Last weekend, I made this adorable gingerbread house with Ryan, one of my best friends.  We sipped Silk nog and apple cider and decorated for hours.  It was exhausting and messy but so much fun to make!  It was the perfect way to spend a snowy Saturday.  For the house and royal icing, I followed this vegan recipe.

Instead of cutting the house’s pieces out by hand, I used a mold. Here is the mold I used.  It worked really well except that I put way too much dough in the mold. The pieces of the roof came out very thick and felt like a brick!  We were worried the house wouldn’t stand.  So… I’d recommend filling your molds about half way with your gingerbread dough and pushing it down by hand.

In the end, our gingerbread house is standing and holding tons of candy thanks to the super tacky royal icing. Here’s how we constructed the house:

While the icing on our house hardened, Ryan and I went for a yummy brunch at Teany then next door to stock up on sweets at the Lower East Side’s famous Economy Candy.  This candy store is amazing.  They’ve been around since 1937 and have almost every kind of candy you could imagine.  Decades of nostalgia fill the small NYC landmark.   A walk through Economy Candy triggers memories from my 1980s childhood- candy cigarettes, Pez, Kinder, rolls of candy dots, and more!

Since Ryan isn’t vegan, we compromised and decided to decorate with a mix of vegan/vegetarian toppings!  If you’re looking for a list of strictly-vegan sweets for kids, click here.  Decorating tip: be patient!  Ryan and I were very impatient and found our toppings sliding down the roof until we slowed down and held each candy piece in place for a few seconds.  Once the icing sets, it’s like glue so make some hot chocolate (like this one from Oh She Glows) and take your time!