Easy gluten-free gingerbread house to make at home with step-by-step recipe instructions! The gingerbread house dough is vegan and gluten-free so little ones can nibble on the raw cookie dough as you make it (just heat treat flour first)!
Decorating gingerbread houses is another favorite holiday celebration I do with my kids. Most years we use a gingerbread house kit for convenience, but making a gluten-free gingerbread house from scratch can be so much fun to do with the kids! This gingerbread house recipe is from my vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookies, and it fits right in with my gluten-free Christmas cookies.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 25 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 15 minutes at 350°F, plus cooling and drying time
- 🍽️ Makes: 1 gingerbread house (4 wall squares, 2 long roof pieces, 2 side triangles)
- 🥣 Ingredients: 10 for the dough, plus a 16 ounce container of vanilla icing and candy
- 🧰 Equipment: parchment paper, baking sheet, ruler, kitchen knife, piping bag
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Warm ginger and cinnamon with maple and molasses, a sturdy cookie built to stand
- ✋ Difficulty: Roll, measure, cut, bake, cool, glue with icing, let it harden, decorate.
Quick Answer
Mix 2 ½ cups gluten-free flour, ½ cup tapioca flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt, then knead in ½ cup maple syrup, ⅓ cup molasses, ⅓ cup melted coconut oil and vanilla to form a dough. Roll it ¼ inch thick on parchment and cut four 4x4-inch squares for the walls, two 5x3-inch flat-top triangles for the roof and two 4x3-inch triangles for the roof sides. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, cool completely, glue the pieces together with vanilla icing, let it harden for a couple of hours, then decorate with candy.
Jump to:
First you need to gather all the gingerbread cookie ingredients to make the house, a bunch of candy for decorating, icing, and disposable icing piping bags. You will also need a parchment paper, a baking sheet, ruler, and kitchen knife (not serrated) for cutting out the shapes of the house. Don't worry, I provide the measurements needed😊. This recipe makes one gluten-free gingerbread house and I suggest making one recipe at a time.
Now the fun begins! No need for a gingerbread house kit, a gluten-free gingerbread house can easily be made at home! Let's get started baking!
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Tapioca flour adds bend. Mixed with a 1-to-1 gluten-free blend it keeps the baked walls from being brittle.
- Maple syrup and molasses replace eggs and butter, binding the dough and keeping it vegan.
- A ¼ inch thickness is structural. Thinner pieces crack; measure with a ruler.
- Completely cooled pieces hold icing; warm cookies slide apart.
- Icing is the mortar. Letting the assembled house harden for a couple of hours before decorating is what keeps it standing.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Vegan and gluten-free, so the kids can taste the dough (heat treat the flour first).
- No kit needed, just a ruler and a knife.
- One batch, one house, with extra dough for gingerbread men.
- A holiday project that sits next to my Christmas crinkle cookies and healthy Christmas tree sugar cookies.
- Pantry flours; my gluten-free flour and starch alternatives guide explains the blends.
Key Ingredients and Equipment
For the gluten-free gingerbread house you will need gluten-free flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, salt, maple syrup, molasses, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- 2 ½ cups gluten-free flour and ½ cup tapioca flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup maple syrup and ⅓ cup molasses
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (16 ounce) container vanilla icing and candy for decorating
- Equipment: parchment paper, a baking sheet, ruler, kitchen knife and disposable icing piping bags. Measuring by spoons? My teaspoons in a tablespoon chart helps.
Full recipe ingredients and measurements are in the recipe card below.
Gingerbread House Icing and Candy
For a dairy-free and gluten-free gingerbread house you can use coconut oil icing from the store. If dairy is not an issue, regular vanilla icing can be used, a little less than 1- 16 ounce container per house. We made three houses and used two icing containers. Add the icing to a disposable icing piping bag and tie the top together with a rubber band (or I used a hair-tie!). Cut a small snip at the bottom of the bag to allow for the icing to come out for piping.
