Gingerbread Recipe

First things first when making a gingerbread house... The Gingerbread!! I only remember my mom making this once as a kid, but after further investigation, she made it many years. Sorry I dont remember mom! But I really wanted to make this a tradition for my kids! Its so fun, and a great way to spend time as a family!

1. Lucky me, I got the help of my fireman Riley for this job! First get a BIG bowl! Youll need to shift 3 cups of flour. (Start preheating your oven to 350ºF)

2. Mix in the following ingredients: 1 tsp baking soda, ¾ tsp cinnamon, ¾ tsp ginger, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp cloves, ½ tsp salt, ¼ black pepper.

3. In a different beat together 1 stick of butter and ¼ cup of veg. shortening. (why does it seems I always use a yellow bowl for butter!?)

4.  Add ½ cup of brown sugar.

5. Blend until smooth. (Using an electric or hand mixer will be your best friend with all the mixing!)

6.  Ok, so here in Cancun (and according to the posts on google most of Mexico) its impossible to find molasses. So we have a little recipe to make something very similiar! This is a Piloncillo. You just need one.

7. Place it in 1 liter of boiling water and allow it to full disolve, then let it boil 2 minutes more and done!

8. Beat in 1 large egg and ⅔ cups of molasses (or your homemade Piloncillo!) into the butter and sugar mix.

9. Slowly add the dry mix, to the wet mix and stir. Hello cute fireman!

10. Keep mixing! You'll want a smooth, pretty much lump free batter.

11. Place in saran wrap and place in the fridge for at least a day. You can keep it longer if youre not going to make the cookies/house right away!

♥ Continue to next recipe to see how our Gingerbread House turned out!! ♥