Make a gingerbread Halloween house with autumn colors and Halloween candy. A great seasonal baking activity for kids.
Updated August 2022
Did you know that gingerbread houses aren’t just for Christmas? We love making them all year round! Especially around Halloween, using candy corn and Autumnal candy.
We’ve made Halloween mini gingerbread houses, so everyone can decorate their own. But this time we made one larger gingerbread house, and worked on the decoration together.
How To Make A Halloween Gingerbread House
MATERIALS
- Gingerbread cookie dough (see the printable recipe below)
- White icing (you can mix powdered sugar with milk and it works great, but you can also make royal icing with egg whites, too)
- Halloween candy (we used candy corn for the roof shingles, twizzlers for door frames and window frames, chocolate sprinkles for dirt, fall-colored M&Ms for autumn leaves, and candy pumpkins for pumpkins, of course!)
- Halloween sprinkles
- A piece of cardboard to assemble your house on (wrap in foil first, if you like)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make gingerbread dough
Use the recipe below, or your favorite gingerbread recipe, to make a batch of cookie dough.
- Cut out house shapes
Use a knife to cut out the shapes you want to use. You can use this template for a house, or cookie cutters to make any shape you want!
- Bake your shapes
While your cookies bake, you can make a batch of icing.
- Make your houses!
Once your cookie shapes have cooled, use the icing to assemble your mini gingerbread house. Then use more icing to decorate with your candy and sprinkles!
Pro parenting tip: you can prep ahead of time by having the gingerbread cookie pieces ready to assemble, as well as an assortment of Halloween candy in little dishes.
And here’s a view of the ground around the house – we love the sprinkles as dirt and M&Ms as Autumn leaves!
Halloween Gingerbread Houses
Description
A delicious and easy gingerbread cookie recipe that works for both gingerbread houses and cookie shapes. Adapted from Food.com.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 4 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice mix
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1 egg
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Heat sugar, molasses, and spices to boiling in a medium to large pan.
- Remove from heat and stir in baking soda, letting it foam up.
- Add butter and stir occasionally as it melts.
- Whisk in egg.
- Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon (not all the flour will mix in).
- Dump mixture onto counter and knead until the flour is incorporated.
- Use a rolling pin to roll dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick.
- If making gingerbread cookies, cut with cookie cutters.
- If making gingerbread houses, print or make a paper template. Arrange the template pieces on the rolled-out dough and use a knife to cut them out.
- Place gingerbread pieces on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Assemble and decorate with a simple icing (mix 4 cups powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and enough milk to give it a spreadable consistency).
The next time we make a Halloween gingerbread house, we’re planning to add marshmallow ghosts and maybe a licorice tree!
Will you make a Halloween gingerbread house this fall? And maybe some gingerbread monsters and witches to go with it?
More Autumn Baking for Kids
- The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- How to Make Monster Bread
- Apple Bundt Cake
- How to Make Mini Halloween Gingerbread Houses
Want even more Halloween fun?
Check out our Halloween Creativity Pack!
This 45-page printable eBook is full of seasonal coloring pages, drawing prompts, games, and art projects. It’s the simplest way to enjoy an October full of creativity!
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