Gingerbread Cookie Cottage Recipes

Steps:

• To make dough: In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt; stir into brown sugar mixture (mixture will be stiff). Transfer to a small bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle., Trace patterns onto waxed paper; cut out. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Position patterns on dough and cut out. Using a sharp knife, score outlines to mark windows and door where indicated on pattern, being careful not to cut all the way through dough. Using a toothpick, draw lines into dough to form bricks on all pieces except door area and roof. (Keep pieces covered to prevent them from drying out.), Transfer all cutouts to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until browned. Immediately replace patterns on cutouts and cut around edges to trim excess. Cut out windows completely. Cool on pans for 2 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks to cool completely., Return front of house to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spoon 1 teaspoon crushed candies into each window cutout. Bake at 400° for 3-4 minutes or until candy is melted. Cool completely on baking sheet before removing., Tint water with desired amount of red food coloring. Using paintbrush, paint mixture over each piece except door area and roof; blot gently with paper towels and let dry., To make icing: In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and cream of tartar. Add water; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Keep icing covered at all times with a damp cloth., To assemble frame of house: Working with a small amount of icing at a time, wipe icing over bricks using your fingertip. Immediately wipe gently with paper towels to remove excess., Place front of house on a flat surface. Tint a small amount of icing green and a small amount red. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert #4 round pastry tip. Fill the bag with white icing. Pipe lines to trim door and windows, and to form windowpanes. For door knob, attach dragee with icing., Using a #14 star tip and green icing, pipe garland along windows and a wreath on door. Using a #2 round tip and red icing, pipe berries on garland and a bow and berries on wreath. Pipe additional details as desired; sprinkle immediately with glitter. Let dry completely., Pipe icing along base and one side of front of house and the adjoining side wall. Place walls at right angles to each other on cake circle; prop with small cans. Pipe icing along inside and outside edges for added stability. Repeat with second side section and back. Let dry completely., For chimney: Pipe icing along one side of front of chimney and one adjoining side wall. Position at right angles to each other and place on waxed paper; pipe icing along inside edge for added stability. Hold in place until secure. Repeat with remaining sides. Let dry completely., To assemble roof: Generously pipe icing along top edges of house. Position roof pieces so there is equal overhang in front and back. Pipe icing along the joining edges. Prop bottoms of roof pieces with cans until roof is completely dry., On left roof piece, position chimney 1-3/4 inches from the front and 1-3/4 inches down from the top. Pipe dots of icing to mark the position of bottom chimney corners. Pipe icing onto the edges of chimney and attach to roof. Hold in place until secure, about 1 minute. Let dry completely. Center cap of chimney over chimney top, leaving a small overhang on all sides; attach with icing., To decorate roof: With tip #4, pipe icing along bottom of chimney side of roof. Press five Shredded Wheat pieces into icing in a row; repeat to cover both roof pieces. On one roof piece, pipe a line of icing along top row of Shredded Wheat; press a candy stick into icing. Repeat on other side., Attach four Shredded Wheat pieces along the peak of the roof with icing; arrange jelly beans along peak and an M&M at the front gable. Shape two miniature candy canes into a heart shape; attach to roof. Decorate as desired with heart sprinkles and additional icing., For finishing touches: Cover cake circle with icing. For shrubs, immediately place gumdrops in front of house. Spread with green icing; pipe berries with red icing., For sidewalk, attach red licorice pieces in front of door; place butterscotch candies for stepping stones. Brush licorice with a small amount of water; sprinkle with glitter. Break pretzel rods into pieces; stack at side of house for firewood. For smoke, carefully cut the jumbo peppermint stick to desired length; attach to chimney cap with icing. Hold in place until secure, about 1 minute.

Steps:

