This is one of the most Christmas-time cookies in Zoë Bakes Cookies. The warm spices and light touch of molasses make for the most flavorful and delightful snappy cookie. You can leave them unadorned but a lemon-flavored royal icing is a beautiful finish.
Cookie cutters are hands down the best thing ever for busy holiday baking. They come in so many beautiful patterns these days, and it takes just minutes to cut out fun or even elegant cookies that look like you spent more time on them than you did.
A simple royal icing decor will make these cookies even more festive. It dries hard so the cookies can be added to your holiday tins.
You can also use the same dough and royal icing to make these adorable little houses. They actually come together very quickly because they’re simply decorated and mini! The royal icing is used to decorate and to hold together the panels of the house, along with gluing on the pretzel stick roof tops.
How to Make Mini Gingerbread Houses
- 1 batch gingerbread dough (below)
- 1 batch Royal Icing – Pro tip: make it thick enough to pipe and keep its shape, you don’t want it to drip after piping.
- Bag of Thin Pretzel Sticks – try to find pretzels that are over 2″ long
To make the gingerbread houses:
- Mix and roll the gingerbread dough as directed in the recipe below.
- Use an X-acto knife to cut a 2″ square template out of cardboard.
- Cut a 2″ wide section that has a peaked pitch to create the roof. (see the above photo and video)
- Use the templates to cut the rolled-out gingerbread dough. You will use two of each shape to build the house. Bake the cookies as directed. Allow to cool completely before assembling the house.
- Pipe the decoration on the panels of the houses. Allow the royal icing to set completely before building the house. At least an hour.
- Pipe the royal icing along the edge of the house pieces and firmly press the house pieces together. If the icing is thick enough it will stand alone until the icing sets and becomes the glue that holds everything together.
- Once the royal icing glue on the house starts to set, after at least 30 minutes, you can add the pretzel roof. Pipe the royal icing along the top edge of the pitched rooftops and gently press the pretzels into it, starting at the top of the roof and moving down. The houses will be completely set and moveable after 2 hours.
I made these sweet miniature gingerbread houses on Taste Buds with my friend Stephanie Hansen. Be sure to watch the episode!
Servings: 24 cookies
Gingerbread Cookie Dough
- 1 3/4 cups (210g) all- purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1 tsp ground cinnamon + 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg + 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (55g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (65g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (80g) light or dark molasses not blackstrap
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Maple Glaze (Optional)
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup (60ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream plus more if needed
Royal Icing
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup meringue powder
- 1/4 cup (60g) cold water or fresh lemon juice plus more to thin
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract or any other flavor
- Food coloring optional
Cookie Dough
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In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, spice, and salt.
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In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, and water on medium speed until well blended and smooth, about a minute. Scrape the bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is mixed together.
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Add the dry ingredients and mix just until it forms a uniform dough.
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Wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This can be made 2 days ahead or frozen for up to 1 month.
IF MAKING STAMPED COOKIES
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Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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There are two different ways I like to stamp the dough.You can form a small, golf-ball sized piece of dough (the size will depend on the stamp. Try one and determine the size before scooping the entire batch),arrange it on a prepared baking sheet, sprinkle it with granulated or decorating sugar, and press the stamp into the dough.ORYou can roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 1/4 inch / 6mm thick, then cut out rounds of the dough using a cookie cutter to match the size and shape of your stamp, arrange the dough on a prepared baking sheet, sprinkle it with granulated or decorating sugar, and press the stamp into the dough.
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Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets. If using different sized cookie stamps, make sure all the cookies on one sheet are the same size so they bake evenly. Leave a bit of room around them so they can expand in the oven without touching. Freeze the cookies for at least 15 minutes.
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Bake, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies look dry and slightly puffed. The timing will vary depending on how thick your cookie dough ends up being.
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Leave them on the baking sheet to cool. Bake the remaining cookies. Keep the oven on if you intend to bake again after the cookies are glazed.
Glaze
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, butter, maple syrup, and cream (an additional tablespoon of cream may be needed to make it spreadable, but it should be thick enough to cling to the cookies).
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Using a pastry brush, lightly brush on the glaze and return the cookies to the oven for about 3 minutes so the glaze is slightly absorbed.
IF MAKING GINGERBREAD PEOPLE
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Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a rectangle 1/8 inch / 3mm thick and cut out the figures.
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Place the cutouts on the prepared pan, leaving a bit of room around them so they can expand in the oven without touching.
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Bake, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies look dry and slightly puffed.
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Let them cool on the baking sheets completely before decorating.
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Using a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (Ateco #3 or Ateco #4), decorate with the royal icing.
Royal Icing
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In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, stir together the confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, water, and lemon extract on low speed until blended. Turn up the speed to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy, like meringue, about 3 minutes. It will be quite thick, and you need it this way to create glue if you are making a cookie house. You can thin it with more water or thicken it with more sugar to suit your needs.
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Add food coloring (if using) to the icing at this point.
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Make sure to keep the icing covered at all times, since it dries hard and will develop a skin of hard icing within minutes. I use a damp clean kitchen towel over the bowl. If the icing sits for several minutes between uses, gently stir the bowl well before using, to get rid of any air bubbles, and to make sure the icing hasn’t separated.
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Decorate the cookie as you see fit and leave out for about an hour so the icing can harden. The drying time will be determined by the humidity in your kitchen.