I need to interrupt our regularly scheduled gift guides and DIY posts because interior-designer-turned-my-BFF Jessica McCarthy (remember how she made over my living room and dining room via Decorist??) has seriously blown my damn mind. A few days ago, she texted me a photo of her mid-century modern gingerbread house and I begged her to send instructions so I could share with you guys!
Mid-Century Modern Gingerbread House Recipe & DIY
Make your own twist on the classic gingerbread house this holiday season.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- assorted candy
Gingerbread House Frosting
- 4 egg whites
- 1 pkg. powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat together shortening, brown sugar, molasses and eggs until thoroughly blended. Beat in cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and salt. Add flour and baking powder. Beating until well blended. The dough will be sticky. Divide dough into 2 equal proportions. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or longer.
- To make gingerbread, preheat oven to 300F. Line 2 (18” x 12”) sheet pans with heavy-duty foil. Using a rolling pin, roll each portion of dough out on 1 greased foil lined pan in an even layer, filling pan completely. Place 2 side and 2 roof patterns on 1 pan. Place front and back house patterns on other pan. Cut around them carefully; DO NOT separate and remove dough from pan. Bake pans of dough, 1 at a time, in center of oven for 55-60 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid over browning. Long baking time is necessary for a hard cookie – important to make a sturdy house. Remove pan from oven; immediately re-cut dough pieces, removing an excess gingerbread. Let pieces cool in pan, loosening carefully underneath them with a spatula while still warm. Allow the house pieces to dry overnight.
- In a medium bowl, beat together egg whites, powdered sugar and cream of tartar with an electric mixer at low speed until blended. Turn mixer to high speed; continue beating for 10 minutes until think and soft peaks form and a knife drawn through mixture leaves a clean-cut path. Use immediately or cover and store in airtight container in refrigerator. Once you start working with icing, keep it covered with damp towel to prevent drying out.
- Once all your ingredients are made you can start building your house! Use a flat surface covered in foil to act as your yard. Use the frosting in a piping bag to assemble the walls and roof. Use various candies and frosting to create your own variations of designs. Once your house is built and decorated, lightly cover in powdered sugar for a snow effect. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Serving: 12gCalories: 549kcalCarbohydrates: 88gProtein: 9gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 305mgPotassium: 547mgFiber: 2gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 42IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 211mgIron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?Tag @jojotastic on Instagram & tag #jojotastic!
Thank you SO much to Jessica for sharing her awesome Mid-Century Modern Gingerbread with us! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do this holiday season!
omg, now i can get on board with this kind of GB house!! love it!!
yessss! glad you like it! If you make one, be sure to post to Instagram and tag us so we can see :)