• To make dough: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda and spices; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill for 1 hour., Trace patterns onto waxed paper; cut out. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, roll out dough to a 1/4-in. thickness. With a sharp knife, cut out chimney pieces, house front and back. On house front, completely cut out door and window; reserve door piece. After baking, trim 1/4 in. from bottom of door piece. , Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until set. Immediately place patterns on cutouts and cut around edges to trim excess. Cool on pans for 2 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks to cool completely., Cut out 2 house sides, about 5-7/16x5-6/16-in. high. Reroll scraps; cut out 2 roof pieces, about 7-7/16x7-13/16-in. high. Bake and cool as directed., To make icing: In a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and meringue powder. Add warm water; beat on low speed for 1 minute. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Tint 1 cup green; cover and set aside. Leave remaining icing white. , To decorate house pieces: Place front of house front-side down on a waxed paper-lined work surface. For front window panes, cut skewer into one 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 in. piece and one 2-3/4 in. piece. With icing, attach skewers; let dry completely. , Place house sides and back on a waxed paper-lined work surface. Place house front with front side up. Using #14 pastry tip, pipe shell border around edges of house pieces. Add shell border on front of house and around door opening. With tip #4; pipe snowflakes and dots on front of house. Pipe side windows and front window panes over skewers., For front shutters, cut two 2-1/2-in. pieces of licorice; attach. Cut four pieces of licorice for side shutters; attach and let dry., Thin 1/4 cup icing with water and tint red; spread over door. Let dry completely. With white icing, pipe around door; add a window if desired and let dry. With tip #352 and reserved green icing, pipe green boughs above windows and door; add red nonpareils. Set aside remaining green icing for trees. , To assemble house: Pipe icing along edges of house sides. Position at right angles to front of house. Press into place; prop with small cans. Pipe icing along inside edges for added stability. Repeat with back; let dry., To assemble chimney: Pipe icing along 1 side of front chimney piece and 1 adjoining side chimney piece. Position at right angles to each other and place on waxed paper; pipe icing along inside edge for added stability. Hold in place until secure. Repeat with remaining side and back pieces. Let dry completely. Spread icing over chimney; add M&M's., To assemble roof: Pipe white icing along top edges of house walls. Position 1 roof piece; prop with cans. Repeat. Let dry completely. Frost roof pieces; attach chimney and Crispix shingles. Using tip #4, pipe snow on roof and around chimney opening. With a paintbrush, lightly brush Crispix with water; sprinkle with edible glitter. , To decorate: Using tip #20, pipe a rope border along edge of roof; attach light bulb sprinkles. Pipe rope borders where the roof meets the house and where walls join at each corner., For finishing touches: In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine marshmallows and butter; heat until melted. Add crisp rice cereal. Form into tree shapes. With tip #352, pipe reserved green icing on trees. Sprinkle with edible glitter; decorate with light-bulb sprinkles and confectioners' sugar if desired., For bench, cut licorice into five 2-1/2-in. pieces. Cut curved ends from 5 candy canes, forming C-shaped pieces; set aside 3 curved pieces for fence and 1 straight piece for sled. With icing, attach one C-shaped piece to bottom of 1 whole candy cane (crook facing right), forming 1 side of bench frame. Repeat; let dry. Attach licorice pieces to bench frame pieces; prop and let dry. Add icing rivets., For sled, position reserved straight piece between 2 whole candy canes to form a sled; attach with icing. Attach Fruit by the Foot; let dry. , For path, draw path pattern of your choice on waxed paper. Coat with icing; attach Chiclets and let dry., On a large covered board or tray, place the house and path. Add granulated sugar snow drifts; sprinkle with coarse sugar. Arrange the trees, bench, sled and Minty Snowmen around house. Insert reserved candy cane pieces into sugar for fence.

Steps:

• Beat together the butter, treacle, brown sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, then beat through all of the remaining dry ingredients apart from the caster sugar. Chill the mixture in the fridge for 1 hr.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll the mixture into 20 even-sized balls (weighing for accuracy, if you like). Tip the caster sugar onto a small plate, then add each ball and roll around to coat. Space each ball out on the baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Beat margarine and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until mostly incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, another 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolk, then molasses.
• Whisk sifted flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg in a separate bowl until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to the molasses mixture, beating until well blended and smooth.
• Divide dough in half and form each into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 to 3 hours, or overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Working with one disk at a time, and leaving remaining disk in the refrigerator, unwrap chilled dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Working from the center to the edges, roll dough with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
• Cut dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters, dipping the cutters into flour as needed so they don't stick to the dough. Fit the cookie cutters as closely together as possible to cut as many cookies as you can. This will minimize the number of times you have to re-roll the dough.
• Transfer gingerbread cookies to ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Gather any dough scraps into a ball, flatten, re-wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to use for later batches.
• Bake each sheet in the preheated oven until firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool while you finish rolling, cutting, and baking the remaining cookies.
• Frost or decorate cooled gingerbread cookies as desired.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses and egg. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients; mix just until a dough forms. Place dough on floured plastic wrap; pat into an 8-inch square. Wrap well; chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time (rewrap and refrigerate other half), place dough on floured parchment or waxed paper; roll out 1/8 inch thick, turning, lifting, and flouring dough (and rolling pin) as needed. Freeze dough (on paper) until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes, and transfer to baking sheets. Decorate with sugar or sprinkles, as desired.
• Bake until firm and edges just begin to darken, 10 to 18 minutes, depending on size. Cool completely on baking sheets.

