Vegan Gingerbread House

Build Sweet Memories: Vegan Gingerbread House Recipe

There’s nothing quite as festive as crafting your own gingerbread house during the holiday season, and this Vegan Gingerbread House recipe lets everyone join the fun! Made with warm spices, a hint of molasses, and a sturdy yet delicious dough, this recipe is perfect for building edible masterpieces. Whether you follow the provided house template or let your imagination run wild with a design of your own.

This vegan version of the classic gingerbread house is just as flavorful and versatile as the traditional recipe, but it’s completely plant-based. The dough is easy to work with, making it ideal for rolling, cutting, and assembling. Once baked, it holds its shape beautifully, providing the perfect base for all your decorations. Think colourful sprinkles, vegan icing “glue,” and maybe even some powdered sugar snow for extra holiday cheer.

Whether you’re crafting a simple cabin or an intricate gingerbread mansion, this activity is a wonderful way to bring people together. It’s fun for kids and adults alike, and the end result doubles as a stunning centrepiece for your holiday table. Until it’s time to devour it, of course!

We have made many gingerbread creations over the years. Our first one was a regular gingerbread house, then a carousel and next a TARDIS. We’ve also done our wedding venue (which was a lighthouse!), the Empire State Building and our own house. I am lucky that my husband is a designer so he does the designing and I am in charge of the baking!

Here is a link to a gingerbread house template from the Sainsbury’s magazine if you want to just use the template and add your own flair with decorations. Or use the photos I have added to this post as inspiration for your own design!

If you liked this Christmassy recipe you may like my Cranberry and orange cake recipe too.

Vegan Gingerbread House

Difficulty: Medium

Servings

20

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 250g Vegan Butter

• 200g Dark Brown Sugar

• 600g Plain Flour

• 7 tbsp Golden Syrup

• 2 tbsp Bicarbonate of Soda

• 4 tsp Ground Ginger

• Icing

• 500g Icing Sugar

• 1 tbsp Cornstarch

• 1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

• 75ml Water

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
• Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan on a medium heat until combined.
• In a separate large bowl mix the flour, bicarb and ground ginger. Pour in the melted ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Leave to cool for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/2cm thick. Use the template to cut out the shapes (or use your own template). You might need to re roll the dough to make all the pieces.
• Place on the baking tray with at least an inch between each piece. You can do it in batches if you need to.
• Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes for the bigger pieces like walls and 8 minutes for smaller decorative pieces.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Icing
• Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and slowly add the water while stirring. You will need the icing to be thick but not so thick that you cannot spread it. Think of it as concrete for the walls. Once it is at this consistency stop adding water.
• On a flat surface (I like to use a large square cake drum) start assembling your walls, using the icing to glue them together. I assemble the walls first and use things like tins of beans to provide support while the icing sets. You can then remove the tins and put the roof on.
• Once your house is assembled and the icing has set you can either water down the royal icing slightly or use icing pens to decorate the house.