How to Make Mini Gluten Free Gingerbread Houses

My kids and I used to make a gingerbread house nearly every year for Christmas. But there was a long stretch of about 10 years where we didn’t make one, ever since I found out my youngest son and I have gluten intolerance. I was afraid to waste such expensive ingredients on a gingerbread house that may turn out to be a failure. I wasn't so sure that it would hold up to the rigors of assembly, and I had visions of crumbly rice flour roof pieces and walls crashing down into an expensive pile of rubble!

That all changed when I saw this genius little cookie cutter - every piece you need for a tiny gingerbread house, all in one cookie cutter!

It is just the cutest thing, right down to its little scalloped roof edges! Since it's so small I felt like it was worth the risk to try  it out, even on gluten free dough. I decided to use my Graham Cracker Recipe since it was already tried and true, and makes a nice and sturdy dough.

Why You Should Make Mini Gingerbread Houses

• There’s no need to use a gingerbread house template that you cut around with a knife - those take SO much time. The cookie cutter has the roof pieces, side walls, front, and back all in one press of the cookie cutter!
• My graham cracker recipe is perfect for this project, since the house pieces don't puff up much at all in the oven. Once I tried making a special gingerbread dough version of these graham crackers, but it looked and smelled so much like the original that we haven’t used anything else but my regular gluten free graham cracker recipe for years now.
• Everyone can get their own palm-sized mini houses to decorate how they want. The rule we usually follow for our grandkids now - make one to eat, and one for a Christmas decoration. 
• It’s so much fun searching out the perfect tiny candies to fit the scale of the houses! Read on to see a list of the best candy decorations for mini gingerbread houses.

Here's What You'll Need

•  A batch of my Gluten Free Graham Cracker dough
• Royal icing - recipe card below, and see substitutions section (in yellow) for egg free and dairy free options
• Piping bag - use a real piping bag, not a sandwich bag (watch the video to see the mistake I made! 😩)
• Small, sharp knife to score cookie pieces after they’re baked
• Cookie cutter - the cutest little gingerbread house cutter ever!!
• Large baking sheet - if you have room, you should plan on rolling out the dough right on the cookie sheet
• Rolling pin
• Silicone baking mat, piece of parchment paper, or plastic wrap. This is going to be important when you roll out the dough so the shapes won’t get disturbed or distorted.
• A little bit of gluten free flour  for sprinkling the dough when you roll it out - white rice flour, brown rice flour, or a gluten free flour blend are all fine here.
•  Gluten free candies, like sprinkles. Scroll down to see our top picks for mini gingerbread houses!
• Other tiny food, like sliced almonds, cereal, and mini chocolate chips
• Recommended - small dessert paper plates for each person to decorate their house on. It’s perfect because not only does it keep the inevitable mess under control, but you can rotate it, like a mini cake board!

Ingredients for the Graham Cracker Dough

I thought it might help to list the ingredients here, so you can see at a glance what you need:

• Brown sugar
•  Honey ( or agave nectar)
• Millet flour ( you can also use sorghum flour)
• Coconut flour
• My Brown Rice Flour blend
• Butter (see below for dairy free sub)
• Oil, such as avocado oil or another vegetable oil
• Xanthan gum
• Cinnamon, salt and baking powder

Tips for Baking

 Here’s some of the most important tips you need to follow for your mini gingerbread houses to turn out well. Please watch the video below for all the details on baking, assembling, and decorating with kids.

1.  Chill the dough, then roll it out on a silicone baking mat  or flour dusted parchment paper.
2. Cut the houses as shown in the video.You can remove some of the excess dough, but  don’t move the gingerbread pieces - keep them in place so they don’t get distorted.
3.  Bake them at 325℉ (lower temperature than the usual cookie) so they don’t get too brown.
4. While they’re still hot, run a knife all around the cut edges so the pieces separate completely.
5. Let them cool completely on the cookie sheet before moving them.

Tips for Assembling

1. Pipe some frosting on the inside of the sides of the house, or the inside of the font and back pieces, as shown in the photo (and in more detail in the video).
2. Attach the sides to the front, and attach the back to the sides.
3. Attach the roof pieces (they are the ones with the scalloped edge on the bottom) the same way by piping frosting on the inside sides of the roof pieces.
4. Then spread some frosting on the peak of the roof to hold it together.
5. It’s so much easier putting together mini houses than one big house! Since they are so small they hold together quite well and are pretty sturdy. You will have to let them dry completely before decorating them, especially if kids are going to be working with them.

See How It's Done

If you want to see how to make a gingerbread house step by step, our video will show you everything you need to know. And you know whenever you make something with kids there will be outtakes - and there are outtakes at the end 😀

Best Candy to Decorate Mini Gingerbread Houses

• Mini chocolate chips, and rainbow candy coated chips
• Mini M&Ms
• Cinnamon imperials
• Almond slices (makes great roof tiles)
• Sprinkles, especially ones that are on the large side 
• Nerds (in the US)
• Tiny Chiclets chewing gum
• Chex cereal - it’s gluten free, and would be cute for a thatched roof look

FAQs about gluten free gingerbread houses:

I used a basic Royal Icing recipe to "glue" the house together. Here is the recipe I've used for decades:

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