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The perfect Gingerbread House icing recipe to keep those gingerbread or graham cracker houses together all season long!
BEST GINGERBREAD HOUSE ICING
Gingerbread house icing, also called Royal icing, is the trick to keeping your gingerbread houses together. This icing recipe can also be used for cookies, too.
Gingerbread house icing is the perfect “glue” for all of your Christmas baking.
Whether you plan to make real gingerbread houses (using these gingerbread house cutters) or use graham crackers (or chocolate graham cracker houses), this royal icing is essential to your decorating!
HOW TO MAKE GINGERBREAD HOUSE ICING
The great part about this icing recipe is that it is not hard to make, especially if you have a stand mixer. But a hand mixer will still work just fine.
Gingerbread house icing calls for egg whites, cream of tartar, water and powdered (confectioner’s) sugar. That’s it! Since this recipe calls for egg whites, we usually don’t eat the icing. However, some grocery stores sell pasteurized egg whites if you want to eat it safer.
- Make sure the eggs are at room temperature.
- Start mixing all the ingredients together. The key is to make sure the gingerbread icing is thick enough that it holds its’ shape when you run a spoon over it.
- Be careful not to over mix it or it will become too thick. If you get it too thick that it won’t squeeze out, just add a small amount of water until it is more manageable.
GINGERBREAD HOUSE DECORATING SUPPLIES
Once the royal icing is the right thickness, put it into an icing bag with a thick tip secured. This is what we use:
- Piping bags and thick tips
- Gingerbread house pieces or graham crackers
- Assorted candy
- Cereal, crackers, and pretzels for roof
Now grab your graham crackers or gingerbread pieces and start gluing your houses together. Once they are secure, you can use this same icing recipe to attach all your favorite candies, crackers, and cereal to decorate your Christmas gingerbread house.
You can also use this icing to decorate a face on a gingerbread man cookie or snowflake cookie.
Keep in mind: this gingerbread house icing is very thick and intended to use as a “glue”. So don’t use it to spread all over the house or cookies.
TIP FOR MAKING CHRISTMAS HOUSES WITH KIDS
If you are hosting a decorating party with lots of little kids, I would suggest gluing the houses together for them before the party starts. Then they can decorate to their hearts content. You can use this thick frosting to glue them together or for a quicker option, use a glue gun.
Of course, you won’t want to eat the graham cracker houses with glue on them. But if you are solely using this as a craft as opposed to a treat, then using a hot glue gun is a really great option.
MORE CHRISTMAS BAKING YOU’LL LOVE:
Oreo Santa Hat Cookies
Best English Toffee
Cute Star Sugar Cookies With Gold Sprinkles
Gingerbread Men Cereal Treats
Frozen Hot Chocolate
Gingerbread House Icing
Description
This perfect royal icing makes the best gingerbread house icing recipe to hold your Christmas houses together.
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
- 2 tsp. water
- 3 cups powdered sugar (possibly 4)
Instructions
- Beat the egg whites, water, and cream of tartar until frothy (about 2 minutes).
- Add in the powdered sugar and continue to beat until thick and pasty.
- Add in more powdered sugar until it is thick, if needed.
- Scoop into cake decorating bags or sandwich bags and snip off the corner for easy application.
Notes
- You can easily double or triple this recipe if you are having a gingerbread house decorating party.
Keywords: royal icing, gingerbread house icing
