Gingerbread Cottage

Prepare gingerbread cookie dough recipe twice, mixing each batch separately. There will be some dough left to make cookies.

Ingredients for the gingerbread dough
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
Ingredients for the sugar cookie dough
1-1/2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
4 cups flour

Preparation
1. Download the free pattern for this project.(Downloading requires Adobe Acrobat software.)
Gingerbread Cottage pattern 1
Gingerbread Cottage pattern 2

2. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and shortening for gingerbread dough with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, ginger, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add the egg, molasses, and lemon juice and beat until combined. Beat in as much of the all-purpose flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining all-purpose flour and the whole wheat flour.

3. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill about 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

4. In a large mixing bowl beat butter for sugar cookie dough with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg until combined. Beat in as much of flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Cover and chill about 2 hours or until dough is easy to handle. After making the cottage, there also will be some dough left to make cookie cutouts.

5. Enlarge the patterns as directed. If desired, cover both sides of the pattern pieces with clear adhesive plastic to protect them. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out some of the cookie dough to 1/4-inch thickness on the back of an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan, following the Special Cutting Instructions below. Place pattern pieces 1 inch apart on the dough. Cut around patterns with a sharp knife. Remove excess dough (save for rerolling), leaving cutouts on the pan.

6. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Leaving the warm, baked cookie on the pan, replace patterns and trim away excess dough. (The more exactly the pieces are cut, the easier the house will fit together.) Let cookies cool completely on the pan; then transfer to wire racks.

Special cutting instructions
1. Cut one roof piece B from sugar cookie dough; turn pattern over to cut a second roof piece from the sugar cookie dough. Use sugar cookie dough to cut 2 roof pieces from pattern A.
2. Cut one end of piece A from gingerbread dough for the middle of the house. For the tudor-style piece for front of house, cut pattern A on the dotted line. Roll out some gingerbread dough and some sugar cookie dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut the rectangular piece of pattern A from gingerbread dough. Cut the triangular piece of the pattern from sugar cookie dough. Place the 2 pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet with long edges touching. Roll lightly to seal the seam. For the beans, cut 1/4-inch-wide strips from scraps of gingerbread dough. Place the gingerbread strips on the sugar cookie dough end piece for tudor appearance (see illustration).
3. Using gingerbread dough, cut 2 sides from pattern A, 2 ends from pattern B, 2 sides from pattern B, and 3 chimney pieces from pattern B.
Decorations and Assembly

What you need
2 recipes Royal Icing

Paste food coloring
Waffle-creme cookies
Fruit-flavored gummy circle candies
Tiny candy-coated tart candies
Multicolored nonpareils
Graham cracker squares
Honey-roasted peanut halves
Frosted bite-size shredded wheat biscuits
Peppermint candy sticks
Gumdrops
Instructions

Assemble and display the cottage on waxed-paper-covered quilt batting set on a large tray or wooden cutting board. Pipe Royal Icing from a decorator bag fitted with small decorator tips, or spread icing to fasten pieces together. Experiment to find the right amount of icing to use. If you apply too little icing, the pieces won't stay together, yet too much icing takes too long to dry. Let pieces stand about 1 hour or until the icing is dry before continuing.
1. Prepare Royal Icing; tint as desired with paste food coloring. Using white icing, pipe an outline of windows on sides A and B. Pipe on door and door trims on tudor-style end piece A. Using yellow icing, fill in windows on the house and door. Pipe on windowpanes. Fill in door with red icing. If desired pipe Christmas light strings on tudor beams or use icing to attach colored candies to look like a string of lights.
2. Separate waffle-creme cookies into 2 layers. Attach one cookie layer by each window for a shutter. Attach fruit-flavored circle candies for wreaths by door and tiny tart candy pieces above windows. If desired, use green icing and a medium star tip to pipe a tree in one window; decorate with nonpareils. Using red icing and the small round tip, pipe a bow on each shutter and wreath. For lights, pipe on icing and use a small round tip to pipe small dabs of red, green, blue, and yellow icing or add colored candy pieces to icing. Let icing dry thoroughly.
3. For the porch, cut a graham cracker square in half lengthwise. Cut another square in half diagonally. Decorate a triangle as desired with frosting and nonpareils. Discard remaining triangle. Assemble the porch roof; attach it to the tudor-style end pieces A. Let icing dry thoroughly before assembling the cottage.
4. Working on a surface covered with quilt batting, pipe icing through a star tip to assemble section A, joining sides and ends. Press pieces together. Assemble section B next to section A. Use a few dabs of icing to hold the end sections of A and B together. Use glass measuring cups or heavy coffee mugs to hold pieces upright and steady until icing dries thoroughly.
5. Using a star tip to pipe icing on edges of sides and end pieces of both sections of house, press roof pieces into position, placing the notched ends of roof sections B at the outside edge (see illustration). This notched area allows room for the chimney.
6. Join the three chimney pieces with icing, making one thicker piece; attach the chimney to the end of house section B, fitting the chimney into the notched area of the roof. Spread one area of chimney with icing. Place peanut halves in icing, allowing a little space between them so they'll look like stones (see illustration). Repeat until chimney is covered with icing and nuts. Let dry.
7. Spread part of a roof section generously with icing. Press frosted wheat biscuits into the frosting, staggering the rows like shingles. Attach peppermint sticks to peaks of both roof sections. Use peppermint sticks and icing to support porch roof.
8. Touch a star tip to edge of roof. Squeeze the decorator bag gently; then pull down to taper the frosting to a point. Pull the tip away. Repeat around all edges of the roof to make icicles. Add other candy trims.  ¶ 9:42 AM 0 comments