Gingerbread house biscuits
Makes: 10
Prep time: 1 hr 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Gingerbread house biscuits
You can’t beat the smell of sweet gingerbread filling the kitchen at Christmas, and these little houses with stained glass windows are picture perfect hung on the tree or against a window. Ideal if you don’t fancy taking on the challenge of building a 3D house
Makes: 10
Prep time: 1 hr 15 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
276Kcal
Fat
11gr
Saturates
7gr
Carbs
41gr
Sugars
18gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
3gr
Salt
0.6gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 300g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 125g unsalted butter
- 100g dark brown sugar (we used Billington’s)
- 85g golden syrup
- clear fruits boiled sweets, from a 225g pack
- 100g icing sugar
You’ll also need
- card or paper, pencil and ruler
- piping bags fitted with a small nozzle
- fine ribbon or string
Step by step
How to store
The gingerbread house biscuits keep for about 1 week – they will start to soften if hung on the tree, but will still be edible.
- Mix the flour, bicarb, ginger and salt together in a large bowl.
- Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan, stirring until smooth. Pour into the bowl and mix to a stiff dough. Cool for 10 minutes then shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- For the house template, take a sheet of card or paper; use a ruler to draw a rectangle 8cm wide by 6cm high. Measure 6cm up from the midpoint of the long side to be the peak of the roof, then draw diagonal lines to connect to the rectangle. Cut out.
- Roll out the dough on baking paper to 3-5mm thick. Cut out 10 houses using your template (re-roll the trimmings). Transfer to lined baking trays, leaving room to spread.
- Cut out a window in each roof using a small cutter, or freehand. Chill for 30 minutes; preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Unwrap half of the sweets, place in food bags (separated by colour) and crush finely with a rolling pin. Spoon some crushed sweets into each window until level with the dough.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the biscuits are firm and the sweets have melted. While still warm, use the end of a piping nozzle to make a hole for hanging. Leave on the trays for 5 minutes to firm up, then trim the edges to neaten and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and add up to 4 teaspoons water until you have a thick but pipeable icing. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle. Decorate the gingerbread houses, adding a door, and leave to set. To finish, thread through a piece of ribbon or string for hanging each decoration.
