21 unique gingerbread house ideas! (2024)

While maybe not the most structurally sound or water-tight accommodation, we do love a tasty gingerbread house at Christmas.

Whether you’re a keen baker, or more excited about the decorating part, there’s loads of creative gingerbread house ideas for you to try.

Below you’ll find a huge range of different types of gingerbread houses to make, as well as lots of interesting gingerbread house decorating ideas to help give your house those fabulous finishing touches!

21 gingerbread house ideas to try this Christmas

1. Mini gingerbread houses

Let’s start off simple with a project that both experienced and novice bakers can enjoy!

These mini gingerbread houses are a fabulous project as it doesn’t require you to make huge slabs of gingerbread or spend hours decorating.

Just follow the simple gingerbread dough recipe and cut out shapes using some easy-to-make cardboard templates. Then all you need to do is decorate and assemble.

Arrange these tasty treats on top of some icing sugar to give the impression of snow – they’d make a delicious addition to any Christmas dinner party!

• Try making these Mini gingerbread houses from bakedambrosia.com

2. Santa’s train station gingerbread house

If you’re looking for gingerbread house ideas that are a little different but still have that classic styling, then how about making this train station gingerbread house?

This wonderful recipe is by Bryony from the Great British Bake Off, and while it may take a bit of time to construct it’s definitely worth the effort.

Kids will love the tasty train, not to mention that red marzipan roof. Plus it looks fantastic lit up inside thanks to some simple battery operated tea-lights!

• Find the recipe for Bryony’s Santa’s train station gingerbread house from thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk

3. Give your gingerbread house windows

A great way to add an extra dimension to your gingerbread house design is to create your own edible windows.

You’ll notice a clever trick being used in a lot of the gingerbread house ideas in this list – you simply melt hard boiled sweets such as jolly ranchers till they form a glass-like substance!

You can also make them using melted sugar, although you need to be very careful with this as it can create severe burns if you get any on your skin.

• Check out three methods of How to make gingerbread house windows with allmomdoes.com

4. Try an A-frame gingerbread house

This stunning A-frame gingerbread house looks super-stylish and also keeps the construction straight forward too.

At its simplest you only need four gingerbread panels to make this design, and you could even omit the windows if you wanted to make it even easier

• Find out how to make the A-frame gingerbread house from constellationinspiration.com

5. Gingerbread house log cabin with pretzels

Are all of these sweet treats starting to make you feel hungry? If your mouth is starting to water already, prepare to get some serious cravings for this incredible gingerbread house log cabin.

We think it’s one of the cleverest gingerbread house decorating ideas in this list. It uses pretzels stuck onto a gingerbread base to create that quintessential Christmas log cabin style. The perfect combination of salty and sweet!

• Hunker down with this gingerbread house log cabin with pretzels from gingerbreadjournal.com

6. Stone effect gingerbread house

Here’s another gingerbread house decorating idea that gives extra dimension to plain gingerbread panels.

This stone effect technique is actually incredibly simple and straightforward – it’s just a matter of applying royal icing gradually in little puddles. Take a look and try this fun technique for yourself.

• Learn how with this royal icing stone tutorial from Tikkido

7. Funfetti sugar cookie house

Not everyone is a fan of those warm spiced flavours found in gingerbread, but you can still indulge your sweet tooth with this amazing Funfetti sugar cookie house.

It uses a vanilla sugar cookie recipe instead of traditional gingerbread, with added sprinkles to achieve that funfetti effect. Combine that with the buttercream, royal icing and the various sugary decorations and you’ve got yourself a festive gingerbread house. Your dentist is going to absolutely hate it… but we know you’ll love it!

• Make the DIY funfetti gingerbread house from StudioDIY.com

8. Disney-inspired gingerbread castle

So you’re looking for gingerbread house ideas that are really going to wow your friends and family? Then look no further, you’re not going to get any more epic than a gingerbread castle!

This incredible design takes inspiration from the iconic Disney castle. It uses a whole range of clever techniques – chocolate covered ice cream cones as spires is inspired!

The good folks at Cake-lab.org not only have the full recipe for you to try but have also included templates for the complete build too.

• Go super-size with the Disney-inspired gingerbread castle from Cake-lab.org

9. Tiny cardboard gingerbread houses

Ok so that last one might have been one of the more difficult gingerbread house ideas, however here’s one everyone can enjoy – no baking involved!

These adorable little houses are made using some old recycled cardboard and some basic craft supplies such as a glue gun and craft knife. We love the use of some tracing paper and a LED candle tea light inside to give the windows a warm winter glow.

• Learn how to make these tiny cardboard gingerbread houses from littleredwindow.com

10. Gingerbread village cake

When is a gingerbread house not a gingerbread house?When it’s a gingerbread village cake!

This epic bake certainly takes things to the next level, and is one way to really show off your skills at your Christmas dinner parties.

It’s a gingerbread flavoured sponge cake, topped with maple frosting, surrounded by gingerbread biscuits – YUM!

• Get the gingerbread village cake recipe from bibbyskitchenat36.com

11. Gingerbread house nativity scene

If you want to keep your Christmas crafting traditional, then perhaps you’ll enjoy this gingerbread house nativity scene.