Steps:

• MAKE THE DOUGH: Put about half the flour in a food processor with the butter. Whizz until you can't see any lumps of butter remaining (if you don't have a food processor, rub the butter into all of the flour with your fingertips, until it resembles fine crumbs). Tip the buttery flour into your largest mixing bowl and mix in the remaining flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda with a pinch of salt. Stir in the sugar.
• Whisk the eggs with the golden syrup and stir into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. Using your hands, knead together into a smooth dough. Use straight away, or chill or freeze until ready to bake.
• CUT OUT ALL THE SHAPES: Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll out a quarter of the dough at a time on a sheet of baking parchment, to the thickness of 2 x £1 coins. Use a small, sharp knife to cut around the cottage templates (see the 'try' section below to print off the template) - remember that each time you'll need 2 x ROOF, 2 x END and 2 x SIDE for one cottage. Remove the trimmings and lift the gingerbread, on its parchment, onto baking trays. Re-roll trimmings to cut out all the shapes you need.
• BAKE YOUR GINGERBREAD: Bake the gingerbread one tray at a time (so it cooks evenly), on a high shelf in the oven for 8-12 mins, until rich brown and firm to the touch. Give each tray 3-5 mins to cool, then carefully sit the templates back onto the relevant shapes and trim any edges to neaten (step 1, above). Keep these trimmings for nibbles. Use a small knife, or heart-shaped cutters, to cut out any doors and windows you want to have. If you want to fill your cottage with lights, use the end of one of the SIDE templates to cut out a little door in the back END of the cottage.
• For a roof like ours, roll out remaining gingerbread to about half the thickness of the walls. Use a 3-4cm cutter to stamp out rounds - to fully cover the roofs, you will need about 75 round biscuit tiles. Bake as above, but for 6-9 mins - as they are thinner, they will bake quicker. Let all the biscuits cool completely.
• DECORATE YOUR GINGERBREAD: Sift 250g of the icing sugar into a bowl, dribble in water, stirring in until you have a thick-ish icing. Tip the preserving sugar or pearl sugar into a shallow bowl and get a couple of cooling racks ready. Dip the round roof tile biscuits into the icing, one by one - covering about a quarter of the biscuit in icing (step 2). It looks nice if they're all a bit higgledy-piggledy. Dip into the preserving sugar to stick, then sit on the cooling racks and leave to dry.
• Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the remaining 500g of icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon a little into a piping bag with a very small nozzle. Spoon half of the rest into a piping bag that has a slightly larger nozzle (or spoon into large food bags and, when ready to ice, snip off the corner to turn into a piping bag). Keep the rest covered in the bowl. Use the small piping bag to pipe any icing decorations you want onto the END that is going to be the front of your cottage. Leave to dry.
• START BUILDING: Arrange the wall biscuits as you are going to assemble them. Swap to the big bag of icing with a medium nozzle to pipe generous snakes of icing along the SIDE edges (3) and stick the walls together. Pipe extra icing where the walls join each other on the inside of the cottage, and support the sides using your icing balls (4).
• To decorate the roof, scrape any excess icing and sugar from the underside of the roof tiles with a small knife, so they can lie flat. Start at the bottom of one and work along in a row, using the icing in the bowl, spread good-sized blobs of icing on the underside of the top of each tile biscuit to stick (5). Let the bottom row overhang the edge of the ROOF. Continue working up, sticking a row at a time, sitting the row above in the gaps of the row below, so the tiles sit in a diamond pattern rather than straight lines down the ROOF (6). You'll need to cut some of the tiles on the edges to fit - just use a big sharp knife and be brave (you should have a few spares available in case you have any accidents). Repeat to cover the second ROOF, then leave the completed ROOFS with the half-built cottage for a few hrs at least, or preferably overnight, until set.
• When ready, remove the supports from the cottage and stick on the ROOFS (7). This bit can be fiddly, so you may need an extra pair of hands. Shape your icing balls to support the bottoms of the ROOFS. Hold the biscuits on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to set (8 & 9). Set again for a few hrs, or overnight.
• FINISHING TOUCHES: To finish decorating like ours, roll marble-sized balls of the ready-to-roll icing and stick them along the ROOF top - this is perfect for hiding the join. To make the icicles, start with the nozzle at a 90-degree angle to the ROOF and squeeze out a pea-sized blob of icing. Keeping the pressure on, pull the nozzle down and then off - the icing will pull away, leaving a pointy trail. Repeat all around the front of the cottage, covering the gap between the ROOF and roof tiles too, if you like.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in spices and salt. Add eggs and molasses; mix well. With the machine on low speed, gradually add flour mixture, and beat until combined. Divide the dough into thirds, and wrap each piece of dough in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat nonstick baking mats or parchment paper. Set aside. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into gingerbread boys and girls. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.
• To decorate cookies: Press currants into dough to create buttons. Bake cookies until crisp but not darkened, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
• Decorate cooled cookies with Royal Icing.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, molasses and shortening. Place over medium-low heat and stir just until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and mix in baking soda and 1/4 cup cold water. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add egg, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; stir to mix well. Add 4 cups flour and mix well, adding up to 1/2 cup more if dough seems sticky. Shape into a ball, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into gingerbread boy shapes with a 5-inch-long cookie cutter. Arrange on baking sheets 1 1/2 inches apart, and bake until risen and no longer shiny, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow cookies to cool. If desired, decorate with royal icing and cinnamon candies. Store in an airtight container.