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–+ servings
graham cracker gingerbread houses
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Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

These graham cracker gingerbread houses are built with store-bought icing and regular graham crackers, so they're smaller and much easier to put together than a traditional gingerbread house. The mini festive houses are perfect activities for your kids' Christmas party at school or just for a fun craft leading up to Christmas!
Prep Time30 minutes
Drying Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 4 small houses

Equipment

  • serrated knife
  • cutting board
  • parchment paper
  • piping bag, small piping tips, and piping tip coupler if not using store-bought decorator's icing in a pouch
  • sifter for powdered sugar
  • serving platter or decorative plate for displaying your houses

Ingredients

  • 2 packs graham crackers
  • 1 package decorator icing/cookie icing OR 1 recipe royal icing see notes for an easy recipe
  • 7 ounces flaked coconut sweetened or unsweetened
  • peppermint candies
  • mini candy canes
  • cinnamon imperials Red Hots
  • sliced almonds
  • powdered sugar
  • white & green sanding sugar

Instructions

  • Prepare a flat surface with parchment paper to catch any icing drips.
  • On a cutting board, use a serrated knife to gently cut graham crackers into shapes to make houses and buildings.
  • Pipe lines of cookie decorator icing along the edges of the graham crackers as the “glue” to hold them together to make houses. Use scrap pieces of graham cracker to brace and support the sides if needed.
  • When the icing is set and firm, use more icing to glue candies and nuts onto your houses to create tiled or thatch roofs, decorative trim, and holiday-style decor.
  • Pipe icing around the edges of all of the buildings, including the rooftops and joints, to create snow drifts and icicles.
  • Garnish the edges with powdered sugar to make light, dusty snow, and use sanding sugar to resemble packed, glistening snow.
  • Allow your houses to rest for 1 hour to allow the icing to set.
  • Gently transfer your finished graham cracker gingerbread houses to a cake stand or rimmed baking sheet (if displaying) and sprinkle all around with flaked coconut to create fluffy snow, or serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • For the graham crackers - You can use honey grahams, cinnamon sugar grahams, or even chocolate graham crackers.
  • For the icing - I prefer to use the Betty Crocker brand white cookie icing to hold my graham crackers together. I have also made my own royal icing, which works well and has a lovely, light surface sheen that develops upon drying, which also resembles glistening snow.
  • Making your own royal icing - My favorite way to make royal icing is by using meringue powder, such as LorAnn brand. The instructions state to beat together ¼ cup meringue powder and ½ cup cold water. Beat until soft peaks form, then beat in 4 cups sifted powdered sugar until thickened and smooth. You can add more powdered sugar to make your icing thicker, if desired.
  • Other ideas for decorating your gingerbread graham cracker houses - pretzel sticks for fencing & siding, pretzel twists for windows and tiling, shredded wheat cereal for a thatch roof, peppermint sticks as light poles, whole pecans for roof tiles or a cobblestone walkway, coconut flakes colored with green food coloring for grass or evergreen