How to Attach Candy to a Gingerbread House (2024)

FAQs

How to Attach Candy to a Gingerbread House? ›

Stick candy pieces to the walls with icing. Hold until the icing is slightly dry to ensure it stays in place. Try using edible glue (confectioner's glue) if your icing is not holding.

To attach the decorations, turn them over to their flat side and use the Royal Icing as glue. They're very light, so just a touch will do it. Gently press the decoration into place and hold it for a minute or so. It should stick right in place.

Step 1 - Pipe a dot: Use dots of icing piped to the back of the candy to attach individual pieces of candy to gingerbread. Pipe bigger dots for larger pieces of candy. Step 2 - Pipe a line: Pipe a line of icing on the back of the candy to attach long candies like candy cane sticks or pretzels.

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The traditional technique is to use icing, such as our Royal Icing (with Meringue Powder). Generations of home bakers have used this tried-and-true method, and it works like a charm and tastes amazing. The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue.

Pour sugar into a heavy pot. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the sugar melts and liquefies - about 5 to 10 minutes. Watch closely to avoid burning, and be very careful handling it because it is extremely hot. Use to glue gingerbread cookie or graham cracker pieces together to make candy houses.

Peppermints. No gingerbread house is complete without classic peppermints. They make it easy to decorate, whether you're lining the roof or simply placing one above the door to resemble a wreath.

Break four candy canes into 1 ½ in. arches. Using icing in bag, attach to sides of house for windows (2 per side). Using green icing pouch with star tip, pipe pull-out stars under windows.

If you feel like your gingerbread house still needs a little something special, go wild and add some additional sprinkles and candy. Add ornaments to your icing trees, add lights to your holiday garland or create a cute walkway out of jumbo sprinkles. If only decorating our real house for the holidays was that easy!

You'll need 4 sets of 3 (2 for the sides, 2 for the roof) and 2 of the 2 sheets for the width of the house. Then, glue 'em together. Be generous with the chocolate.

Let it dry

“Most gingerbread disasters, collapses, and frustrations happen because the icing hasn't had an adequate amount of time to dry. It's not always easy for kids to be patient, so it's a good idea to have some other activity lined up in between steps to distract kids while they're waiting to work on the house.”

Does edible glue work on gingerbread? ›

It dries fairly quickly (a few minutes) and is thin, clear, and edible. It's strong enough to hold small pieces together, but I wouldn't count on it for anything heavy duty. It probably isn't the best option for gluing your gingerbread house walls, but it's perfect for securing those small decorations to them.

Royal icing is the most reliable material for putting your gingerbread house together, but there are a few alternatives. Marshmallow fluff works admirably. If you have the money, you could buy edible glue intended for cake decorating. Or make your own edible glue with a water and tylose powder mixture or gum paste.

Don't get frustrated with gingerbread houses that fall apart! Glue them together instead for the easiest way to assemble gingerbread houses. Today we get to decorate gingerbread houses for our advent activity. I am so excited!

If your kitchen is warm or the temperature is humid, the icing may melt or fall off your gingerbread house. Be careful not to overwhip your icing. Incorporating too much air may make it difficult for the icing to stick to the cookie. Keep any icing covered when not in use to avoid drying.

There are two methods you can use to get your sprinkles to stick to your baked cookies: frosting and egg wash.