The cutest addition to any festive table has to be these Gingerbread Houses. Made with Lyle’s Golden Syrup, they’ve got the perfect balance of sharp snap to the exterior, with a soft chewy interior. They’re so simple to make that they’re ideal as a Christmas activity to make with kids, as a quick-fix for a festive afternoon snack, or as beautiful decorations to hang on your tree ready for eating on Christmas Day!
This post is kindly sponsored by Lyle’s Golden Syrup.
How to make professional looking biscuits:
This really is a simple recipe, but there are some amazing tips that’ll help make biscuits that truly wow!
- Chill your dough. This will make the dough firmer, meaning your cookies will better retain their shape when baking in the oven.
- Use a cutter or a template. You can totally free-hand these houses as they’re simply shapes, but for uniform cookies, using a cutter or template works a treat. If creating your own template, draw shapes on a piece of card, then use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the dough.
- Dry flood icing in the oven. This recipe doesn’t call for flood icing, but if you want to flood then put your cookies on a tray and into the oven at approximately 120F, or the lowest setting it can go, for around 30 minutes. The heat helps set the cookies so they have that glossy and smooth effect on top and means you have more precise line icing.
- Keep the tip of the icing bag as small as possible. Only snip a tiny amount from the end of your icing bag. This means youāll be able to create much more dainty details when icing your cookies.
Why I love these Gingerbread Houses:
- Firstly, you can make the dough ahead of time and store in the fridge
- Secondly, they’re great to make with kids
- Thirdly, these are perfect for beginners
- They’re also festive, fun and delicious
- And lastly, they keep for days
What do I need for these Gingerbread Houses?
Here are a few key ingredients for making these gingerbread houses:
- Plain flour. Choose a high-quality plain flour for a seriously good texture and flavour.
- Self-raising flour. In an ideal world, always try to use self-raising flour. However if you don’t have any and want to make some yourself, simply mix 100g plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder.
- Unsalted butter. Always choose unsalted to control the amount of salt in your bake. A high-quality, high-fat content butter (like Kerrygold) always wins.
- Golden syrup. Using Lyle’s golden syrup in these gingerbread houses gives them a satisfying chewiness and characteristic caramel colour and flavour.
- Sugar. This recipe calls for caster sugar, but you can certainly substitute this with golden caster, light brown or light muscovado sugar for a deeper caramel flavour.
- Ground ginger. An essential for the flavours of these gingerbread houses.
- Eggs. Use rich yolk eggs and always choose free-range for the highest quality flavour.
- Egg whites. You can buy carton egg whites which save you the faff of separating eggs. Again, always opt for free-range.
- Icing sugar. Sifting your icing sugar is essential, so please remember to do this. It’ll avoid a clumpy icing and make for easier piping.
See how I made these Gingerbread Houses over on Instagram!
Gingerbread Houses
These gingerbread houses are the cutest addition to any festive table! Eat them by the fire, for dessert, or hang them on the tree.
Ingredients
For the gingerbread
- 350 g plain flour
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 125 g caster sugar
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 125 g Lyle's Golden Syrup
- 1 large free-range egg
For the icing
- 3-4 egg whites
- 450 g icing sugar sifted
Instructions
To make the gingerbread
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 170C / 350F.
- Sift the flours and ginger into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, mixing well.
- Add the butter, then rub together the ingredients using the tips of your fingers and thumb until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- When all the butter is evenly distributed, make a well in the centre and add the golden syrup and your egg.
- Mix well, bring everything together until it starts to clump. Then use your hands to gently bring the dough together until a ball has formed and itās even in colour and texture.
- Place the dough on a clean work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough until itās 5mm thick all over.
- Using a sharp knife, begin cutting several shaped houses – some wide and small, some narrow and tall.
- Place the houses a centimetre or two apart on your baking tray (you may need to bake them in several batches) and place in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Leave to cool on the tray completely and begin making your icing.
To make the icing
- Sift the icing sugar into a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Add 2 liquid egg whites and begin to beat on a slow speed, until the mixture begins to come together.
- Slowly add the additional egg white until you reach a pipeable consistency. You want the mixture to be firm, but easy enough to squeeze out.
- Fill a piping bag with the icing, twist the top and snip a tiny hole off the end.
- Squeeze the icing towards the bottom of the piping bag and youāre ready to ice.
To assemble
- Take each gingerbread house, and pipe on a design of your choice. We personally love a snow-tipped roof, windows and a door.
- Leave the icing to set for at least an hour then eat and enjoy!
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