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This fluffy gingerbread house icing is the only icing I use to build and decorate our houses every December. I’ve made countless batches over the years for our annual gingerbread house parties, and it works so well! It’s made with just three ingredients, pipes beautifully, and dries hard enough to hold walls, roofs, and plenty of candy in place.
Use it for gingerbread houses, mini gingerbread houses, gingerbread Christmas trees, and gingerbread cookies.
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Pin It“Wonderful recipe. Holds like superglue and looks great! Thank you so much.” — Róisín
Table of Contents
- Why This Gingerbread House Icing Works
- Gingerbread House Icing Ingredients
- How to Make Gingerbread House Icing
- How to Know It’s the Right Consistency
- How Much Icing Do I Need?
- Easy Way to Fill a Piping Bag
- How to Use It to Build a House
- Eden’s Tips
- If Your Icing Isn’t Holding
- Storage
- Gingerbread House Icing FAQs
- Gingerbread Desserts
- Gingerbread House Icing Recipe
Why This Gingerbread House Icing Works
Dries hard: It sets firm enough to hold walls, roofs, and plenty of candy in place.
Easy to pipe: The thick, fluffy texture holds its shape exactly where you pipe it.
Makes plenty: One batch makes about 3 cups, enough for 2 to 3 standard houses or 6 to 8 mini houses.
Gingerbread House Icing Ingredients
Powdered Sugar: Also called confectioners’ sugar. This is what makes the icing thick enough to pipe and eventually dry hard.
Egg Whites: Give the icing its structure and help create that thick, fluffy texture. If the house will be eaten, I prefer pasteurized egg whites.
Cream of Tartar: Helps stabilize the whipped egg whites so the icing holds its structure.
How to Make Gingerbread House Icing
1. Beat the egg whites: In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until stiff peaks form.
2. Add the sugar: Turn the mixer to low speed and add powdered sugar one spoonful at a time.
3. Finish the icing: Once all of the powdered sugar is in the mixer, turn it to high again and beat until the icing is fluffy.
Test it: Pull a knife straight through the icing. The line should stay open and not run back together. That’s how you know it’s ready to hold a wall.
How to Know It’s the Right Consistency
This is the most important part of the recipe. Gingerbread house icing should be much thicker than icing you’d use to decorate cookies.
Too runny: The line from the knife test closes back up. Add powdered sugar a little at a time.
Too thick: It’s difficult to squeeze through your piping bag. Add water 1 teaspoon at a time until it’s pipeable.
Just right: It holds a stiff peak, the knife line stays open, and it pipes easily without spreading.
How Much Icing Do I Need?
One batch makes about 3 cups of icing, or roughly four small piping bags. The exact amount you’ll need depends on the size of your houses and how much decorating you plan to do.
- Standard gingerbread houses: 2 to 3
- Mini gingerbread houses: 6 to 8
- Graham cracker houses: 4 to 5
If you’re hosting a gingerbread house party, I always make extra. The recipe doubles or triples easily, and I’d much rather have leftover icing than run out halfway through decorating.
Easy Way to Fill a Piping Bag
A friend taught me this years ago and I’ve never filled a bag any other way since.
- Grab a tall glass or jar with a wide mouth
- Set the piping bag inside and fold the edges over the rim
- Spoon the icing in, pushing it down as you go
- Fill about three quarters full, then lift the bag out
- Twist the top and secure it with a rubber band
How to Use It to Build a House
- Whip the egg whites: Add 4 large egg whites and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
- Add the powdered sugar: Turn the mixer to low and slowly add 4 cups powdered sugar, one spoonful at a time.
- Whip until fluffy: Once the sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer back to high and beat until the icing is thick, glossy, and fluffy.
- Check the consistency: Pull a knife straight through the icing. The line should stay open instead of running back together. If it’s too loose, add more powdered sugar, up to the additional ½ cup, a little at a time.
- Color if desired: Divide the icing into bowls and tint with a small amount of gel food coloring.
Full step by step is in my gingerbread house recipe, including the dough and the templates.
Eden’s Tips
Fill the piping bags right away. Once the icing is ready, I spoon it into piping bags and close them up so the icing isn’t exposed to air. Royal icing starts to crust as it sits, so keeping it sealed in the bags keeps it fresh and ready to use when we build and decorate.
Use gel food coloring. Liquid coloring can thin the icing. Gel gives you beautiful deep colors without changing the consistency, and you only need a tiny amount.
Build first, decorate later. I usually assemble our houses the day before a party and let the kids do the fun part the next day. Nobody has the patience to wait for walls to set and then decorate!
Skip the icing that comes in the kit. Even when I buy a boxed gingerbread house kit, I make this icing instead. There’s never enough icing in those little packets; it never holds the houses, and squeezing it out is usually a wrestling match.
Making houses with little kids? Graham crackers are great, and a small milk carton or box can act as support inside the house.