House decorations: candy. Grab all your favorite candies to decorate the gluten-free gingerbread houses with. Here are few ideas:
- chocolate coated candies such as M&M's
- gum drops
- fruit candy slices
- cinnamon imperials/red hot's candy
- Twizzlers
- gummy bears
- peppermint pieces
- mini candy canes
- licorice
- red, green, gold, silver sugar sprinkles
- Junior mints
How to Make a Gluten-Free Gingerbread House
1Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Then add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, molasses, and vanilla. Using a spatula mix it together then using your hands continue to knead the cookie dough until it is well blended and the flour is combined.
2Roll the dough out on parchment paper to be ¼ inch thick (no less or the cookie may break). Then using a ruler and knife start cutting out the shapes. You will cut the sides of the house, roll the dough and cut the roof, then roll the dough and cut the last part of the roof: four 4x4 inch squares for the sides, two 5x3 inch high long triangles with a flat top for the roof, and two 4x3 inch high triangles for the sides of the roof.
3To make the four squares cut a large square that is 8x8 inches using the ruler. Then make marks on all four sides that are at the 4 inch point and make 4 even squares.
4Transfer the four squares to the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Then roll the dough out again and make the longer triangles with the flat tops. Make the dough 10 inches long by 3 inches high. Cut in on the sides so they are even. Transfer the pieces to the baking sheet.
5Roll the dough out again to ¼ inch thick and cut out 2 triangles that are 4 inches long by 3 inches high. To do so make one long cut that is 8 inches by three inches high. Cut in half then form into even triangles with the top point at 2 inches in. Transfer to the baking sheet.
6Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Let them cool on the pan for about 15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Do not put together this gluten-free gingerbread house until they are completely cooled. There will be leftover dough so feel free to make gingerbread men cookie shapes out of it!
7To assemble the gingerbread house, add icing to the rims of all the pieces.
8Carefully place two of the four squares on a flat surface or dish. Add extra icing to the base to seal it. Do the same to the remaining two sides. Attach one of the long tops and the triangles. Seal all around with extra icing as needed. Add the last two roof pieces.
9Let the gingerbread house dry completely. If the icing is not completely hardened the house may fall apart when it is decorated (learned that from experience!). Use the icing as a glue for all your candy pieces and decorate the house.
As always, be sure to check out the full recipe details in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips
- The dough will be hard or soft depending on the type of gluten-free flour used. I suggest using King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour or Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten-Free Flour. The dough will be hard but will soften as you knead it.
- Let the gluten-free gingerbread cookie pieces cool completely before assembling the gingerbread house together.
- Once the house is assembled let the icing harden for a couple of hours before decorating or else the house may fall.
- Measure, do not eyeball. Matching 4 inch walls and 3 inch roof heights are what make the roof sit flat.
- Bake extra pieces if you are building with several kids; a spare wall saves the day when one cracks.
- Keep the holiday baking going with gluten-free sugar cookies, paleo crackers and a mug of hot chocolate.
Serving Ideas
Set the finished house out as the holiday centerpiece, then break it apart on Christmas Eve with a Christmas hot chocolate smoothie and a vegetarian spinach cranberry mushroom wreath on the table. Leftover dough pieces are cookies in their own right, and the same spices go into my Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle.
Gingerbread House FAQs
Four 4x4 inch squares for the walls, two 5x3 inch high long triangles with a flat top for the roof, and two 4x3 inch high triangles for the sides of the roof, all rolled ¼ inch thick.
15 minutes at 350°F. Cool them on the pan for about 15 minutes, then on a rack until completely cool before assembling.
The icing was not fully hardened before decorating. Let the assembled house dry for a couple of hours, and make sure the pieces were completely cool when you glued them.
The dough is vegan with no eggs, so little ones can nibble it as you build, as long as you heat treat the flour first.
A 1-to-1 blend such as King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour or Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten-Free Flour. The dough may feel hard at first but softens as you knead it.
Yes. The cookie dough is already dairy-free; use a coconut oil icing from the store instead of regular vanilla icing and it is fully dairy-free.
