Best Gingerbread Barn Recipes

GINGERBREAD BARN

Steps:

• Melt the shortening and butter together in a medium saucepan. Let cool.
• Sift the flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl. Mix the melted butter into the flour mixture with an electric mixer until sandy. Add the corn syrup and vanilla, and mix until evenly incorporated, but still crumbly in texture. Press the dough together by hand and divide into 8 equal parts. Press into rough squares about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Place the dough on top of a flour-dusted sheet of parchment. Roll a square of dough about 1/4-inch thick and into an 8- by 11-inch rectangle. Repeat with all the remaining squares. Stack them up and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, click here to e-mail a link of the template to your desktop or laptop computer for printing. Print the file at 100% on letter size paper and cut out the pieces. Remove the top sheet of parchment from the dough. Lay the templates on the rolled dough slabs and cut out all the pieces with a long, sharp knife or pizza cutter. (You will have a total of 8 cut panels plus 3 extra sheets for cookies. Cut out the remaining dough with cookie cutters of your choice.) Cut a 3 1/2- by 3 1/2-inch square centered at the base of one of the tall walls then cut that piece in half to make the two barn doors. Stack panels on a cookie sheet and chill 45 minutes to set. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position the oven racks evenly. Bake the gingerbread shapes until they are a rich tawny brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack. With a fine kitchen rasp, file the panels to make all the edges straight.
• Thicken about 2 cups of the Royal Icing with either cornstarch and a couple of drops of vinegar, or extra confectioners' sugar, to get the consistency of caulk. Fit a pastry bag with a medium round tip and fill it with the thickened icing.
• Pipe a generous amount of Royal Icing along the bottom and the sides of a short wall. Center the wall 3/4 inch from one edge, directly onto the base. Use a box or can to help support the walls while they dry.
• Pipe Royal Icing along the bottom of a tall wall, and stick it to the base with an edge pressed against the icing on the first wall. Repeat with the remaining two walls in the same manner until the four walls are up, making an open box with a 3/4-inch border all around the base. (The two tall walls will face each other.) Allow the icing to dry completely, about 24 hours, before attaching the roof.
• Ice the sloped edges on one side of the house and attach the big roof piece. (Line up the top of the roof with the peaks of the tall walls.) Use a box or can to prop up the overhang of the roof while it dries in place. Attach the smaller roof piece on the other side of the slope (prop it up with a box or can) leaving the same amount of overhang. Leave the top open for now. The last roof panel is the lid and will go there when all is dry. Attach the doors. Pipe Royal Icing neatly on the outside of the seams to secure them, and allow the house to dry for 24 hours.
• Fit tips into piping bags. Divide the remaining Royal Icing into batches and color as desired. Fill bags with frosting and decorate the house and roof with icing and candies if using.
• Allow to dry. Fill the house with cookies. Rest the remaining roof slab on the house to make a lid. Enjoy.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4cup water in a large bowl. Mix slowly with an electric mixer until stiff enough to form peaks; the icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is over beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Gels are best with royal icing. You don't want to thin them with liquid colors. Be careful of adding too much color, which reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days. Store the icing at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.
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GINGERBREAD CHRISTMAS COTTAGE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine shortening and water. Add brown sugar and molasses; mix well. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and spices; beat into molasses mixture until blended. Divide into three portions; chill overnight., Trace the full patterns onto waxed paper; cut out. Trace the remaining (halved) patterns onto waxed paper as directed on the patterns; cut out. , With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll one portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness directly onto a lightly greased and floured baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut out two front/back house pieces. On one piece, score window and door. , Roll out second portion of dough. Cut out two 8-1/2-in. x 6-in. rectangles for roof. , Roll out third portion of dough. Position house side pattern on dough; cut out two pieces. On each piece, score two window outlines. Cut out one 2-3/8-in. x 1-3/8-in. rectangle for left side of chimney and a 1-3/8-in. x 7/8-in. rectangle for right side of chimney. Roll out scraps to cut out patterns for sides of chimney; sides and roof of porch; and front, sides and roofs of dormers. Score dormer window outlines., Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes; place patterns over baked dough and trim. Cut out door and windows completely. (Set aside door cutout; discard window cutouts.) Cool on wire racks., To make icing: Prepare only one batch of icing at a time. For each batch, in a large bowl, combine 4 cups confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue powder, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 6 tablespoons water. Beat on low speed for 5-10 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Place a damp cloth over bowl and cover tightly between uses., To assemble frame of house: Place front and sides of house and fronts of dormers on a waxed paper-lined flat surface. Cut a small hole in a corner of a pastry bag; insert star tip #16. Fill two-thirds full with icing. Pipe curtains in the house and dormer windows. Outline frames of windows and doorway with round tip #3. , For shutters, roll out 10 red gumdrops to 1/16-in. thickness; cut each into a 1-1/8-in. x 3/8-in. rectangle. Roll out four red gumdrops for dormer shutters; cut each into a 7/8-in. x 1/4-in. rectangle. Attach house and dormer shutters with a dab of icing on each side of windows. , Using tip #16, pipe decorative trim on the front and back rooflines and peaks of the house, taking care to avoid the edges. Let dry completely., Pipe icing along base and one side of front wall and the adjoining side wall. Place at right angles to each other on foam core board and position with front of house 6-1/4-in. from one narrow side of board; prop with small cans. Pipe icing along inside and outside edges for added stability. Repeat with second side section and back. Let dry completely. , Cut 3-1/2-in. pieces from the straight end of four large candy canes (set aside curved ends for another use). Pipe icing along each outside corner of house with star tip #20; press straight candy cane pieces into each corner. Let dry completely, about 4 hours. , For dormers: Insert tip #16 into pastry bag; fill two-thirds full with icing. Pipe icing along one side of front of dormer and one adjoining side wall. Position at right angles to each other and place on waxed paper; pipe icing along inside edge for added stability. Hold in place until secure. Repeat with second side. Repeat for second dormer. Let dry completely with front side up., To assemble roof: Generously pipe icing along top edges of house. Position roof pieces so there is a 5/8-in. overhang in front and back. Pipe icing along the joining edges. Prop bottom of roof pieces with cans until roof is completely dry. , On right roof piece, position one dormer 1-1/2 in. from left side, 1-1/2 in. up from the bottom and above the lower window, aligning so dormer front is perpendicular to board. Pipe dots of icing to mark the position of bottom dormer corners. Pipe icing onto back edges of dormer; attach to roof. Hold in place until secure, about 1 minute. Repeat with second dormer. Let dry completely. , Attach dormer roofs with icing so there is a 1/4-in. overhang in front. Cut two 2-in. straight pieces from candy canes. Pipe icing along top edge of dormer roofs; press straight candy cane pieces into each. Let dry completely. , For chimney and door: Spread chimney pieces and door with icing; dip into multicolored nonpareils. With tip #3, pipe a dot of icing on door and attach red-hot for the handle. Let dry. Pipe icing along left edge and bottom of door; position door so it is ajar. , Using tip #16 and icing, attach chimney pieces to plain side of roof, positioning the back chimney piece 1-1/2 in. from back edge of roof and working clockwise with remaining pieces. Pipe icing around top of chimney and along chimney seams. Cut one 5-in. piece and one 1-1/4-in. piece from the straight ends of two candy canes. Pipe icing along top edge between roof pieces; press straight pieces into icing., For porch: Place porch roof smooth side down on a work surface. To attach sides, pipe icing along the long side of each triangle and position against porch roof. Invert to dry. , For porch support posts, cut two 2-3/4-in. straight pieces from candy canes. Insert each into a leaf-shaped spearmint gumdrop; position 1 in. from house and 3 in. apart on each side of doorway. Secure gumdrops with icing. Let dry. Attach porch roof to posts and house with icing; prop with small cans and let dry., To decorate roof: With tip #20, pipe two rows of icing along bottom of chimney side of roof. Press five different colored halved gumdrops into icing in a row; repeat until one horizontal row is finished. Begin the second row with the second color from row one. Repeat nine times, slightly overlapping each row until one roof piece is covered with a diagonally patterned design., On dormer side of roof and starting at bottom edge, repeat procedure for gumdrop shingles. Attach gumdrops to the dormer and porch roofs in the same pattern as roof of house. Pipe icing onto sides of porch roof. Let dry., For finishing touches: Using round tip #7, pipe icing icicles. Sprinkle with edible glitter. , To make trees, use a serrated knife to carefully score and cut ice cream cones to desired heights. Tint a portion of icing with green food coloring. Using leaf tip #67 and beginning at bottom of ice cream cones, pipe icing in rows; sprinkle with edible glitter. Place on waxed paper to harden. Using tip #7, pipe snow on the trees and sprinkle with edible glitter. Set aside., For curved path, using tip #20 and beginning at the door, pipe icing in a zigzag pattern. Press chocolate rock candies 1/8 in. apart onto pathway. Position candy corn, point side up, along both sides of path. Working in small sections, frost base with icing for snow and sprinkle with edible glitter. , For each corner fence, use tip #7 and white icing to attach two miniature candy canes to board. Arrange trees on base along with green gumdrops, rock candy suckers and remaining leaf-shaped gumdrops for bushes; secure with icing. For smoke, pull and stretch the cotton ball; attach with icing to inside of chimney.

