Making A Gingerbread House-Construction Dough

I use a construction dough to make

the pieces for my gingerbread houses.

It's a very, very stiff dough and I use a

stand mixer.  If you don't have one,

toward the end of the mixing process

you may need to place the dough on

a lightly floured board and kneed

until completely mixed together.  Place

the dough in the microwave for a few

seconds it it gets too stiff and continue

to kneed until thoroughly mixed. 

Molasses Construction Dough

8 cups flour

2 heaping teaspoons ginger

2 heaping teaspoons nutmeg

4 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt  

(if you don't like the smell of nutmeg or ginger just 

omit and stick with cinnamon)  

  

Mix the dry ingredients together in

your mixing bowl. 

1 cup dark molasses

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup margarine or butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Place these ingredients in a 2 quart

saucepan.  Cook and stir over

 medium heat until melted and

thoroughly mixed.  

It will look like this.  It gets a bit of

froth on top.

Pour this heated mixture into

the dry mixture and mix.  The cooler

the mixture the harder it is to mix.

Work fairly quickly.

Cover with saran wrap and keep in the

fridge until ready to use.  It also

freezes well, so you can make it

ahead of time.

You will need aluminum foil,

your rolling pin, cinnamon and cookie

sheets.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

 Take your very heavy stiff dough and

cut off a slice.  Place the cut dough in

the microwave and reheat for about

12 to 15 seconds.  Don't cook it, just

get it nice and warm.  If it's too hot

you WILL burn your hand.  NOT

recommended for children.  Experiment,

every microwave is different.

Place it on the aluminum foil and

quickly roll it out to about 1/4 in thick. 

When it's warm it rolls out beautifully,

and doesn't stick to a wooden rolling

pin.

If it's not large enough to accommodate

the piece you need to cut out, take a

small amount of dough, warm it in your

microwave, place where needed

and roll out.

See how nicely it rolls together.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Place a pattern piece on top. 

The cinnamon keeps the

dough from sticking to the patten.

With a small knife cut out the

pattern piece and remove the excess.

Kids can do this with a dull dinner

knife.  Rough edges will do just fine.

Lightly rub the cinnamon into

the dough.

Cut away the excess foil and slide

the piece onto a cookie sheet.  If you

have helpers make sure the pieces are

laying flat, if they are crooked just

 smoosh till they look straight. 

Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or

until the edges are browned.

Okay, the dough is brown.  So,

if the edges start to turn black,

it's probably done!  All the edges

will be covered up, so you can use

a mildly burned piece!

Cut out all the pieces the

same way and bake.  You can

squeeze quite a few pieces on a

big cookie sheet.  Let the pieces

cool before removing.

When the pieces have cooled

completely, the foil easily pulls

away. 

 Honestly, this dough doesn't taste

 very good.  It tastes like a gingersnap

 dog biscuit and the pieces are hard as

 hockey pucks, but you probably won't

 break one unless you drop it!

These little battery tea lights are

small enough to go through the

window when I want to light it up.

All the pieces are done and ready to

decorate.  You can bake your pieces

ahead of time and freeze.  Just layer

with parchment paper or foil and freeze

in an airtight container.  Spread out

the pieces to thaw.

Wrap the left over dough in saran

wrap and keep in the fridge.  Just

in case you break a piece and need

to remake it or you forgot a door!!

I have quite a bit left, so I will  make

 some ornaments for the tree.

Same process.

Use a straw to cut holes for hanging.

I sprinkle on some extra cinnamon,

it looks very pretty when baked. 

I added some tinsel wired ribbon

for hangers. These will look nice

on the tree or a wreath.

Plain and simple.

The house smells

like Christmas!