1. In a large mixer bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until smooth.
2. Add the flour and water and blend until it makes a firm dough.
3. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
4. When ready to bake the cookies, bring the cookie dough back to room temperature so it’s easier to work with. Print out the gingerbread house pattern and cut out the shapes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. Roll the cookie dough out onto a large cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
7. Place the patterns onto the cookie dough and cut out the shapes. I like to use a clean pizza cutter to get clean edges. You’ll likely need to do this 2 or 3 times to get all the shapes completed.
8. Once the pieces are cut, leave them in place. Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned on the edge and seem firm.
9. Remove cookies from the oven and place the paper patterns back over the cookies. Use the pizza cutter to trim the cookie edges to make sure they’re sharp. Be careful – the cookies are hot!
10. Allow cookies to cool completely.
11. Make the royal icing according to the directions. Color the icing with the brown icing gel, if you’d like the icing to blend in with the house a little more.
12. To put the house together, start with the front door section. Attach the two side pieces to the front and hold in place for 30 seconds or so until they stick together. Attach the two roof pieces, then set aside to dry.
13. To put together the main house, attach the sides to one of the front/back pieces and hold in place for about 30 seconds or so until they stick together. Attach the other front/back piece and set aside to dry 5-10.
14. Once the main part of the house feels firm, attach the two roof pieces.
15. Attach the front door section, then set house aside to firm for about 10 minutes.
16. When firm, attach the bottom of the house to a cardboard cake circle, or something similar where the house will stay attached.
17. To make the roof, add one row of almond slices at a time. Pipe lines of icing horizontally as you go and attach almonds starting at the bottom of the roof and work your way to the top. Complete the full roof of the house and the roof over the door. Attach chopped macadamia nuts to the center of the main roof to cover where the gingerbread pieces join.
18. Use slivered almonds to create the window and door outlines. You may need to break some pieces to get some that are the same size.
19. Use shelled pistachios to create the little flower decorations above the front and back windows. Make a “wreath” out of pistachios for the side of the house.
20. Use the cashew halves to create “garland” along the side of the house, between the windows and “wreaths”.
21. Use pecan halves to create the sidewalk in front of the house, then use the finely diced walnuts to create the “snow” around the house. I added my finely diced walnuts to a food processor to make them even finer, but you could just leave them as is.
22. To make the trees, crush up some of the shelled pistachios. Add a layer of icing to the sugar cones, working one at a time, then sprinkle them with the chopped pistachios. Place the trees beside the house.
23. Allow the entire house to dry, then display in your home.