Halloween Costumes

1. We used our Classic Gingerbread Cutouts recipe and our basic Gingerbread House template.

2. Tools and materials you'll need include:

• Assorted candies, cookies, and Halloween decorations
• 1 recipe gingerbread dough and template
• Rolling pin
• Sharp paring knife
• Cookie sheets and parchment paper or aluminum foil
• Sturdy cardboard, a foam core board, or an extra cookie sheet for the house's base and yard
• Royal icing and food coloring
• Pastry bags and tips or small resealable plastic bags
• Small spatulas, spreaders, or butter knives
• Tweezers and toothpicks (optional)

3. Assembly:

• Prepare dough, cut out shapes using the template, bake and cool completely.
• Meanwhile, cover house base with parchment, foil, or brown paper. Color icing as desired, and keep bowls covered with damp cloths. (We used orange- and brown-tinted royal icing.)
• Attach walls to the front and back of the house and let dry until icing is hard. Position your house at an angle on the base, leaving room for a graveyard, pumpkin patch, or other decorations.
• Attach roof, propping up eaves with cans or books until icing is dry and hard, about six hours or overnight.

4. Decorate as desired.
We used candy corn for roof shingles, licorice trim, cocoa-flavored rice cereal paving a path through crushed chocolate cookie "dirt" and tiny leaf-shaped sprinkles for autumn leaves. A marshmallow ghost haunts the pumpkin patch, and royal icing spells out RIP on the tombstones.

5. Tips and Links

• Royal icing should be stiff for assembling the house, but can be thinned for frosting the roof and the yard, and for piping.
• If you'll be eating your house, be sure to use pasteurized egg whites or meringue powder in your icing.
• Add more meringue powder or sifted confectioners' sugar to thicken icing, and a few drops of water at a time to thin the consistency.