~Gingerbread~

~Easy Gingerbread Recipes~

Of all the things I love about the holidays, gingerbread is one of my most loved. It smells and tastes wonderful, makes terrific decorations and great houses, especially when you let your imagination do the decorating.The following are some of the most easy gingerbread recipes I have found. I made the houses with 44 first and second graders this past year, and they worked out wonderfully. The children had a ball making and decorating them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

~Easy Gingerbread Houses~

Materials Needed

Whole graham crackers, 6 per house

Icing

Popsicle sticks

Candies for decorating

Paper plates or similar for constructing house on, small milk carton

Icing

1/4 cup butter

4 cups icing sugar

2 unbeaten egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1-2 tbsp. milk

Mix first 5 ingredients together using a pastry blender, or by hand if you don't have a mixer available. A food processor may also be used, if you wish. Add the milk and continue to mix until the desired consistency. You want the icing to be thin enough to spread easily, but thick enough to hold your house together.

This is where the small milk carton comes in, if you wish. It should be the single serving size milk carton, the kind that the children get at the school lunch programmes, rinse it out well and allow to dry completely inside before using. Place the milk container in the centre of your paper plate, as this is what will support your house. Using a popsicle stick, spread icing on all four sides of a cracker and place up against the carton for your first wall, continue using the 3 other crackers for the remaining walls. Allow the house to sit for a few minutes before adding the roof as this will allow the icing time to set. Use the final 2 crackers to form the roof.

Now comes the fun part, the decorating. Use icing to attach various candies to your house. The sky is the limit! Enjoy!!!

*Candy Suggestions*

M & M 's

Smarties

Gum Drops

Peppermints

Ribbon candy or the bow type pretzels make a good fence

Chocolate Chips

Jelly Beans

Gummy Bears

~Easy Gingerbread People~

Ingredients

1 pkg. Duncan Hines Spice cake mix

1 cup flour

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup molasses

Place dry cake mix ,flour and giner in a large mixing bowl, stir with a fork until blended. Add remaining ingredietns. Beat with an electric mixer, at medium speed for 2 minutes. Refrigerate covered for 2 hours to chill. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough out until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out gingerbread people and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in centre of oven for 8 to 10 minutes until edges start to darken. Let sit on sheet for 5 minutes then remove to rack and let cool completely. Decorate to your hearts' content.

Special thanks to,

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