The 10 Best Gingerbread Kits of 2024, Tested & Reviewed

gingerbread kit lab test — The Spruce Eats / Nick Kova

The holiday season is filled with baking and eating tasty desserts, and one of the most fun ways to get in the festive spirit is by building and decorating a gingerbread house. Gingerbread houses are decorations and desserts all rolled into one, and they make a great activity for adults and kids. Baking and building one from scratch can be quite time-consuming, however, and you'll need some serious pastry skills. That's why gingerbread kits have become so popular—all you have to do is assemble.

There are gingerbread kits for all levels of bakers and decorators, including some houses that come completely premade, and ones with special themes for everyone from the dog lover to the gamer. Some kits come with everything you might need and some involve a little more work on your end—read the packages carefully. Like our favorite chocolate Advent calendars, gingerbread kits tend to sell out quickly each year, though, so be sure to make your selection early.

Here at The Spruce Eats, we've been testing gingerbread houses for more than three years and we now consider ourselves experts. Our takeaways? Most gingerbread kits are more about the activity and design than the taste (but there are a few exceptions); building a gingerbread house isn't always as easy as it looks (and can be quite humbling); and, finally, it's always good to have extra icing on hand. Here are the best gingerbread kits in a variety of categories, according to our gingerbread architects—er—editors.

Wilton Build-It-Yourself Mini Gingerbread Village

PHOTO: Amazon

$33 $31 at Amazon $18 at Walmart

Wilton Welcome to Christmas Mini Gingerbread Village Kit Review

Wilton makes some of our favorite gingerbread houses year after year, and there are always new themes and designs. This village—with four miniature gingerbread houses—is particularly fun because you can put it together solo or turn it into a group activity. The set includes everything you need to make the tiny buildings. The four mini gingerbread homes are about 3 to 4 inches high, so the walls and roofs may be a bit delicate, but even if the pieces break, they can be glued back together pretty easily with icing.

This kit also comes with four types of candy and icing to decorate, and you can always add more candy to your liking. We didn't wait the recommended 1 hour to let things dry and everything still held up well. Besides one roof piece breaking slightly, we found the cookies very sturdy. We wished for more detailed instructions, and we definitely think an adult would need to be involved to set up the houses. Pro-tip for parents of young children: Build the houses the night before and have the kids decorate the village the next day. The fun of this kit really comes with decorating and not necessarily the building stage.

We wished for more icing (and the fondant was more annoying than anything else—it will stain your hands!). There is enough icing to make sure the fronts of the houses are pretty, but the sides and back won't get much more than basic decorating with the icing supplied in the kit. Luckily, that's an easy fix—just buy or make more of your own icing. As far as taste goes, our tester found the spice flavors obvious, with a hint of molasses. The cookies weren’t overly sweet on their own, which worked out since the decorations added more sweetness. However, we'd still recommend this more for the craft aspect than the dessert aspect.

Includes: 4 sets of gingerbread house panels, 3 types of candy, green fondant, red and white ready-to-use icing, 2 decorating bags and tips, and an instruction sheet

PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie

Williams Sonoma Gingerbread House DIY Kit

PHOTO: Williams Sonoma

$40 at Williams Sonoma

The Great One Gingerbread house kit came with everything we needed to assemble and decorate the house. The pre-made icing came in sealed pastry bags in three colors. We kneaded them a bit before opening, and they were perfect for both assembling and decorating the house. The red and green icings were deeply colored and bright, so they look perfect for Christmas decor. The sprinkles weren’t just the usual rice-like shapes, but had green trees and red circles. Of course, you can’t tell the difference from a distance, but they do look nice up close. This also included a small bag of multi-colored M&Ms for decorating.

The gingerbread pieces don't have any markings for doors or windows, but we didn’t need that to do our decorating and actually like that we didn’t have to follow any lines. We like the variety of decorating options we had, too. Like other houses we’ve built, this took a bit of time to dry well enough during the assembly process so it could be sturdy enough to handle the house while we decorated it. Once the icing was dry, though, it held well.

This didn’t come inside a decorative box, but came wrapped securely in bubble wrap and other packaging that kept all the pieces from breaking during shipping. This one was fun to build and decorate, and a perfect size for kids to destroy and devour.

Includes: Gingerbread cookie house parts, 3 colors of royal icing, sprinkles, M&M candies

PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie

Williams Sonoma DIY Candy Cane Gingerbread House Kit

PHOTO: Williams Sonoma

$65 at Williams Sonoma

Upon unwrapping the bubble wrap that held this house, we were pleasantly surprised by the variety of decorations we found inside. Instead of common sprinkles, there were four colors of coarse-colored sugar (red, green, blue, and white), along with peppermint sticks, circular peppermint candies, and jelly candies.

Rather than including pre-made royal icing, it included a bag of powder to make icing, along with instructions and several piping bags. We’ve made royal icing before, but for new users, we liked the instructions that included tips for the correct icing consistency. All it needed was a bit of water, and it was ready to use. We decided to make about half of the batch of icing, and that’s all we needed for all of the construction and decorating we did, but it’s nice to have enough in case someone wants to add even more decor. We appreciated that the jelly candies were fresh and soft so we could cut them to use on the house.

