Gingerbread house

One of my favorite holiday traditions. Some times its fun to make a complicated house, and some times its best to make a simple one and have fun accessorizing the house with candies.

Gingerbread recipe: makes enough for 1 small house – double for a large house.

1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C shortening
3/4 C dark molasses
1/3 C cold water
3 1/2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves

Assorted candies

Icing: works like concrete

3 egg whites
1/2 t cream of tarter
16 oz of confectioners sugar

To make the gingerbread:

Preheat the oven to 350.
Beat the sugar, shortening, and molasses together. Add the water. Then add all of the remaining ingredients.
Roll the gingerbread out to 1/4 inch thick and bake on a greased pan for 15 minutes.
Immediately cut the gingerbread into whatever shapes you want for the house while. For a simple house you can use the shapes I cut out in the pictures below.

Whip the icing ingredients together for 5-7 minutes then use quickly.

Cover a piece of cardboard with aluminum foil to begin building your house. Try to make it in the place where it will stay as it can be hard to move.
Decorate and enjoy!