Gluten Free Gingerbread House with Enjoy Life Foods
It is so much fun to make a Gingerbread house during the Christmas season. But, most Gingerbread house kits in the stores contain gluten, wheat, eggs + often warnings that the treats may contain peanuts, tree nuts + other allergens. Well, that can take all the fun out of gingerbread making for families with food allergies. So, I created a gluten free gingerbread house recipe with more nutritious ideas for the decorations as well.
My kids love to snack while making a gingerbread house, which is really fun. But, honestly, I aim for nutritious snacks over sugary sweets. They had their fare share of powdered sugar intake during the making of our gingerbread house, but the Enjoy Life Foods Seed + Fruit Mix was a big, nutritious hit! We went for a cottage look + covered our house with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds + dried pineapple. All of the Enjoy Life products are certified gluten-free + free-from the top 8 most common allergens as defined by the FDA (wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (including coconut), fish and shellfish). They are also all verified Non-GMO, certified Kosher and Halal, and are made with no artificial ingredients. The Seed + Fruit Mix was not only nutritious, but I love giving my family food that I know is free from our allergens.
My Gingerbread recipe centers around the Enjoy Life Foods Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Did you know all 5 of the Enjoy Life Foods Baking Mixes (Brownie, Pancake + Waffle, Muffin, Pizza Crust + All-Purpose Flour) are also certified vegan? They are made with a blend of ancient grains (teff, buckwheat, millet + quinoa), contain 5g of plant-based (algal) protein per serving, and contain the probiotics strain Ganeden BC30! You can find full ingredient + nutritional information here.
Gluten Free Gingerbread House Ingredients:
1 Box Enjoy Life Foods Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (4 cups)
2/3 Cup Rice Milk
1/2 Cup Molasses
1/2 Cup Vegetable or Palm Oil Shortening
1/2 Cup Cinnamon Applesauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ground Ginger
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Allspice
1/2 Tsp Salt
Gingerbread House Decorations:
Enjoy Life Seed + Fruit Mix
Cranberries
Cinnamon Sticks
Candy Canes (Organic, nut free, kosher)
Sugar + Confectioner's Sugar for dusting
Non-food Decorations:
Wreaths
Bottle Brush Trees
Beaded garland or Mini Christmas Lights
Cardboard
Gingerbread House Frosting:
1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tablespoon Water or Rice Milk
Directions:
Melt shortening in a saucepan. Add sugar + molasses + mix well, with sugar fully dissolved. Sift together in a mixing bowl: flour, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, salt + ginger. Gradually stir 4 cups of the dry ingredients into the melted shortening mixture. Mix in rice milk + applesauce. Mix thoroughly. Transfer to a bowl + refrigerate for 4 hours or over night.
Place baking sheet on workspace. Line with parchment paper. Roll out dough. You may put a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough for ease of rolling. Cut Gingerbread house pieces. I found this Gingerbread cookie cutter set on Amazon, just search "Gingerbread cookie cutter." Trim + smooth up sides with a knife. Remember to cut your doors + windows prior to baking. Remove excess dough + roll out to cut additional pieces. Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on baking rack.
For the frosting: mix 1 Cup confectioner's sugar to 1 Tablespoon water or rice milk. When creating your Gingerbread house, you can apply your frosting with a knife, spoon, piping bag, Ziplock bag with the corner cut off, or generic ketchup bottle from a cooking store or The Dollar Tree.
Place a piece of cardboard on your workspace to build your Gingerbread house. With your frosting, glue your house directly onto the cardboard. Glue the walls, one at a time + let it dry for a few minutes before adding the next piece. You can use cans of vegetables to hold up your walls while drying.
To re-create this design, line the bottom edge of the house with fresh cranberries. Then, start from the bottom + work your way up + spread the frosting on the wall then place in the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds + dried pineapple to look like a cobblestone or brick wall. Work in small sections until complete. Decorate the roof + let dry before adding it to the house. For the roof: spread with frosting + sprinkle on candy cane crumbs + fine sugar. Add wreaths + trees as you wish. Sprinkle confectioner's sugar + fine sugar on your cardboard to create snow. Cheers!
What are your favorite accents on a Gingerbread house? Have you cut doors + windows out of your Gingerbread house before? Let me know in the comments. Merry Christmas!
This post was sponsored by Enjoy Life Foods. All opinions are my own. My family has allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, dairy, soy + sesame, plus I am a vegetarian, so Enjoy Life is a brand we truly do enjoy.
Photography by: // Lindsey Lee & Co.