Gingerbread Houses

This recipe is a member of our Hall of Traditions. This is the same recipe that my mom used while I was growing up and the gingerbread houses are one of Kellen's favorite Christmas traditions.

5 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cloves

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 molasses

2 eggs, beaten

Blend dry ingredients; set aside. Melt shortening in a heavy pan; remove from heat and add sugar, molasses, and eggs, mixing well. Allow to cool slightly and then add dry ingredients; mix well again, and chill for in a covered bowl for 1-2 hours. Take 2 large cookie sheets, turn them over, and oil the back of the cookie sheets. Roll out dough on the backs of the cookies sheets to a thickness of 1/8" - 1/4", using a light dusting of flour on the surface of the dough to help prevent sticking to the rolling pin; do not try to turn dough over while rolling out. Place house pattern pieces on the dough and cut with a sharp knife. Remove excess dough and bake at 350. The length of time will vary, depending on the size of the piece, so watch them carefully (anywhere from 7 - 14 minutes) and make sure to bake pieces of a similar size together so that they will bake evenly. After removing the cookie sheet from the oven, while the pieces are still hot, place the pattern back on and re-cut the edges, since they will have 'grown' a bit. Then carefully remove the pieces to a cooling rack and leave them to cool and dry for about 24 hours. This recipe will make two medium-sized houses with some dough left over. The most common way of assembling gingerbread houses is with frosting, but we typically choose to use carmelized sugar, since it cools and hardens almost immediately. If you choose this method, though, only melt a few tablespoons of sugar at a time; a little bit goes a long way :) Then we use a royal frosting for placing all of our candies on the houses.

One of Kellen's favorite parts of this tradition is that he gets to munch on all the 'trimmings' as they come off of the freshly baked pieces.