Apart from counting down the days with chocolate Advent calendars, putting together a gingerbread house kit is another popular tradition for ringing in the holiday season. This is a fun activity that is usually done with the whole family before Christmas.
In essence, this tradition entails building a small happy winter wonderland of your own using baked gingerbread panels as the base. And while it’s primarily meant for display, you can also generally eat the houses within four weeks after opening the kit. After all, these houses are oftentimes decorated with entirely edible decor like easy royal icing and colorful candies.
So if you want to try it out for yourself, you’re in luck because we’ve put together this list of the best gingerbread house kits to get this year. In this article, you’ll also find a short guide to help you pick the product that’s right for you. Continue reading below to find out more!
The Best Gingerbread House Kit Options At A Glance
-
Best Overall: Wilton Pre-Baked & Pre-Assembled Gingerbread House Kit
One of the best-selling gingerbread kits that comes with a pre-baked and pre-assembled base.READ MORE -
Best Unique: Wilton Build & Decorate Yourself Themed Gingerbread Mar Castle
One of the best unique gingerbread house ideas inspired by a vintage video game.READ MORE -
Best DIY: Kuki-fun Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Set
A set of food-safe cookie cutters for baking a standard gingerbread house.READ MORE -
Best Easy: Wilton Pre-Baked Gingerbread House Kit
A kit for making simple gingerbread houses with ready-to-assemble parts.READ MORE -
Best Pre-Built: Wilton Pre-Assembled Petite Gingerbread House
A premade gingerbread house that is ready for decorating.READ MORE -
Best Gluten Free: A&J Bakery Gluten Free Holiday Gingerbread House Kit
A traditional Christmas house kit that consists of allergen-free items.READ MORE -
Best Mini: Elf on the Shelf Mini Holiday Gingerbread House Kit
A 12-pack gift box of small gingerbread cookie houses.READ MORE -
Best Gingerbread Village: Wilton Christmas Mini Village Set
A gingerbread village kit that you can put together with mini, cool gingerbread houses.READ MORE -
Best Gingerbread Mansion: Create A Treat Pre-Built Mansion Gingerbread House Kit
A modern gingerbread house kit design with a pre-built base.READ MORE -
Best Gingerbread Castle: Wilton Gingerbread Winter Castle
A kit for making a fun holiday gingerbread castle.READ MORE -
Best Cookie Cutter: Fox Run Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Bake Set
A set of cookie cutters for making gingerbread house panels and decorations.READ MORE -
Best Non-Edible: LEGO Creator Expert Gingerbread House 10267 Building Kit
Assemble a Lego gingerbread house kit for Christmas.READ MORE
12 Best Gingerbread House Kits This 2022
To decide which products to include in our list of the best gingerbread house kit options to get this year, we considered key factors such as product quality and even overall customer satisfaction. Find a more in-depth discussion about the featured items below!
1. Best Overall: Wilton Pre-Baked & Pre-Assembled Gingerbread House Kit
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Pieces have been pre-assembled
- Comes with decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Risk of breaking if mishandled during shipping
This best-selling product manufactured by Wilton takes our top spot for the best gingerbread house kit to get this year. This is because all in all, this kit delivers in terms of quality. It’s also backed by rave reviews, which is a testament to the consistency of the product.
Each kit comes with a pre-baked and pre-assembled gingerbread house that is ready for decorating. The edible decor included in the pack consists of different candies and icing. It’s also helpful that it comes with decorating tools like a piping bag and tip, candy cup holders, and an instruction manual that you can follow for an easier time. Although, you are also free to decorate your cookie house however you want.
2. Best Unique: Wilton Build & Decorate Yourself Themed Gingerbread Mar Castle
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Risk of breaking if mishandled during shipping
Bored of building the same regular cookie house for Christmas? If you want something more unique, try leaning towards entertaining or funny gingerbread house ideas such as this one. Instead of decorating a standard four-walled design, you’ll get to incorporate fun elements into your holiday house with this nostalgic cookie kit that’s inspired by Super Mario, a popular video game series.
For this Super Mario gingerbread house pack, you’ll get pre-baked cookies that you can easily assemble to form the walls of the structure. On top of that, it comes with classic gingerbread cutouts, an assortment of candies and edible decor, stickers, icing, and colored fondant for decorating the gingerbread castle. Tools include a presentation board, icing tubes and tips, as well as an instruction manual that you can follow for two possible designs.
3. Best DIY: Kuki-fun Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Set
What We Love
- Inexpensive
- Made of food-safe material
- Comes with extra cutters for decorations
What We Don't Love
- Not very sturdy
- Doesn’t come with other tools
For some, building gingerbread decorations from scratch might be more appealing than going for pre-baked and pre-assembled ones. So if this resonates with you, this Kuki-fun cookie cutter pack for making a DIY gingerbread house might be more up your alley.
