Gingerbread House Template

Gingerbread house pieces and measurements

The Medium classic house is 6 in15.2 cm wide and 4.5 in11.4 cm deep, with 4 in10.2 cm walls under a 45° roof. Here is every pattern it prints and the size of each. Change the house above and the list follows.

The side walls are 4 in10.2 cm long, not 4.5 in11.4 cm. They stand between the front and back walls, so each one is shorter by twice the dough thickness (2 × 6 mm). That is why the finished house measures exactly 6 × 4.5 in15.2 × 11.4 cm on the outside instead of growing by the thickness of the dough at every corner.

How to use a printable gingerbread house template

1. Pick the house and the size. Under Customize size, set the dough thickness to what you will really roll. The template uses that number to work out where the walls meet.
2. Print at 100% (Actual size), not Fit to page. Measure the check line at the bottom of any sheet: it should be exactly 2 inches on Letter or 5 cm on A4. If it comes out shorter, the printer shrank the page and the pieces will not match.
3. Cut out the paper patterns. If you like, trace them onto cardstock and tape the walls together first: a paper model shows whether everything fits before you bake.
4. Lay the patterns on the rolled dough and cut around them with a sharp knife, windows and door included. Lift the extra dough away instead of moving the pieces, so they keep their shape.
5. Bake, then put each pattern back on its warm piece and trim whatever spread. The assembly steps below cover baking times and the icing.

The Download PDF button saves the same sheets with a cover page that lists the pieces and the steps, handy if you print somewhere else or want a copy for next year.

How to assemble a gingerbread house

These steps follow the house you picked above, so they change if you switch to an A-frame or a church.

1. Print the template at 100% (Actual size) and check that the line on each sheet measures exactly 2 in. Cut out the paper pieces.
2. Roll the dough on parchment to 6 mm (about 1/4 in). Lay the patterns on it, cut around them and pull the extra dough away rather than moving the pieces, so they keep their shape.
3. Cut out the windows and the door. Chill the cut pieces on the baking sheet before baking so they spread less.
4. Bake until the pieces are firm. While they are still warm, lay each pattern back on top and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Let the pieces cool completely on a flat surface.
5. Make royal icing with meringue powder or pasteurized egg whites and beat it to stiff peaks. Frosting is too soft to hold up walls.
6. Pipe icing along the bottom and side edges of the front wall and one side wall. Stand them on the board at a right angle, with the end of the side wall tucked behind the front wall. Prop them with cans or jars.
7. Add the second side wall, then the back wall. The side walls fit between the front and back walls, so the house measures exactly 6 in by 4.5 in on the outside.
8. Let the walls set for at least 30 minutes, an hour if you can, before the roof goes on.
9. Pipe icing on the sloped edges of the front and back walls and the tops of the side walls. Press on one roof panel, then the other, and hold them in place for a minute. The panels meet at their bottom edges, so fill the small V-shaped gap along the ridge with icing.
10. Put the chimney together as a box on the work surface: the front and back pieces outside, the short side between them on the uphill end. When it has set, ice it onto the right side of the roof. The slanted bottom edges match the roof pitch.
11. Ice the door to one side of the opening so it stands slightly open.
12. Let the house dry for a few hours or overnight before you decorate.

What you'll need

How much dough you need

The generator adds up the area of every piece, subtracts the windows and the door, and multiplies by the thickness. It counts rolled dough at about 1.2 grams per cubic centimeter and adds 30% for scraps and re-rolling. For the Medium house that comes to about 2 lb (920 g)920 g (2 lb). Treat it as an estimate, not a recipe.

Recipes give their yield as a house size instead. One batch of a typical construction gingerbread recipe makes a house somewhere between 6 by 7 and 10 by 7 inches, so it covers the Medium house. For a Large or XL house, plan on more than one batch. The recipes we checked are listed on the About page.

Choosing a size

Width, depth and wall height are what you choose; the roof follows from the pitch. The presets below are a starting point, and any custom size from 2 to 20 inches wide works.

Bigger houses get thicker dough by default, because the walls carry more weight. Keep the board in mind too: it should be about 2 inches larger than the house each way, so a Medium house needs a board of at least 8 × 6.5 in20.3 × 16.5 cm.

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