Nativity Gingerbread House from Baked with Love: Holiday
On episode 4 of Hallmark Channel’s Baked with Love: Holiday, mom and I were tasked with 2 challenges. Our first challenge was to bake a dozen donuts that featured 2 different flavor profiles. The second challenge of episode 4 was to make a gingerbread structure with a special meaning to us. Mom and I decided to make our gingerbread house a replica of the Nativity Scene, which represents the reason our family celebrates Christmas.
Photo Credit: ©️Hallmark Channel 2025
Our gingerbread Nativity Scene was complete in just under 3 hours. We used traditional gingerbread and royal icing to build our structure. We used sugar cookies to place around the gingerbread Nativity Scene, as well as haystacks to use as hay. I used a Nativity Bake Set , purchased from Amazon to create our gingerbread structure. Mom and I truly loved this festive bake because we were able to share what Christmas means to us!
Photo Credit: ©️Hallmark Channel 2025
Thank you to all who have tuned into the show to watch our baking adventures. We are thrilled to be moving on to episode 5! If you’re interested in creating your own Nativity Gingerbread House, please checkout the recipe card below. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week!
Happy Baking,
Sally
Nativity Scene Gingerbread House
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups AP Flour (420 grams)
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon (3.75 grams)
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger (1.42 grams)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (2.84 grams)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (1.42 grams)
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt (4.5 grams)
- 14 tbsp or 7 oz vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- 16oz unsulphered molasses (1/2 liter)
- 1 large egg at room temp
- Hard lemon candies or jolly ranchers
- special equipment: nativity bake set
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (115 grams)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 tbsp lightly beaten egg from 1 large egg (25ml)
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract (5ml)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1.5 cups AP flour (187 grams)
- 16 oz confectioners sugar (454 grams)
- 2 oz egg whites (60ml)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 16 oz confectioners sugar (454 grams)
- 2 oz liquid egg whites (60ml)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 15-30 ml light corn syrup
- 30-60 ml water
- red food coloring gel
- blue food coloring gel
- yellow food coloring gel
- black food coloring gel
- brown food coloring gel
- green food coloring gel
- white sanding sugar
- 1.5 cups butterscotch chips (12oz)
- 1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12oz)
- 5 oz can chow mein noodles (such as La Choy)
- 1.5 cups roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped (about 12oz)
Instructions
- Sift your dry ingredients together, set aside. Microwave vegetable shortening until liquid, but do not overheat. In a stand mixer, whisk shortening, sugar and molasses together. Add the egg and mix until combined. Switch to the paddle attachment and add your dry ingredients. Mix on medium/low until a smooth ball starts to form, do not over mix. Roll out dough onto parchment paper or a silpat to ¼" thick. Try to make the dough as even in thickness as possible. Freeze dough for 20 minutes (optional). Cut desired shapes using cutters. I used a nativity bake set that came with cutters. Remove excess dough (can be used to re-roll out and make more pieces). To make a stained glass star topper, place crushed hard candy in the center of the star during the last ten minutes of the baking process. Bake in an oven set to 350F/180C for 35-45 mins until very firm. Once gingerbread is done, remove from the oven to a wire wrack. Allow to cool completely before assembling.
- Combine your egg whites, sifted powdered sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attached. Mix on low to get the ingredients combined then bump up to high for 1-2 minutes. Add in your vanilla extract and whip until it's white. No need to mix for longer than 5 minutes. Place the royal icing into a bowl or container with a lid. Reserve half of the royal icing to use as the “glue” for your gingerbread house. The remaining thick royal icing is now ready to be thinned down to the consistency you desire. If desired, add light corn syrup and water to thin out some of the Royal Icing to desired consistency for Decorating. Tint with desired colors.
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk baking powder, kosher salt, and flour in a medium size bowl until well combined, set aside.Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla extract and egg. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined and dough is pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl. DO NOT CHILL, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut cookies with a cookie cutter and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges turn slightly golden. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes on your baking sheet, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Combine butterscotch chips and semi-sweet chips in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring frequently. Once the butterscotch and chocolate are melted and fully combine, remove saucepan from the heat. Fold in chow mein noodles and chopped peanuts until all ingredients are fully combined. Use a tablespoon to drop haystacks onto a wax paper lined sheet tray. Allow to set.
- On a secure surface, such as a cutting board, place two large pieces of gingerbread together and pipe with stiff royal icing. Allow the structure to set. Use royal icing to attach the star to the top of the structure. Use royal icing to place each part of the scene onto the board. Place haystacks around the barn to look like hay. An optional step is to pipe additional decorations onto the gingerbread structure.