How To Make A Candy Cottage Decorated Gingerbread House

Learn how to make a festive Sweet Shop decorated gingerbread house with this royal icing cookie decorating tutorial!! 

You may have seen this design before. Because... well...I made it a whole pandemic ago. But then...things happened. Or nothing happened. I can't really be sure at this point. All I know is that I have been losing Decembers for more years than I can count. One day it will be happy-land-holiday-season on December 3 and then I wake up and it's the middle of January and the sky is dark and everyone is crying.

Wait, that's me crying. 

And it either has something to do with running out of ice cream or the fact that I busied up December like I usually do and didn't do half the things I wanted to and only half enjoyed the other things. 

But NOT THIS YEAR!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

Best joke ever. 

I'm a joker.

I'm kidding.

I don't mean to be. I really do intend to "live in the moment" all that wholesome happy kind of stuff. But I also know I just super love ALL THE THINGS...and that gets me into trouble sometimes.

And by "sometimes," I of course mean, "every December ever and most summers too."

But at least I'm finally posting a tutorial for this Gingerbread House though, huh? That's progress.

Here's the deal. This house is the generic gingerbread house that you can buy from most grocery and/or craft stores for like $12. It comes with weird icing and candies that may or may not actually be candy. You know the one.  

Be sure to get the one that is pre-baked but NOT pre-assembled. 

You could also bake your own pieces using this template. Copy the image above and print it on a paper that is 8.5" by 11". Then cut two of each piece out of gingerbread. You can use my gingerbread cookie recipe - with two changes. Use 4 1/4 cups of flour and bake for 14-16 minutes. 

You will also want to print out this image on a piece of paper that is 8.5" by 11" and make a batch of royal icing. You can use my meringue powder royal icing recipe or my egg white powder royal icing recipe. 

Use these color formulas to make the same icing colors that I used. Or go crazy and choose your own colors. (If you're not sure how to use these ratios, READ THIS POST.)

Watch the video all the way through BEFORE starting to decorate your house pieces. You will be decorating the individual pieces before constructing it. Ready? GO!

NEED MORE?? 

Snag my very favorite gingerbread man cutter here. 

My gingerbread roll out cookie recipe makes soft and chewy cookies with a mellow flavor.