If Your Icing Isn’t Holding
- The whites weren’t whipped enough. They need to hold genuinely stiff peaks before the sugar goes in. Under-whipped whites make a loose icing that no amount of sugar quite fixes.
- There’s not enough sugar in it. Add more, a quarter cup at a time, until the knife test passes.
- It’s humid. Damp weather means more sugar. Just keep adding.
- You froze it. Frozen icing loses some structure on thawing. Bring it fully to room temperature, re-whip, and add a little powdered sugar to bring it back.
- You’re rushing the set time. Walls need 15 to 20 minutes before the roof goes on. Every single time.
Storage
Room temperature. Sealed piping bags or an airtight container will hold overnight. Make it the day before a party and let it come back to room temperature for a couple of hours before you use it.
Refrigerate. Up to three days in an airtight container. It firms up in the cold, so it needs a few hours out and usually a quick re-whip.
Freeze. Up to three months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, bring fully to room temperature, then re-whip. Expect to add a little powdered sugar to get it back to glue consistency.
Gingerbread House Icing FAQs
Yes, as long as you use pasteurized egg whites. They come in a carton in the dairy aisle and they whip up just like fresh. Fair warning though, royal icing dries rock hard and doesn’t taste like much once it sets. It’s glue first and dessert a distant second.
You can, but I don’t. I’ve made this with egg whites every year for as long as I’ve been building gingerbread houses and it’s what I trust. If you’d rather skip raw eggs entirely, use pasteurized egg whites from a carton. They whip up exactly the same and they’re completely safe to eat.
It’s set to the touch in about 30 minutes. Walls are stable enough to add a roof after 15 to 20 minutes of holding. For a house that’s truly rock solid, give it overnight before you start piling on candy.
Pipe a thick line of this icing along the edges, press the pieces together, and hold for about 60 seconds. Thick lines, not thin ones. This is where most houses fail.
Yes. It stabilizes the egg whites and keeps them from deflating while you build. It lives in the spice aisle at the grocery store.
Absolutely. Make it the day before, store it in sealed piping bags or an airtight container, and let it come back to room temperature before you build.
Gingerbread pieces or graham crackers, this icing, piping bags and tips, a lot of colorful candy, and a sturdy base like a cake stand or a pretty platter.
Yes, and I’d recommend it. Use the kit for the gingerbread pieces and candy, and make this icing instead of the packet that comes with it.
I wouldn’t. Buttercream stays soft, while this royal icing dries hard enough to hold the walls and roof in place. Save the buttercream for the cake!
Gingerbread Desserts
Holidays
Spritz Cookies Recipe
Christmas
Moist Gingerbread Cake Recipe
Holidays
Homemade Gingerbread Syrup
Christmas
Classic Gingerbread Cutout Cookies
If you’re building the whole thing from scratch, start with my gingerbread house recipe. Then set out a hot chocolate charcuterie board and a peppermint simmer pot so the whole house smells like Christmas while you build. Here’s how I set up our gingerbread house party too.
Made this gingerbread house icing? Please leave a 5-star rating and a comment below. It helps other readers find the recipe, and I love hearing how your houses turned out.
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Gingerbread House Icing
Equipment
- Electric Mixer with Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar , start with 4 cups and see how the texture is, then add the 1/2 cup.
- 2 tbsp food coloring , optional
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on high until stiff peaks form.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar one spoonful at a time.
- Once all the sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer back to high and beat until the icing is thick, glossy, and fluffy. This takes only a few minutes.
- Test the consistency by pulling a knife through the icing. The line should stay open and not run back together. If it closes up, add more powdered sugar a quarter cup at a time.
- Divide into bowls and tint with gel food coloring if you'd like different colors.
- Keep a damp cloth over the bowl while you work so the icing doesn't crust over.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Save this for your Christmas decorating!! I used it last year and it was great.
Bookmarking this because it’s going to come in handy over the holidays! (But was also great for our Christmas in July party!)
Please disregard my previous review🙏
I now see all the measurements and instructions.
Wonderful recipe. Holds like superglue and looks great! Thank you so much ☺️
Can you put the icing in piping bags and put in refrigerator until ready to use?
It will harden, so I would leave it out OR if you do it the day before you can refrigerate but then it will need a few hours to come to room temp again.
Whipped up perfectly with hand beater and held the house together very well. A recipe worth saving and using again and again. Thanks for sharing this
My batch did not hold the house together, but worked for decorating. I am now concerned about the extra that I froze for use days later. Thinking after it thaws, I could add more powdered sugar to make it firmer? What do you suggest?
Yes maybe use more powdered sugar or make sure you beat the egg whites and cream and tartar until thick. I have never had this problem, mine holds like glue!
I used this recipe to decorate the house, it is great, exactly as described. However, I get the store kits and hot glue the house together before decorating. No one is going to actually eat the house, hot glue the bottom of the house to a base, usually a roasting pan or cookie sheet turned up side down and covered with foil. A hot glue gunned house base can withstand several children decorating it together without caving in.