Get King Arthur Gingerbread

Are store-bought gingerbread kits edible? "Yes, they can be. It depends on the kit you buy and the recipe you use," Cook says. If you've baked the gingerbread yourself, Cook doesn't recommend eating the gingerbread house if you've let it sit for more than a day.

Glued together with melted sugar and decorated with icing, it's built to stand through the entire holiday season. Being deliciously edible, however, parts of the house are known to go missing. Theme, architecture and level of ambition is up to you. Happy baking!

Royal icing is the edible "glue" or mortar that holds a gingerbread house together and can be used to make fancy sugar decorations. It's the best option for projects like gingerbread houses since, unlike buttercream frosting, royal icing will harden once dry.

“Edible” is a loose term, apparently. A gingerbread house is about as edible as play-dough—you can eat it, but should you? These houses are usually left out for days (more on that later), drying out and crusting over.

A decorative touch for your holiday baking They make the perfect addition to your holiday cakes, cookies and cupcakes. They are more for decoration though than they are for eating.. They were very hard, so I wouldn't advise consuming these.

Materials Gingerbread house kit or home made gingerbread pieces. Candy and extra supplies for decorating. Gel food coloring. White foam board for a base. Waffle cones. Icing tips.

Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency. Since this icing is made with Meringue Powder and not raw egg whites, it is safe to eat! Store remaining icing in an airtight container for up to two weeks.