Let me show you how you can easily make a gingerbread house with graham crackers! It’s festive, kid friendly and you don’t need to bake a thing. Just gather a few crackers, whip up a batch of icing “glue” and you will have the cutest cottages ready for your creativity!
This is one of my favorite December traditions because it’s simple, creative, and always turns into a colorful candy filled activity that everyone loves.
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What You Will Need:
To make each gingerbread house with graham crackers you will need:
- Graham Crackers
- Ingredients for the Frosting: 3 eggs, Cream of Tartar and Powdered Sugar
- Squeeze bottle for icings
- A serrated knife will make cutting the crackers to size much easier that a straight knife.
- An assortment of candies
TIP: One box of graham crackers makes several small houses, which is perfect for classrooms, playdates, or family craft nights
How to Make a Gingerbread House with Graham Crackers step by step
1. Cut the cracker pieces
You’ll need about five graham crackers per gingerbread house:
- Two larger squares for the roof
- Two trimmed pieces for the front and back (cut the triangle peak for the roof!)
- Two squares for the sides
TIP: Using a serrated knife, cut slowly with a back and forth motion, applying very light pressure to keep the edges clean.
Cut one cracker in half to make the two sides of the houses. Next cut the roof pieces to be slightly larger than half a cracker as seen above. To make the front/ back pieces, cut off the top one fourth of the cracker, and then cut angles to make the triangle top.
2. Mix the royal icing
The best glue to make these houses is a modified version of Royal Frosting/ Icing. This frosting dries super stiff and holds the crackers together to build the house strongly.
You will need to use this basic ratio of items: 3 large egg whites, ½ tsp. cream of tartar and 1lb. of powdered sugar. Whip for 7 minutes using a handheld mixer. The frosting will look runny to begin with but becomes thick and stiff at the end of 7 minutes. This dries hard and keeps your house sturdy.
This recipe should be made one batch at a time, doubling this recipe does not work well.
TIP: You can make this ahead of time and store in an air tight container or plastic bag.
3. Build the base and add a roof
Start by attaching the front and back pieces to the side walls using the icing glue. Hold them for a few seconds so they set.Watch my How to make Graham Cracker Gingerbread House Video to see me make one!
- Flip the front and back pieces, apply frosting on the sides.
- Sandwich the two side pieces to build the house frame.
- Apply more frosting along the top, and place the roof pieces on top.
- Apply extra frosting in between the two roof pieces to make a strong joint.
5. Let everything dry
Give your house a few minutes to firm up. You can even spread icing on a plate and “stick” the house down to create a snowy base.
6. Decorate!
This is the most fun part, you can add candies, sprinkles, frosting details, and anything you like. Kids, even toddlers, will love creating their own colorful winter cottages, and no two houses ever look the same.
This squeeze icing bottle makes it easy to draw intricate designs onto the house. I love how this white frosting only gingerbread house with graham crackers turned out, so simple and beautiful!
VIDEO: How to Make a gingerbread house with graham crackers
Watch my YouTube video showing you how to make a gingerbread house with graham crackers in HD here–> https://youtu.be/Bc7_itFbM-I or click the video box below
gingerbread house with graham crackers
Making our gingerbread house with graham crackers was super fun and colorful and is such a fun tradition for families during the holidays. I loved that these were simple items that you can add to your walmart cart and have delivered to your home.
Last year we explored making hot chocolate bombs, and this year we made Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses, what should we try next year?