When it came to the gingerbread cookies, they were neatly stacked in a plastic deli-style box to keep them safe. There were no lines indicating windows and doors, but we like the idea of creating our own style. The lower edges of the roof were scalloped, though, which is a nice touch.

While the colored sugars were fun to work with, they made quite a bit of a mess on the counter during decorating. Unlike glitter, it was easy to clean up. We did a lot of decorating on this house, and still had plenty of decor left, so we saved them for a batch of cookies to accompany the house.

Includes: Gingerbread cookie house parts, royal icing powder, peppermint sticks, peppermint circle candies, four colors of coarse sugar, jelly candies, piping bags and rubber bands, wooden sticks for spreading icing

PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
PHOTO: The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie

Nordic Ware Gingerbread House Bundt Pan

$38 $33 at Amazon

If you really want to go all out on your gingerbread house this year, and you are determined to build the whole thing from scratch, this bundt pan is the perfect option. It comes with a set of instructions with some handy notes such as the type of cooking spray or fats to use for easy releasing and a sample recipe.

For our test, we doubled a gingerbread house dough recipe, filling up the pan about 3/4 of the way full. After baking, we let it cool for 3-4 hours because it's so dense and we wanted to be sure it had cooled thoroughly. Our gingerbread released easily and then we got to decorating. We were impressed with the end result—both in looks and taste.

Includes: Bundt pan, instructions, sample recipe

Cake made from the Nordic Ware Gingerbread House Bundt Pan on a kitchen counter — The Spruce Eats / Nick Kova

Other Christmas Gingerbread House Kits We Recommend

Baketivity Gingerbread House Baking Kit — Amazon

Part of the fun of building a gingerbread house is the process, but the end result is also satisfying: you'll have a gorgeous holiday decoration. Here are some other kits that have everything you need to create a festive treat.

People smiling while making gingerbread houses at a table — The Spruce Eats / Nick Kova

How We Tested Gingerbread House Kits

For over three years, we've been testing popular gingerbread house kits. Our editors have done two rounds of side-by-testing in addition to sending samples out to the festive homes of our experienced gingerbread architects (aka, product testers). We looked at features like quality, ease of assembly, and taste. However, we quickly ruled out taste as a deal-breaker. Most gingerbread kits are designed with aesthetics in mind (although we did find a clear winner in the taste category). We've compiled our years of data and thorough knowledge on the subject for this year's list, which includes our tested and approved favorites and some newcomers we know you'll enjoy.

Learn More About How We Test Products

Wilton Welcome to Christmas Mini Gingerbread Village on a kitchen counter — The Spruce Eats / Nick Kova

What to Look for in a Gingerbread Kit

Difficulty

Gingerbread kits come in all different varieties. Some come completely prebuilt so all you have to do is decorate with the included frosting and candies. Some require only basic assembly, and others require shaping and trimming of cookie pieces to get the exact fit. If this is going to be an activity for younger kids, you'll want to check out how much measuring and precision is involved.

People decorating gingerbread houses at a table — The Spruce Eats / Nick Kova

Items Included

Be sure to note what comes with your kit. Some require you to supply your own icing, for example. Others suggest having some basics like confectioner's sugar or a piping bag. It can be fun to get your own candy and extra decorations for your house, but if you're looking for simplicity, some kits have everything you need in one package.

Person decorating a gingerbread house — The Spruce Eats / Nick Kova

Taste

Most gingerbread kits tend to focus on the assembly and decorating process, and the taste of the actual cookie pieces can be just average. If you really want homemade taste, you can always buy a cake mold to make your own from scratch. That being said, there is quite a variety of options out there these days and some kits come with some pretty tasty gingerbread. You can also find options for special diets, like vegan or gluten-free.

People decorating gingerbread houses at table — The Spruce Eats / Tamara Staples

FAQs

What comes in a gingerbread house kit?

While each gingerbread house kit is different, there are common pieces you’ll find in most options. There are gingerbread panels that serve as the walls and roof, icing for “glue” and decoration, candy pieces, like peppermints, chocolates, gumdrops, or licorice, and sprinkles.

Gingerbread house pieces from the Favorite Day Target Store Cookie Kit — The Spruce Eats / Tamara Staples

Can you eat gingerbread house kits?

For the most part, gingerbread kits are edible. From the gingerbread houses to the frosting and candies included. Keep in mind that some kits do include little plastic or cardstock figures as decoration, and those should not be consumed.

How long do gingerbread house kits last?

In regards to how long an unopened gingerbread kit can last, most have a one-year-long shelf life before it goes bad. Be sure to check the expiration date. Of course, building and eating sooner rather than later will result in a fresher taste.

In terms of how long a gingerbread house will last once built, most kits will last a week or two before becoming inedible (or at least really dried out and tough).

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Mary Kate Hoban is an Associate Editorial Director at The Spruce Eats. After spending months researching the best gingerbread kits, she also went to The Lab for a full day of testing them side by side (two years in a row!). She finds it tough to pick a favorite but the Wilton Gingerbread Corgi Doghouse Kit was almost too cute to eat.

Allison Wignall, who updated this article, is a writer who focuses on food and travel. During her globetrotting she has tasted some of the sweetest confections–from macarons in Paris to fresh gourmet chocolates in Ecuador. Her work has been featured in publications including Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Southern Living.

We Found the Best Gingerbread House Kits of 2024

Additional reporting by

Allison Wignall