FAVORITE OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Steps:

• Gingerbread House: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and water to make a stiff dough. Chill at least 30 minutes or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cut out the following paper patterns for the gingerbread house template: Two rectangles, 3 by 5 inches, to make the front and back of the house. Two rectangles, 3 by 5 1/2 inches for the roof. Two pieces for the ends of the house, 3 inches wide at the base, 3 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom. Four smaller rectangles, 1 1/2 by 1 inch for the roof and sides of the entryway. And one piece, 2 inches wide at the base, 1 1/2 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 2 1/2 inches from the bottom for the front of the entryway.
• Roll gingerbread dough out to edges on a large, rimless cookie sheet. Place paper patterns onto the rolled out dough. With a sharp, straight edged knife, cut around each of the pieces, but leave pieces in place.
• Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes until dough feels firm.
• Place patterns on top of the gingerbread again and trim shapes, cutting edges with a straight-edged sharp knife. Leave to cool on baking sheet.
• Place royal icing into pastry bag with a writing tip and press out to decorate individual parts of house, piping on decorations, windows, door, etc., as desired. Let dry until hardened.
• Glue sides, front and back of house together at corners using royal icing. Place an object against the pieces to prop up until icing is dry (it only takes a few minutes).
• Glue the two roof pieces to the pitched roofline of the house. Then, similarly, glue the sides and roof of the entryway together with icing. Attach the entryway to the front of the house.
• Continue decorating the house, gluing on gumdrops, licorice and peppermint, as desired.
• Mix all of the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer, until the icing is smooth and thin enough to be pressed through a pastry bag with a writing tip. Add more lemon juice, if necessary.