The gingerbread house. A holiday tradition built on a structure made of gluten. Sigh. But there is always a way to make things gluten-free!

Are you searching for a solution to the gingerbread house dilemma that appears the first Christmas you or your child need to eat gluten-free? We have all been there. My family has tried several options for nearly a decade since two of us were diagnosed with celiac disease. We think we have found the best solution. A gluten-free, gingerbread house CAKE!

Read on to find out why this is the best gluten-free gingerbread house and how easy it is to make!

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Why This Is the Best Gluten-Free Gingerbread House

Your gingerbread cake will actually taste good. No inedible gingerbread-that-tastes-like-cardboard here. This one is so good that we have thrown a mini-party with the kids' friends to eat the gingerbread house. No way that's happening with the old, boxed, gluten-full, gingerbread house.

It's easy. Admittedly, it's not as easy as opening a box, but it is really easy. The finished cake just sits there in one held-together piece while your kids decorate it. You won't be struggling with frosting "glue" while the house pieces fall and crack. Ask me how I know this is a problem.

You can make it a couple of days before. Or up to three months prior, if you freeze it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in an airtight container in the freezer. Do not refrigerate, as it will dry out in the fridge.

CJ is sifting gluten-free flour and spices using an aqua colored sifter and mixing bowl

Miss E wearing a red and pink dress, putting butter in the bowl of an aqua colored stand mixer, gluten-free gingerbread house ingredients are on the counter in the background

It's affordable. After the initial purchase of the gingerbread house bundt cake pan, you are just buying ingredients for future Christmases.

It's gluten-free! That's the real reason you're here. You just need a gluten-free gingerbread house, because your kids want to join in a gingerbread house decorating event or it's an important tradition in your home. The best part is this homemade gluten-free gingerbread cake gives you all of that back. And did I mention that it tastes good?

That last one was a biggie for me. I grew up in Germany, the land of gingerbread houses. It was part of the magic of the holidays. These houses were made with real, flavorful gingerbread. We cut out the side walls and roof pieces, and then constructed the houses from scratch.

As a young adult, convenience won out. I often decorated boxed gingerbread houses but never ate them. Ew!

When my kids came along, we soon had the yearly tradition of attending a gingerbread house decorating event, always with the boxed houses.

Then came Miss E's celiac diagnosis shortly before Christmas, and I was determined (and still am) that she would not miss out on any of the childhood fun because of celiac disease.

The first time, we attempted to use gingerbread house baking tray molds which made large gingerbread cookie walls that were glued together with icing. It was cute and included extra gingerbread decorations, like a sled, children, and a snowman. However, assembling a sturdy house with such large gingerbread pieces was difficult. The kids still had a blast decorating it, but it was a lot of work and did not survive the drive home.

bund cake pan shaped like a house, with pine trees in front

The following year, I set out to find a better solution and discovered the gingerbread house bundt pan. It was a game-changer. We now have a new and precious tradition of making a gluten-free gingerbread house cake each Christmas season. Our house is filled with the smell of gingerbread, and my kids have so much fun as they decorate this easy gluten-free gingerbread house. You can find the gingerbread house pan on Amazon.

Miss E has a piece of candy in her mouth while frosting her gluten-free gingerbread house cake

Adjusting the Gingerbread Recipe Flavor

This recipe is adapted from the Nordicware's gluten-full recipe. It is a very forgiving recipe, and I have tweaked it over the years to get the best results with gluten-free flour.

If you want more warm, seasonal flavor, substitute ⅓ cup of the granulated sugar for ½ cup of molasses, and reduce milk to 1 cup. Leave the cake in the pan for an additional five minutes (15 total) before transferring it to cool on a wire rack.

If you want a less spiced flavor, reduce the following spices in this recipe to: 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.

CJ is concentrating while adding white frosting to his gluten-free gingerbread house cake

Tips for Working with Gluten-Free Flour

Choose a gluten-free flour blend. While one-ingredient flour, like almond flour or coconut flour, may have an important place in your kitchen, baked sweets are sadly not often the place. One-ingredient flour simply cannot replicate all that gluten does in a baked good, so gluten-free bakers started making their own blends to get good results.

