It can be really confusing to look at all the gingerbread house kits on the market and figure out which one is best for you. There are literally dozens of them! However, they fall into one of three categories, which will help you make your decision.

Un-baked Gingerbread House Kits

These kits contain the mix, the icing mix and candy . . . everything you need to bake your very own gingerbread house. The templates will also be included. These are ideal if you are worried about the gingerbread pieces breaking in the mail. However, they do require a lot of time since you will be baking the pieces yourself and they will most likely end up warped and if you mess up and burn them, that’s it, the kit is done.

Pre-Baked Gingerbread House Kits

If you want quick and easy, while still enjoying the assembly of gingerbread houses, then these are the kits for you. They come will all the pieces necessary for your house and you just need to assemble them following the instructions. These usually come with their own candy and icing mix. You can also get your own candy to personalize the house, if you like. The kits tend to be a little sparse, so if you like a heavily decorated place, you’ll want to make sure you get extras.

Pre-Baked, Pre-assembled Gingerbread House Kits

These houses are already built and ready to decorate. Now, these are almost always available locally only. You won’t be able to move them long distances or ship them, since they are quite fragile. Of all the kits, the pre-assembled houses are going to be the most difficult and the most likely to fall apart on you. However, they do save an immense amount of time!

Once you have your gingerbread house, you can personalize it with your very own candy, as well as icing. Try piping icing icicles along the edge of the roof, cover the “yard” with icing snow and make a little path winding up to the door out of chocolate covered cookies. For a healthier version, you can use dried fruit and nuts to decorate. In fact, banana chips make excellent shingles! Take a look at the various dried fruits in your health food store to find ideas for decoration.

Gingerbread house kits are an excellent way to cut down the time necessary to make these traditional houses. Kids love to decorate them and it’s a fun way to enjoy bonding with them. If you don’t have the time to make one from scratch, just go ahead and get a kit . . . it’s just as fun!