Gingerbread People and Houses

Nothing says Christmas like building “gingerbread” houses from graham crackers and decorated Nyakers gingerbread cookies. World Market allowed us to quickly assemble a fun Christmas cookie decorating party without much effort. The hardest part was deciding on what designs with which to decorate our cookies.

2 canisters frosting (or 1 recipe of Royal Icing)

Sprinkles, gumdrops, candies of any type

1 box Nyakers gingerbread cookies, original flavor

Resealable baggies

Scissors

Scoop frosting into resealable baggies, twist the open end to prevent the frosting from escaping, and trim one corner of the baggie. Squeeze the frosting towards the opening with even pressure. You now have a homemade piping bag. (You can also make a funnel out of wax paper and trim the end to create a piping bag)

Break your graham crackers into planks. Assemble a house of any shape and hold together with frosting. If you use royal frosting, your frosting will dry better and firmer than if you use premade cake frosting. Allow the frosting to dry and then decorate the houses to your heart’s desire!

To decorate your gingerbread people, lay one gingerbread cookie onto a sheet of waxed paper. Pipe your frosting onto the shape in any design you like. Enjoy! You might even be able to produce a gingerbread house like those at the Sheraton Hotel’s Gingerbread Village benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.