For a cake, it's also important that the flour includes a binder, such as xanthan gum, guar gum, or psyllium husk. If your gluten-free flour blend does not include xanthan gum, add it to your batter according to the recipe directions. The flours I recommend already have xanthan gum added.

Thankfully, to make our lives easier, most stores now carry several options of gluten-free flour blends with binders. For this gingerbread house cake, I have used and recommend using one of the following cup for cup flours: King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour, or Cup4Cup Gluten Free Multipurpose Flour.

Important tip! After mixing all ingredients, let your batter rest for 15-20 minutes before filling your bundt pan. This little bit of patience gives time for the starches in your flour blend to hydrate, rewarding you with a fluffier finished product.

Decorating

gluten-free gingerbread house covered with frosting and candy, in front of decorated Christmas trees

Place the gingerbread house on a cake platter or simple cake board and let the fun begin!

If you are looking for an elegant gingerbread house for your tablescape, pipe white frosting to trace architectural details on the house, or sprinkle powdered sugar for snow, and you are done.

If, like me, you want a fun cake for your kids to decorate, let's talk frosting options. Frosting serves three purposes: decoration, glue for candy, and taste. Consider those three roles when choosing your frosting, as well as your budget or time constraints.

Homemade Frosting

You can make your own royal icing, the traditional icing of gingerbread houses.

Buttercream frosting is ALWAYS an option. You are decorating a cake you are going to eat after all! I love this delicious and simple buttercream frosting recipe from Betty Crocker.

Ready-Made Icing

a child's hand squeezing icing onto a gluten-free gingerbread house

Ready-made alternatives to making your own buttercream frosting include Pillsbury frosting in a pre-filled pastry bag or one of many brands of (labeled gluten-free) storebought frosting in a tub. Check the label, as most brands are gluten-free these days and will state gluten-free right on the label.

My preferred shortcut is cookie icing. It is similar to royal icing, but cookie icing will not give you the hard outer layer royal icing provides. Betty Crocker lists the current gluten-free status of its products on the Betty Crocker website. At the time of this writing, the Betty Crocker cookie icings are gluten-free.

I advise keeping an eye out for sales at your local grocery store. These otherwise pricey cookie icings often go on a BOGO sale, especially around the holidays.

CJ pouring red cake icing to fill the chimney of his gluten-free gingerbread house

Piping Icing or Frosting

If you are using homemade frosting or buying frosting tubs, decorating bottles are easier for little hands to use than a piping bag.

To keep things more affordable, buttercream or tub frostings can be added to the cake with a butter knife or piped from a ziplock bag with the corner cut off.

Betty Crocker cookie icing and Pillsbury frosting in a pre-filled pastry bag both come ready to pipe, if easy is your thing. (it's mine, too!)

Gluten-Free Candy

The Celiac Disease Foundation maintains a list of gluten-free candy for many major holidays, but not Christmas. The list, however, is reliable and worth a quick browse for inspiration.

We have varied our gingerbread house decorations over the years, but the following is a list of some of our favorite candies. Always read labels or refer to manufacturer websites, to determine the current gluten-free status of any product. This is especially true with seasonal products where manufacturing conditions vary, and what was safe last year is not safe this year, or vice versa.

Miniature Candy Canes: Spangler Candy Canes are listed as gluten-free on the Spangler website and Yum Earth's Candy Canes are labeled gluten-free right on the box.
Peep's Christmas Marshmallows (gingerbread men, snowmen & Christmas trees) are labeled gluten-free
Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Dots, and Mike & Ikes are all labeled gluten-free and fill the role of colorful gumdrops.
Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins make delicious roof tiles, windows, and pathways and are labeled gluten-free
Betty Crocker Cinnamon Imperials are listed as gluten-free on the Betty Crocker website, and taste like Christmas
Tootsie Roll Snowballs are super cute and labeled gluten-free

Miss E with a piece of candy in her mouth and CJ, both adding candy to their gluten-free gingerbread house

Please keep in mind, the seasonal candies and icing listed above will likely be dramatically cheaper in your local grocery store than via Amazon, unless you are shopping on Amazon Fresh. I recommend using the grocery links for informational purposes and then picking up your decorations when you do your regular grocery shopping.

When looking to make a larger quantity of gingerbread houses for a decorating party, the adorable Cozy Village pan by Nordicware is perfect. Check out my recipe to make mini gluten-free gingerbread houses.