The Ultimate Vegan Gingerbread House Recipe (VIDEO!)

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, STURDY, vegan gingerbread house for the holidays with a video tutorial!

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.

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

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. Spoon the icing into a piping bag and assemble!

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

How to make a vegan gingerbread house (VIDEO!)

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’ve used Sally’s Baking Addiction’s template for a gingerbread house and Sugar Geek Show before and love them both. I’ve also used Taste Of Home’s (which is the current photo of the gingerbread house).

Personally, while I love the look, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to make a really big gingerbread house and double the dough.

I’ve also decided it’s best to assemble this gingerbread house in two days. Day 1 is spent just making the dough and assembling the house. Then Day 2 is more relaxed, you can have fun decorating and play some holiday tunes!

Day 1: Baking & Assembling

The first step to creating a homemade sturdy gingerbread house from scratch is baking an incredibly resilient gingerbread house cookie.

Then we’ll assemble!

Making the dough + cutting out the house pieces (total time: 1 hour)

1. First you’ll make the gingerbread dough. I explain that in depth down below in the recipe card. It’s really easy and simple, and it’s a recipe that yields a really strong and sturdy house structure.
2. Once you’re chilling the dough, make sure that your gingerbread house cardboard pieces are cut out. That 30 minutes while you chill the dough is a perfect time to do that.
3. Once your dough is ready to be rolled, roll the dough to about 1/4″ thick.
4. Gently cut out two of each gingerbread house paper piece (two walls, two sides of the house, and two roof pieces) from the dough. You can also make a door and windows here if you’d like (but make sure you’ve added that to your cardboard cut out to do so!).
5. 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.
6. Chill the dough for 10 minutes in the freezer.
7. Then bake everything for at least 15 minutes, or until golden brown and slightly tough.
8. 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!

I recommend making the royal icing on the thicker side right now. You’ll make a new batch for decorating the next day, which can be thinner.

Assembling the house (total time: 2 hours, then overnight)

1. 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.
2. You’ll assemble the walls, front and back of the house first. 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. Then place the house with its supports into the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
3. Next, to assemble the roof, pipe vegan royal icing onto all four sides of each roof piece.
4. 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. Place a cup underneath the bottom of the roof for light support as it dries. Then carefully transport this house into the fridge to set overnight, with the supports still in place.

Day 2: Decorating (total time: 1 hour)

Now that your gingerbread house has completely set (it should feel as solid as a rock at this point!), you can have some fun and decorate!

I recommend making another batch of vegan royal icing, this time on the thinner side, and pouring the icing into a piping bag, snipping the end, and having some fun!

There are some great design ideas on Pinterest that I highly recommend checking out.

You can also use some vegan candies to decorate and add some color to your house! I used my vegan gingerbread people to decorate as well.

What candies are vegan to decorate a gingerbread house?

Unfortunately, the traditional candies aren’t always vegan friendly. If you’d like to add some color to your house, I recommend checking out the health aisle at your local grocery store or Whole Foods.

Some candy suggestions I have are:

• Unreal colored chocolate gems (vegan)
• Sweetapolita Vegan Sprinkles
• Candy canes
• Homemade gumdrops using agar-agar

You can also add some vegan food coloring to your royal icing to make it even more colorful!

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, and be sure to give this house a rating so that others may find it.

As always, I’d absolutely love to see your beautiful houses, so make sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest!

Happy gingerbread house decorating

More vegan Christmas cookies:

Vegan raspberry thumbprints

Paleo vegan ginger molasses cookies

Vegan chocolate peppermint cookies

35+ Vegan Christmas Cookies

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make something from The Banana Diaries, I would love to see your creations! Make sure to leave a review in comments section, as well as giving it a rating so that others may find the recipe. Also, follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook for more vegan recipe inspiration!

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