbread home, listed here are just a few ideas for making a gingerbread home template:
- Select easy shapes and preserve 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 usually going to be 1/4 – 3/8 inch thick so make sure that your partitions, facet items, roof, roof overhang, and so on account for that.
- Preserve home windows and doorways supported by sufficient dough round them (and reduce out holes for home windows and doorways *after* inserting 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 possibility, too!
Find out how to Use a Gingerbread Home Template
- Lower out the printable gingerbread home template items with scissors.
- Should you’ll be utilizing the gingerbread home shapes for a number of homes, remember to print on thick paper or perhaps a shiny photograph paper.
- When you’ve rolled your gingerbread home dough to an excellent thickness, both on the counter or reducing board or proper within the pan like Jenny does, place the template items fastidiously on prime.
- Lower out the items with a pointy knife, protecting the knife as perpendicular to the dough as attainable for straight edges.
- Switch the reduce gingerbread to the pan (or go away it within the pan if you happen to’re following Jenny’s technique) to bake.
- After baking, trim the perimeters as wanted (utilizing a knife or kitchen scissors) and let the gingerbread sit not less than in a single day to harden. Smooth gingerbread is scrumptious however laborious gingerbread makes the most effective 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 objective 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 substances: 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 substances to the moist, a couple of cup at a time until fully 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, preserve a detailed eye so that they don’t burn, if you happen to roll them out too thinly they’ll!)
As a result of this recipe makes use of primarily shortening, it does NOT want wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled. You may if you’d like, or if you should combine the dough sooner or later and bake one other.
Find out how to Construct Gingerbread Homes
We’ve a complete submit about the way to 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 perimeters of home-baked gingerbread home items once they’re recent from the oven. Preserve your template items so you may trim them simply.
For a gingerbread equipment, 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 connect 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 shortly and likewise makes nice snowy icing results! One small tub makes loads for our household gingerbread constructing.
Should you purchase a equipment — do your self a favor and make this frosting as an alternative. Use the frosting from the equipment to brighten the home, to not glue it collectively.
You’ll want sweet and adorning provides.
One factor we do actually love in regards to 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 may typically discover extras in the identical aisle because the kits, like this candy variety.)
We additionally like to select 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 — purple, white, and inexperienced, and nice for gingerbread home lights, doorknobs, and so on
- rope licorice – outlines and particulars so nicely
- gumdrops
- marshmallows (giant 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 Alternate options for Adorning Gingerbread Homes
Cardboard
The gingerbread kits typically look and style like cardboard (though I’ve by no means eaten a do-it-yourself gingerbread home, both!). So take a shortcut, skip the baking and use clear cardboard for constructing your homes (or timber, individuals, 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 college graham cracker homes constructed round a milk carton, and graham crackers are an effective way so as to add walkways, roof textures, or different components to your gingerbread home and landscaping.
Cereal
Breakfast cereals are enjoyable additions, and an awesome snack for the littles to eat some as they enhance.
- Froot Loops and Cheerios each make nice decor components (or mini wreaths!) and shredded wheat,
- Shredded wheat appears to be like 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 every other 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 own home seem 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 seem 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 may 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 title.
Stained Glass Home windows
That is one in every of my favourite simple gingerbread home concepts! It appears to be like troublesome nevertheless it’s simple — just some minutes and a few laborious sweet (like Jolly Ranchers).
Learn the way to make gingerbread home stained glass right here.
Then you definitely’ll simply reduce a gap within the plate or cardboard immediately underneath your own 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 Mother and father
I’ve discovered just a few issues, since I’ve turn out to be 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 youngsters assume 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 at all times 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 youngsters 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 could be a life saver! Benefit from the custom with out stressing in regards to the effort and time baking.
What nice concepts to it’s a must to share?
Make 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 yr and others!
Extra Household Christmas Traditions and Concepts:
First revealed 11 Dec 2013 // Up to date 9 Dec 2022
