Holiday baking with kids and a gingerbread house recap

by Aimee

Our weekend plans went awry when little Clara fell quite seriously sick and we were back and forth from the emergency room both Saturday and Sunday.

She is on the mend (we hope) and we are catching up on sleep and life. Maybe I’ll finally get to unpack from London and tackle my email inbox.

Not surprisingly, it was baking together as a family over the weekend that offered a respite from the stress. My mind has a tendency to head to a very dark place when these mysterious medical issues show up (it doesn’t help when not one, but four doctors misdiagnose the case) and I need a diversion. Preferably some thing with cinnamon and spice, cookie cutters and sprinkles.

So the five of us mixed and rolled, cut and baked, then decorated gingerbread cookies for two solid hours. Clara perched at the table, somewhat distracted from her ‘boo-boo’, and made a beautiful mess out of icing and sprinkles. Christmas music filled the house, and as Danny and I were utterly sleep deprived, we kept our coffee cups full.

At the end of the day, it felt like we had made the best of a bad situation. I think we’ll remember that day more for our sweet afternoon project than those hours we spent waiting on tests in a hospital corridor. Baking Christmas cookies created a little normalcy when things were shaky. And it made us happy.

Baking gingerbread is nothing new around here. You can pull up my tutorial anytime and turn out trays of cookies, for swapping or gifting.

But for something really fun, why not build a gingerbread house? It’s an ideal family project (what kid would turn it down?) that is perfect for the holidays; just the stuff that sweet memories are made of.

I’ve broken down the process into something I call The After School Gingerbread Project. I’ve divided the work into five steps that can each be done in under 30 minutes, perfect for completing after school or after dinner.

Day 1: Gather ingredients and equipment.
Day 2: Make and chill the dough.
Day 3: Cut and bake the pieces.
Day 4: Prepare Royal Icing + assemble the base.
Day 5: Decorate!

Of course you can bake and decorate all in the same day if you like! Whatever fits in best with your schedule.

Making a gingerbread house from scratch is sure to be an activity your children will look forward to each day. My two boys thoroughly enjoyed every step (amidst all this silliness) and were exceedingly proud of their creation.

I introduced this tutorial last year, and was SO encouraged by everyone who participated. They tagged me on Instagram, emailed photos and left comments to let me know how much fun they had building a gingerbread house from scratch. I think it was a first for most, if not all of the participants. This year, they will know exactly what’s what.

I hope to inspire a whole new group of bakers this December. Are you ready? Head HERE to get your tools and ingredients in order, then be prepared to have a lot of fun.

Have you started baking for Christmas? Will you make a gingerbread house?

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