Gluten-Free Gingerbread House Recipe
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Equipment
- disposable icing piping bag
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups gluten-free flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup molasses
- ⅓ cup coconut oil melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 16 ounce container vanilla icing
- candy for decorating
Instructions
Make the Gluten-Free Gingerbread House Cookie Pieces
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl add the flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Mix together with a spatula then add the maple syrup, molasses, coconut oil and vanilla extract and mix to combine and form a dough. Using your hands, knead the dough until all the flour is worked into it.
- Roll the dough onto parchment paper to a ¼-inch thickness. Then using a ruler and knife start cutting out the shapes. During this process you will cut the sides of the house, roll the dough and cut the roof, then roll the dough and cut the last part of the roof. Here are the measurements and pieces you will be cutting:4 - 4x4-inch squares for the sides of the house2 - 5x3-inch high long triangles with a flat top for the roof 2 - 4x3-inch high triangles for the sides of the roofTo make the four squares cut a large square that is 8x8 inches using the ruler. Then make marks on all four sides that are at the 4 inch point and make 4 even squares. Transfer the pieces to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Then roll the dough out again and make the longer triangles with the flat tops. Make the dough 10 inches long by 3 inches high. Cut in on the sides so they are even. Transfer the pieces to the baking sheet.
- Roll the dough out again to ¼ inch thick and cut out 2 triangles that are 4 inches long by 3 inches high. To do so make one long cut that is 8 inches by three inches high. Cut in half then form into even triangles with the top point at 2 inches in. Transfer to the baking sheet. There will be extra dough which can be used to cut out into extra cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Let them cool on the pan for about 15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Do not put together this gluten-free gingerbread house until they are completely cooled.
Assemble the House
- To assemble the gingerbread house. Add icing to the rims of all the pieces.
- Carefully place two of the four squares on a flat surface or dish. Add extra icing to the base to seal it. Do the same to the remaining two sides. Attach one of the long tops and the triangles. Seal all around with extra icing as needed. Add the last two roof pieces.
- Let the gingerbread house dry completely. If the icing is not completely hardened the house may fall apart when it is decorated (learned that from experience!). Use the icing as a glue for all your candy pieces and decorate the house.
Notes
- chocolate coated candies such as M&M's
- gum drops
- fruit candy slices
- cinnamon imperials/red hot's candy
- Twizzlers
- gummy bears
- peppermint pieces
- mini candy canes
- licorice
- red, green, gold, silver sugar sprinkles
- Junior mints
- This makes 1 house so make another batch for each gingerbread house.
- The dough will be hard or soft depending on the type of gluten-free flour used. I suggest using King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour or Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten-Free Flour. The dough will be hard but will soften as you knead it.
- Let the gluten-free gingerbread cookie pieces cool completely before assembling the gingerbread house together.
- Once the house is assembled let the icing harden for a couple of hours before decorating or else the house may fall.
Allison says
Horrible awful recipe, the dough was so extremely sticky it could barely be worked even after refrigerating. Spread so much it closed the openings for the windows. Wouldn't stand up even with supports. Absolutely ruined my gingerbread house decorating with my partner.
Danielle Fahrenkrug, Certified Health & Nutrition Life Coach says
What gluten-free flour did you use? I suggest Cup4Cup by Bob's Red Mill. Other flours are "softer" and don't absorb the liquid well and I have had that happen when using specific brands with most of my cookies.
Stacy Roberts says
How long can baked gingerbread be be stored?
Danielle Fahrenkrug, Certified Health & Nutrition Life Coach says
You can store it in a sealed zip lock bag. When we piece ours together it has not turned to mold and we've had it out for 2 weeks to 1 month.
Meg partlow says
Hi! Merry Christmas - I discovered after I had already began baking, but your recipe is missing where to add the baking powder.
I hope they come out okay!
Danielle Fahrenkrug says
Hi Meg! Thank you so much for your comment, I just corrected that to add it with the dry ingredients. Please share how this turned out for you, and your experience:-). Happy Holidays!
Meg Partlow says
Turned out great! Very sturdy recipe for a great gluten free house!
Danielle Fahrenkrug says
Yay, so glad you enjoyed!