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Bernard’s gingerbread dough

By Bernard Shondell on December 1st, 2023
Bernhards Gingerbread house 2 600x600

Whether you are building an enchanted gingerbread village or a single chalet, Bernard's Gingerbread Dough and Royal Icing recipes will not let you down. They come from Hallmark cookie expert Bernard Shondell who has been sculpting in gingerbread for decades. This is his favourite gingerbread dough recipe for building gingerbread houses because it is firmer and holds its shape when baked. And this Royal Icing is the perfect choice for assembling and decorating gingerbread houses because it won't cause your house to soften or collapse, a hazard of other butter or shortening icings.

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Bernhards Gingerbread house 2 600x600

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • ¾ cup molasses
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 tsp. ground ginger
  • ½ tsp. cloves
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¾ cup ice cold water

Directions

  1. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add molasses and blend at low speed until incorporated, scraping the bowl once or twice during mixing.
  2. Sift flour, baking soda, all spices and salt together, and add to the mixture. Once incorporated, mixture will be dry and crumbly.
  3. Add water to mixture until incorporated.
  4. Cover the dough and chill overnight or at least 3 hours.

Tip: To create a Christmas chalet, base, tall trees and some extra cookies, you’ll need to double this recipe. If you just want to create the chalet with some cookies, one batch will be enough.

Here's a link to Bernhard's Royal Icing recipe.

You can turn your gingerbread into adorable cookie faces featuring your friends, family and pets, too

Bernard’s baking tips

  • Recipes that contain eggs are better for eating but are sometimes too soft for construction purposes.
  • A heavy-duty mixer is best for this recipe; if you don’t have one, some hand mixing or kneading may be necessary.
  • I prefer to transfer my dough to a 1-gallon-size plastic freezer bag to chill-it keeps the dough airtight and is easier to handle.
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Bernard Shondell

Hometown: Roeland Park, Kansas
Artistic style: Sweet & Simple
Inspiration: Flour, sugar, & glitter
Happy place: In any bakery where I can experience what other bakers create.
Favourite project or work of art: Wedding cakes - I love the transitory nature of artistry & precision that is made to be eaten.