Gingerbread Dough for Building

This is the recipe I've used to make gingerbread houses. This dough is for building only, although edible, you will probably not want to eat it because it turns rock hard, which is a good thing for a solid structure. Also, it's doesn't rise or spread, so when you cut the dough from your template, it stays the same shape and size, ensuring all the pieces will fit together. A word of warning though, this dough is a pain to roll out, because it is so dense, rolling in small batches help. Or run it through the thickest setting of a pasta roller.

Gingerbread Dough for Building

6 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

2 tsp ginger

1 tbs cinnamon

1 cup margarine

1 1/2 cups light corn syrup

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350C.

Mix dry ingredients together.

Combine corn syrup, brown sugar and margarine in a sauce pan over medium heat, stir until all melted.

Pour into dry ingredients, mix.

Divide dough, wrap with plastic wrap, chill for 30 minutes for dough to rest.

Roll out dough on parchment paper, to 1/8".

Cut out your shapes.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, and check periodically for air bubbles in dough, prick bubbles with a pin or tooth pick.

Transfer gingerbread to wire rack to cool.

***Optional step if you want to be finicky - As soon as the gingerbread comes out of the oven, put your templates over the pieces again, trim off any edges that do not match before dough cools.

To make stained glass windows in your gingerbread, crush hard candies of your choice, Jolly Ranchers work well. With the candy wrapper still on, put it in a tea towel and whack it with a hammer.

Take the tray of gingerbread out of the oven with 2-3 minutes remaining in the baking time, and fill the holes with the crushed candies. Put more in than you think you need, because it will flatten and level out. Put the gingerbread back in the oven and bake for the remaining time, keeping a watch on how fast the candy is melting. As soon as you see it level out, it's done.