How to make the best vegan gingerbread house with vegan royal icing! Everything you need to know to build your own dairy free, gluten free, vegan gingerbread house for the holidays!

One of my favorite holiday activities is making a gingerbread house! We used to do it every year as kids, and then my friends and I continued on the tradition, even when we were in college and came home from break!

Like making sugar cookies, gingerbread houses are such a classic way to get into the holiday spirit, and they’re really for anyone and everyone.

This year though, I wanted to make sure that there really and truly were options for everyone, which is why I created a gluten free and vegan gingerbread house!

Now, making a gingerbread house isn’t as complicated as it seems- you will need patience and a good sense of humor (because things fall occasionally, and that’s okay!), but it’s truly such a joy.

How to make vegan royal icing

So if you’re like me, you’re probably freaked out by regular royal icing.

I know that egg whites really cement everything, but the thought of putting something raw into icing sort of gave me the heeby-geebies- anyone else?

So that’s why I really prefer vegan royal icing instead.

Now I’ve typically done vegan royal icing with just powdered sugar and a dairy free milk, but that won’t help your gingerbread house stay up! You need that cement-like additive to it.

So I chatted with one of my good friends, Yuki from Foodie Yuki, who suggested that I try aquafaba, or chickpea brine.

What a lifesaver this was! I’ve heard of people using aquafaba before, but I tried it once before…bought the salted chickpeas accidentally…and let’s just say that salted aquafaba does not make for a good vegan meringue haha!

But unsalted aquafaba does. So for the vegan royal icing, all you’ll need is:

• Unsalted aquafaba
• Powdered sugar
• Dairy free milk

That’s it! And to make it? Even simpler. You will need a hand mixer or stand mixer, so make sure you have one of those handy.

Another note, I suggest baking the gingerbread house before you make the frosting. But you’re going to need the vegan royal icing before you assemble your gingerbread house so that’s why I’m talking about it before we make our gluten free vegan gingerbread house! Simply:

1. Beat the aquafaba in a large bowl until it starts to peak like egg whites. This should take a few minutes.
2. Incrementally add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until it’s a thick frosting. It should still be slightly running, but drop in “gloops,” as I like to call it.
3. Save half to 2/3 of this vegan royal icing for the assembly of your house. I suggest placing this in a separate bowl.
4. Then add 2-3 tbsp of dairy free milk to the original vegan royal icing and continue to beat so that it thins and you’re able to decorate your gingerbread house with ease.
5. Cover each bowl with a damp paper towel as you prepare to make your gingerbread house!

Now let’s move onto the assembly of our new ginger villages! 🙂

How to make a vegan gingerbread house

As I mentioned above, make sure that you make the vegan gingerbread parts before you make the icing. Once that’s made you can begin to assemble the house.

I explain how to do that in my recipe for vegan gluten free gingerbread men (which is basically this same recipe, only doubled!).

But because we’re making sides and walls and roofs to a house, I’ll just make a few notes about how to cut everything.

So I used Sally’s Baking Addiction’s template for a gingerbread house because I found it to be the best design, but you can use anyone’s on the web!

1. Make sure that your gingerbread house paper pieces are cut out.
2. Once your dough is ready to be rolled, roll the dough to about 1/4″ thick.
3. Gently cut out two of each gingerbread house paper piece (two walls, two sides of the house, and two roof pieces) from the dough.
4. Carefully move the pieces to a baking sheet and space them 1 inch apart (you may need an additional baking sheet). I suggest rolling everything on parchment paper so that you can easily transport it to the baking tray.
5. Bake everything for at least 15 minutes, or until golden brown and slightly tough.
6. Let cool for 15 minutes and then place into the fridge to completely chill before icing.

Okay, now that our dough has been made into gingerbread house pieces, it’s time to assemble the house!

1. If you want to design your house with intricate piping, do this now before building the house.
2. Simply take the vegan royal icing that’s thinest and pipe your design onto the walls to create windows and doors to your gingerbread house. This will be easier than trying to design something upright.
3. Let that dry completely before assembling.
4. Once you’re ready to assemble, make sure you have a cup for support near by and start by piping frosting onto the sides of the front of the house, as well as the bottom. The bottom frosting will be fore holding the gingerbread house in place on the plate that you choose to display it.
5. Place the sides of the house and hold for 2-3 minutes. Place a cup or two next to the walls to make sure that it has support. You can also place your gingerbread house into the fridge to chill for 5-10 minutes while this sets.
6. Now pipe frosting onto the back of the house and place that cookie against the ends of the side walls. Hold for 2-3 minutes and then place into the fridge to further cement.
7. Next, to assemble the roof, pipe vegan royal icing onto all four sides of each roof piece.
8. Gently place the roof pieces on the top of the house and lightly hold for 2-3 minutes, then place the gingerbread house into the fridge to chill. You can also place a small cup underneath the bottom of the roof for light support as it dries.
9. When the gingerbread house is set, now you can pipe the remaining icing onto the house! I used my vegan buttercream frosting to pipe the roof, but you can do a fun design on the roof as well, and add candies where you see fit! Have fun with it!

I hope you have the best time building your vegan gingerbread houses! It’s such a fun holiday activity, and makes for a great decoration around the house 🙂

If you try this gingerbread house, let me know in the comments section below! As always, I’d absolutely love to see your beautiful houses, so make sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest!

Happy building and decorating!

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