Simply throw together your gingerbread mix and you can easily cut the cookie dough into the necessary shapes with the handful of food-safe steel cutters included in this kit. You’ll get everything from large wall panel shapes to smaller chimney details with each purchase. And the best part about DIY cooking kits like this is their versatility since you can freely use chocolate or biscuit dough instead of the regular gingerbread — if you’re up to it. By far, this is also cheaper, making it an ideal addition to some budget seasonal recipes that won’t break the bank.
4. Best Easy: Wilton Pre-Baked Gingerbread House Kit
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- May need extra candies for decoration
Building a traditional gingerbread house from scratch does take up extra time and energy. So if you just want to decorate, you might want to consider getting this pre-baked Wilton gingerbread house kit.
With this product, you can cut straight to the chase and skip the baking process entirely, as each kit comes with pre-baked cookie sections for the house. And for decoration, you’ll get a pack of icing, as well as a classic gingerbread house candy selection. Although, you might need a go-to gingerbread icing recipe to whip up more for decoration. Assembling the base is also made easier with the accompanying piping bag, cardboard base, and instruction manual. Simply follow these steps, and you just might realize that it’s indeed possible to make building a gingerbread house easy.
5. Best Pre-Built: Wilton Pre-Assembled Petite Gingerbread House
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Pieces have been pre-assembled
- Comes with decoration
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Risk of breaking if mishandled during shipping
Apart from using pre-baked cookie parts, you could have a much easier time with a pre-built gingerbread house kit like this one. This is ideal if you don’t have much time to spend on building the foundation of this holiday confectionery because all there’s left to do is figure out how to decorate your gingerbread house and run with it.
As indicated in the name of the product, this kit consists of a gingerbread house that has already been baked and assembled for you. For decoration, it comes with a handful of candies, as well as a pack of standard white gingerbread house icing. You can easily pipe this onto the cookie house using the accompanying piping bag and tip included in each box packaging.
6. Best Gluten Free: A&J Bakery Gluten Free Holiday Gingerbread House Kit
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with gluten-free decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Pricey
For people with underlying health conditions and food allergies, the cereal grain protein called gluten can pose health risks. You may want to consider getting gluten-free gingerbread house kits so that any of your loved ones could join in on the tradition of building this holiday display. If you’re interested, this A&J Bakery product is a good option. Apart from being gluten-free, it also doesn’t contain other common allergens like nuts, dairy, and eggs.
Each kit comes with pre-baked gingerbread house pieces and an assortment of gluten-free hard candies, drops, gummies, and icing. Non-edible pieces are also included in the pack, as well as a display board.
7. Best Mini: Elf on the Shelf Mini Holiday Gingerbread House Kit
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with decorations
What We Don't Love
- Doesn’t come with tools
- Only available for bulk purchase
Instead of building one regular-sized gingerbread house with the family, another fun way to go about this tradition is to have each person build and decorate smaller, individual cookie houses. And for the best mini gingerbread house kit this year, this book-inspired product sold by the Circle of Drink brand easily takes the cake.
Each purchase of this product comes with a total of 12 individual packets, so this is also a practical option for buying gingerbread house kits in bulk. For every pack, you can expect to get complete gingerbread cookie pieces, candies, and icing. All things considered, the components of this kit are already prepared for you, so you can go straight to building and decorating the houses once the holiday season comes around.
8. Best Gingerbread Village: Wilton Christmas Mini Village Set
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Gingerbread panels are not pre-cut
If you’re up to it, you can also put together several gingerbread houses to form a mini holiday village display for your space. Interested in this idea? In that case, the best option to get this year is this Wilton mini-village bundle. Each kit comes with four sets of pre-baked gingerbread house pieces that you can assemble with your loved ones for the holidays.
Apart from the cookie panels, each pack also comes with edible decor items like candies, fun fondant decorations, and colored icing. You’ll also get non-edible holiday stickers that can help further spruce up your gingerbread houses. Lastly, some helpful building tools such as piping bags, tips, and an instruction manual are also included in each package.
9. Best Gingerbread Mansion: Create A Treat Pre-Built Mansion Gingerbread House Kit
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Risk of breaking if mishandled during shipping
Planning to make something different for your holiday activity this year? Instead of a standard gingerbread house, building and decorating a fancier gingerbread mansion kit might be a good option. If you like this idea, then the best product to get is this Create-A-Treat kit.
Each standard pack comes with a gingerbread mansion that has already been built for you. Other edible gingerbread cookies for decor are also included in the pack. Besides this, you’ll also get edible candy for decor, as well as premade colored icing options that are packed in ready-to-use tubes.
