Valentine’s Day Sugar House
 Valentine’s Day Sugar House I’m already thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day. I wanted to post this so that you would have time to plan to make one of these Valentine’s Day Sugar Houses. They were so much fun to make! I’d never made one before using a sugar cookie dough but it worked perfectly. It is best to bake it a few days ahead of when you want to decorate it to give it some time to dry out. Let’s get started! First thing to do is make your sugar cookie dough. Dough should not be refrigerated until after you cut out your pieces. I spray the back of my cookie sheets and roll the dough out right on the cookie sheet. If you have the cutters like I do you need to cut out the pieces. If you don’t have the cutters find a pattern you want to use. Just google gingerbread house patterns, you’ll find all kinds available. Trace the pattern onto parchment paper. Lay the pattern out on the dough and cut out pieces with a sharp knife. This is also when you cut out windows and doors. Now I want you to refrigerate the dough for at least 10 minutes before baking. This does 2 things, it keeps the dough from spreading as much and the dough will stay truer to size during baking. When I take the pieces out of the oven, I check the pieces against my pattern and if the dough spread too much I trim it while still warm. Straight edges make it easier to put together. Remove the pieces after 5 minutes to a wire rack to cool. Let the pieces air dry at least a day before decorating. I prefer three days when I have the time. I couldn’t believe my luck when I was in Home Good’s one day and they had this wonderful gingerbread cookie cutter set. It makes cutting out the houses quick and easy. You can see above how I roll my dough out on the cookie sheet. You can buy a set from Amazon here from Fox Run Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Bake Set {affiliate link}. With the recipe here and these cutters you should get 2 houses out of one recipe of the sugar cookie dough. I baked some heart shaped cookies to use for a fence. It is all of these small touches that will make the child in you smile when you look at the house. People of all ages love these houses! Then it is time to mix up your Royal icing to glue it all together. If you have a stand mixer you want to use it. It can take over 5 minutes to beat the frosting. If you are using a hand mixer you might want to do it in a couple of steps if your mixer gets hot. If you do cover the top of the bowl with a damp towel. While working with Royal Icing you always want to keep it covered. It can also be refrigerated if you need to. It will need to be whipped again if you do. To assemble the house use a couple of cans to support the walls in place. I put the icing on both sides of the pieces I plan to put together. I smooth the icing it out with my fingers before I let it dry. I use a pastry bag fitted with a round large tip. If you haven’t already bought candy I would suggest a trip to a dollar store. That is where I get most of my candy. I buy anything I can find that is red, white and pink or are hearts. I never know how I am going to decorate a house until I get started. I usually start with the roof. I tend to like the same kind of candy on the roof but I’ve seen an assortment on the roofs too and they turn out well also. When assembling the house, depending on how you are going to do your roof ridge, you might want to do what I do. I don’t butt my two pieces up together tightly to form a peak. I leave a little valley so I can have a flat surface there to put my candy on. This makes it easier to support the candy if it is too heavy. See the assembly pic above to see a visual example. This is also when you add the chimney if using one. I have found the easiest way to do this is when you are baking the house, roll up some balls of the cookie dough scraps and flatten into a disk. Glue the flat pieces together with the royal icing. I used 5 of these flattened discs for the chimney and then added enough icing so it would look like snow. I also like using these flattened disks as sidewalk pieces. I just do a bunch of them and use as needed. Make sure when you place the chimney that whatever candy you are using on the ridge that you have room behind it to put at least 1 piece of whatever candy you are using on the roof ridge there. After doing the roof, I do the top ridge of it usually with a candy that is like a jawbreaker or gum drop hearts. There really isn’t an order on how to decorate your house just think about it before you start adding more candy. After the roof I do the edges of the roof. Then I move down to the sides and start decorating the house. The yard is the last thing I do. At the last minute I decided I wanted some valentine heart flowers. I got out a piece of parchment paper and some linguine… Yep, linguine. The flower stems were so thin, I worried they would break from the weight when they had to support themselves. Break up a few pieces of linguine about 2 inches or less. Cover them with the green royal icing on the parchment, make a few leaves and then stick your heart candies on. Let it dry. It takes about 4 hours so make them ahead with the bushes and trees if you can. They add a great touch of whimsy I think. I use large marshmallows for bushes and use Wilton tip #67 to make the leaves. Ice cream cones can make trees. Another kind of tree can be made with the stems of grapes dipped in white or milk chocolate. Fences can be done with candies, cookies or even pretzels. Wood piles can be made out of Tootsie Rolls. Need a sled? Use candy canes with a chuckle seat and rope licorice for the rope. Use your imagination! Leave me a comment below with some of your favorite decorations. I’d love to know. If you make a house send me ([email protected]) a pic and I’ll be thrilled to post it for you. Valentine's Day Sugar House Author: Mary Ellen @ Recipes Food and Cooking Recipe type: Dessert, Holiday Prep time: 2 hours Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 3 hours Sugar Cookies 1 cup shortening 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons almond extract 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 cups flour – (may need another ½ cup) Royal Icing 3 level tablespoons Meringue Powder 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.) 6 tablespoons water Sugar Cookies 1 cup shortening 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons almond extract 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 cups flour – (may need another ½ cup) Royal Icing 3 level tablespoons Meringue Powder 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.) 6 tablespoons water For the Sugar Cookies: Cream shortening and sugar together. Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time in order of appearance on the list, mixing each thoroughly. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness on the back of a greased cookie sheet. Cut into desired shapes. Refrigerate on the cookie sheets for at least 10 minutes. Bake on a greased cookie sheet 10 to 12 minutes in a 350ºF oven. This recipe was modified from this one to adapt to making a Sugar Cookie House This recipe makes enough dough to make a large gingerbread house. Use the extra dough to make some rolled out cookies that the kids can decorate. For the Royal Icing: Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7-10 minutes (10-12 minutes at high speed for portable mixer) until icing forms peaks. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth when not in use. Yields 3 cups of icing. Note: Royal icing should have good body and be moderately stiff: It will not create a lasting bond if too runny and soft. For snow, I sometimes add a few drops of Karo Syrup to thin it just a little for a softer look. For the Sugar Cookies: Cream shortening and sugar together. Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time in order of appearance on the list, mixing each thoroughly. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness on the back of a greased cookie sheet. Cut into desired shapes. Refrigerate on the cookie sheets for at least 10 minutes. Bake on a greased cookie sheet 10 to 12 minutes in a 350ºF oven. This recipe was modified from this one to adapt to making a Sugar Cookie House This recipe makes enough dough to make a large gingerbread house. Use the extra dough to make some rolled out cookies that the kids can decorate. For the Royal Icing: Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7-10 minutes (10-12 minutes at high speed for portable mixer) until icing forms peaks. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth when not in use. Yields 3 cups of icing. Note: Royal icing should have good body and be moderately stiff: It will not create a lasting bond if too runny and soft. For snow, I sometimes add a few drops of Karo Syrup to thin it just a little for a softer look. Would you like to see another of our Valentine’s Day Recipes? Chocolate Brownie Hearts with Ganache Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse Ghirardelli Cake Candied Strawberries Here’s another house I did. Pin It!