How to Make a Waffle Gingerbread House

Making gingerbread houses is one of those classic Christmas traditions that never get old. But we’d be lying if we said that nothing’s changed since the days of baking gingerbread in your grandmother’s kitchen!

These days, your feed is probably full of ads for pre-assembled gingerbread house kits, recipes ranging from a beginner baker to molasses master, and posts asking you to pick your favorite in a decorating competition. So maybe it’s time to give this classic tradition a modern twist, too!

Making your house with Belgian waffles is a simple, tasty, and fun way to update your recipe this year. The only challenge is waiting to eat it until Christmas!

Waffle Gingerbread House Ingredients

Making gingerbread houses without gingerbread may sound sacrilegious, but we promise that it’s just as fun (and a lot less work!) without the molasses. Swap out complicated recipes or premade slabs of stale gingerbread for crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside Belgian waffles.

The perfect size and shape for constructing walls, our Original Belgian Waffles are made with brioche dough and pearl sugar for a light and airy taste with a hint of sweet crunch. Mix it up with our Chocolate Coated Belgian Waffle for extra holiday indulgence.

An egg white based frosting works like a glue to seal your house together and adorn gumdrops, candy canes, wafer cookies, and sprinkles to the outside. Extra points for decorating with more unusual candies like licorice, marzipan, and marshmallows!

Building Your Gingerbread Christmas House

We’ve made a list and checked it twice— here’s all you need to know to make your own waffle gingerbread houses!

Get Your Waffles Ready

The first and most important step to constructing a sweet (and stable!) waffle house is to prepare your waffles. You’ll want to be sure these are crispy enough to keep their shape— soggy waffles will flop over when you try to prop them up. 

If you’re making waffles from scratch, be sure to follow our tips on how to make crispy waffles with minimal effort. And if you’d rather skip the cooking altogether, simply reach for the Belgian Boys’ Original or Chocolate Coated Belgian Waffles. Belgian Waffles are light and airy on the inside and uniquely crispy on the outside, which makes them the perfect building blocks for an edible Christmas house.

Prepare the Icing

To glue your waffle walls together, you’ll need an icing that’s both thick and tacky. But just because it works like glue, doesn’t mean it should taste like glue, too! For a frosting that’s both tasty and strong, we recommend a waffle house icing recipe that uses egg whites instead of water. Not only do the egg whites work as a binding agent to hold your house together, but they also give the frosting a richer, warmer flavor.

This icing can be prepared the day before and stored in the fridge overnight or made the day of decorating. If you’re planning on leaving your waffle houses out as décor for several weeks, consider using powdered egg whites for added stability.

Stick the Walls and Roof Together

When you’re ready to get building, fill a plastic sandwich bag with icing and cut a small hole in one corner. Be careful not to make the hole too big, or you won’t have as much control when piping.

To assemble your waffle gingerbread house, pipe a generous line of icing along the inside edge of a Belgian waffle. Gently press another waffle against the icing at a perpendicular angle. Hold for about thirty seconds to allow the icing to harden, then repeat until you have all four walls of your house “glued” together.

Slice two triangle shapes out of your waffles, gluing them to the top of your house at the front and back to create an A-frame roof. Lean two waffles on top, securing with more frosting. Voilà, an adorable waffle house fit for a family of gingerbread men (or should we say waffle women?).

Decorate Your Waffle Gingerbread House

Now it’s time for the fun part! With your remaining frosting, pipe designs on the roof and walls of your waffle gingerbread house. We like crisscrossed shingles on the roof, a door and window at the front, and plenty of swirls and drips on the walls.

Use dots of frosting to glue candy to your house. A variety of shapes and colors looks best— just don’t forget the row of gumdrops along the top of the roof and two candy canes by the front door.

A sprinkle of coconut flakes around the house will give the illusion of freshly fallen snow. There’s no wrong way to decorate because even a messy waffle gingerbread house will taste magnificent!

Want more tasty ways to get into the holiday spirit? Our Christmas treat ideas have all the inspiration you need to keep the holiday magic going!