10. Best Gingerbread Castle: Wilton Gingerbread Winter Castle
What We Love
- Pieces have been pre-baked
- Comes with decorations
- Comes with tools
What We Don't Love
- Risk of breaking if mishandled during shipping
Out of gingerbread house decorating ideas? Instead of constructing a standard cookie house, why not take it up a notch by making a gingerbread castle? Yes, it’s possible as there are fun kits available in the market for this. And for the best one to get, this Wilton winter castle kit is an ideal choice.
This pack comes with gingerbread castle pieces that have already been baked for you. Because you’re only left to put together the pieces using icing, it’s a lot easier to construct than starting from scratch. After which, you can freely decorate this holiday confectionery with candies, decorating sugar, white fondant, and stickers. Do so by following the instruction manual that it comes with, or freestyle it. Decorating tools like piping bags and tips are also provided.
11. Best Cookie Cutter: Fox Run Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Bake Set
What We Love
- Made of food-safe material
- Comes with other tools
- Comes with a recipe guide
What We Don't Love
- Not very sturdy
This Fox Run set of cookie cutters is a great choice for making a no-frills gingerbread house project from scratch. Not only does each pack come with tin-plated cutters for the different parts of the cookie structure, but you’ll also get a cookie-cutter for shaping mini Christmas trees for decoration.
On top of that, other necessary gingerbread house-building tools are included in this house cookie cutter set. You’ll get a piping bag, as well as piping tips of different shapes and sizes. There is also a cardboard base to aid in assembling the structure. Finally, a recipe guide for making the cookie dough, and an instruction manual for building the gingerbread house are also provided.
12. Best Non-Edible: LEGO Creator Expert Gingerbread House 10267 Building Kit
What We Love
- Comes with extra decorative pieces
- Easy-to-follow instructions
- Can be re-assembled
What We Don't Love
- Pricey
- Best for teens and adults only
No plans of eating your gingerbread house? If you’re just in it for building and decorating, then this LEGO building kit might be the best Christmas gingerbread house kit option for you. That’s because though the pieces included in this pack are inedible, you can still have fun assembling the structure with your loved ones.
Each LEGO pack comes with plastic building blocks that you can easily put together to form your gingerbread house. Needless to say, this craft kit is a good non-messy alternative to building a traditional holiday cookie display. Additional pieces are also made to mimic real gingerbread house decorations such as candy buttons, candy canes, and even gingerbread men.
What to Look For in the Best Gingerbread House Kit
You might have noticed from the featured products above that not all cookie kits are the same. In that sense, how do you know which gingerbread house is right for you? So to help you pick out the best one, we’ve put together this brief guide on factors to consider when buying this particular holiday confectionery kit. Feel free to read on and weigh your options below.
Ease of Use
First of all, you have to consider the amount of effort that you want to put into building this holiday novelty piece. Considering this factor, you can group gingerbread kits into three basic categories: DIY, pre-baked, and pre-assembled or pre-built.
DIY
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) gingerbread kits are more traditional since you will be getting into the nitty-gritty of making the dough from scratch. This option is ideal if you want to have the full experience of learning everything from how to make a gingerbread house to how to decorate this holiday display. We also recommend this option if you want to have more control over the appearance and taste of the final product.
Pre-baked
On the other hand, the pre-baked kits are great for when you want to skip the baking process entirely. It already comes with cookie panels and parts that are ready to be assembled and decorated, after all.
Pre-assembled
Lastly, you have the pre-built cookie kits which are, as the name suggests, already built for you. This one requires the least effort since you won’t have to build the house yourself. Go for this option if you want to dive straight into the decorating part of the gingerbread house tradition. This is also perfect if you don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen during the holidays. You can easily finish up this gingerbread house while taking a sip of your favorite winter cocktails.
Design and Ingredients
Decide how you want your gingerbread house to look. There are traditional holiday cookie house kits that come with classic items such as royal white icing and candies like gumdrops, candy canes, and the works. Whereas, there are also others with fun designs inspired by video games, stories, and other pop culture elements. From Frosty the Snowman kits to Super Mario castles, the kids will definitely love decorating as much as eating them!
Apart from considering the exterior of your novelty piece, you may also want to think about the ingredients you’ll be using for the gingerbread house. Of course, gingerbread dough is traditional. But, you can also opt for a gluten-free alternative to avoid certain allergens, or choose an entirely different flavor altogether by making a holiday chocolate house and others.
Size
Apart from regular-sized gingerbread houses, other options are also available. There are mini versions that are ideal for having people decorate individual houses during a party. These can also be put together to make a gingerbread village of your own. Finally, you can also have larger mansions or castle-type cookie houses that you can assemble for a show-stopping centerpiece for your living room or kitchen counter.
Was this page helpful?
Read Next: 35 Easy Meal Prep Ideas For An Easy Week Ahead
Kaye
Kaye is a writer and a recent oat milk convert. With a background in Language Studies, she has founded a deep appreciation of cultures, traditions, and the power of words. In her spare time, she enjoys testing some of the trendiest and most accessible recipes on the internet.