The construction isn’t too tricky and the fact that the icing styling of the characters is quite abstract means you don’t need to get too hung up on intricate details.

However, could you really eat the baby Jesus in his manger? Mmm, sacrilicious!

• Check out the gingerbread Nativity scene tutorial from Tikkido

12. Victorian storefront gingerbread house

For those of you who love a bit of nostalgia at Christmas, why not give your gingerbread house a vintage makeover with this Victorian storefront gingerbread house?

While the boxy structure keeps the shape of this bake quite straightforward, it’s the little details that really make this a stunning design. You’ll also find a huge section of gingerbread house decorating ideas, tips and tricks to help you conquer this build with confidence.

• Get the recipe for this Victorian storefront gingerbread house from vintagekitty.com

13. Gingerbread church

Regardless of whether you’re a church-goer or not, there’s plenty to enjoy in this gingerbread church tutorial.

We absolutely love the effect achieved for the stained-glass windows, which is made by crushing up different coloured hard candies which then melt together.

Plus, the use of Shreddies cereals for the roof tiles is a stroke of genius!

• Get inspired by this gingerbread church recipe from Sweetopia.net

14. Gingerbread Ute

Christmas in Australia is always going to be a little bit different than here in the UK, so when we came across some Australian gingerbread house ideas we were intrigued to see what we’d find.

As well as some classic gingerbread houses, there’s also a suitably Aussie homestead (think corrugated iron roof, shaded veranda, even some scary jelly snakes and spiders).

But it was the gingerbread ute – slang for utility vehicle – which really made us chuckle – after all, what could be more Christmassy than a pickup truck… now, where did we leave that kangaroo-shaped cookie cutter?

• Take a look at the free gingerbread house templates from taste.com.au

15. Gingerbread barn

Got a big family to feed? Need something a little larger than a gingerbread house? But not quite as big as a gingerbread castle? Oh, then what you need is a gingerbread barn!

This fabulous bake makes a great Chirstmassy display and has loads of fun edible elements, like the almond shingle roof tiles or pretzel grain silo.

• Get the gingerbread farm recipe from Countryliving.com

16. KitKat House

More gingerbread house ideas for those of you who aren’t huge fans of gingerbread… or even just as an option for us chocoholics! Hold the phone, stop the presses, you read it right – it’s a house, made entirely from KitKats!!!

This chocolate abode is a delicious Christmas treat, served on a snowy platter… otherwise known as marshmallow fluff! Definitely one for sharing, otherwise Santa better bring you a gym membership this year…

• Try not to drool over this KitKat house from Delish.com

17. Gingerbread campervan

When it comes to a quirky alternative to the traditional gingerbread house, what could possibly be better than this fun gingerbread camper?

Complete with plenty of Christmas touches such as the fairy lights, wreath and of course the tree tied up on top, we’d happily spend December in this sweet and stylish caravan!

• Make a DIY gingerbread camper with sugarandcloth.com

18. Peppermint candy house

Here’s another gingerbread house alternative for those of you with a sweet tooth.

This clever DIY melts peppermint candies together in molds to form solid panels for your house. The red and white stripes on the sweets produce a classic Christmas-coloured effect that looks fantastic, especially with all of the finishing touches added.

Careful with your teeth on this one though, you’ll probably need to smash it up a bit when it’s time to eat it.

• Watch the peppermint candy house tutorial from FoodNetwork

19. Gingerbread house jars

Now here is a genius idea that is perfect for giving as a Christmas gift too!

These fabulous mini gingerbread houses are actually formed and made around a glass jar, meaning it doubles up as a container for even more tasty Christmas treats! Once you’ve finished eating the treats inside, you can then start on the gorgeous gingerbread.

• Learn how to make gingerbread house jars at lilyardor.com

20. Gingerbread greenhouse

If you’re after more unique gingerbread house ideas, here’s one for all of you gardening fans!

This greenhouse gingerbread house is a great option for if you want to make a festive display, showing off mini model trees, very small houseplants or even just some battery powered fairy lights.

The windows in this tutorial are made from clear gelatin sheets, but you could always use any of the other window making methods we’ve looked at earlier in this article.

• Check out the gingerbread greenhouse recipe from constellationinspiration.com

21. Gingerbread men macarons

Now that you’ve had plenty of gingerbread house ideas, you’ll want to make some gingerbread men to go with your house (or to keep the kids from eating your masterpiece straight away).

You could make classic gingerbread men using any leftover dough, or you could take things one step further and make these amazing gingerbread men macarons. They even have gingerbread buttercream sandwiched in the middle – yummy!

• Make sure to bookmark this gingerbread men macarons recipe from piesandtacos.com

Get creative with these gingerbread house ideas

Once you have your basic structure assembled, you can always get creative and come up with your own gingerbread house decorating ideas.

You could incorporate your families favourite sweet treats into your decorations, or use icing to personalise your gingerbread house. You could even recreate a favourite building, like your own home or your kids school!

Keep things simple with gingerbread house kits

Whether you’re dipping your toe into baking for the first time, or maybe want to decorate a gingerbread house but skip the baking part, these fabulous gingerbread house kits make Christmas ever so easy!