Decorating houses is a tradition lots of people have in December, and some people even decorate mansions, or whole villages of gingerbread houses. Whether you’re making houses, or just cookies to decorate, gingerbread is an easy cookie to make a little bit healthier with whole wheat flour.
Do you remember why eating whole wheat flour is good for us? That’s right! All the extra vitamins and minerals and fiber from the wheat grain comes in the bran and germ of the wheat kernel.
Lets get cooking! Here is a recipe for gingerbread, and you can cut out cookies to decorate or you’ll need a grown up to help you make the parts for a house. Making houses takes a little bit of time, but it is worth it. You’ll have to mix the dough, cut your house shapes, chill the dough, bake it and let it cool, then glue your houses together with frosting and let them dry. Once all that is done, it is time to decorate!
Decorating Houses with Captain Create!
To glue your houses together, royal icing is the way to go: Stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar with a few drops of water, adding more of either as needed to make a thick icing. Spread on cookies or put into a ziptop bag, seal, and snip one edge off to make a little piping bag. Glue the house pieces together and let them dry all the way.
Once your houses are glued together and dry so they won’t fall down when you add the decorations, you can be as creative as you want! Candy is too easy a thing to add to your house, and not as healthy as some of the other options you may have at home. We used popcorn, crunchy pea snacks, cereal, fish crackers, dried fruit, nuts and some leaf candies.
Share your gingerbread house creations with us in the comments!