Gingerbread houses are a great feature of Christmas, and if you're lucky enough to get one, they're a lot of fun to break up and eat too.
This page has a simple recipe, clear directions and some photos to help you along.
If anything is unclear, or if you need a little extra info, drop me a comment and I'll get onto it ASAP.

If it's your first time, this is a great way to start. Easy recipe, simple shape and not too hard to master and understand.
Next year, turn it up a little by doing a more complex pattern or house style. Here's 32 great ideas for some more detailed gingerbread houses from weburbanist.com and more cool downloadable designs from graphicality.com.co.uk

Want to get inspired by my efforts?
Check out our gingerbread showpieces from the last 3 years at Lifestyle Resort Da Nang.
Year one (2010) we made a huge gingerbread pagoda with saffron robed monks. It was great fun.
Last year 2011 we swapped religions and made a gingerbread replica of Danang City's Rooster Cathedral with all relief work.
And last but not least, this year, 2012 we made a gingerbread resort based on our own lobby and porte cocher

The history of gingerbread in Europe

There's a fair bit of history involved behind gingerbread, so I'll summarise it here in a couple of paragraphs.

Gingerbread was invented in the 10th century AD in Italy.
It was a bit of a monopoly until an Armenian monk called Gregory decided he'd had a gutful of Pompeii, his boss and his job at the monastic bakery. He tidied up his CV, ironed a couple of spare habits and rolled up his collection of gingerbread recipes.
It was 992AD and ehotelier, caterglobal and rollingpin.com hadn't been perfected. There weren't any good jobs being sent his way, and he hadn't networked proactively with  other bakers or headhunters.
He decided to bail anyway, and try his luck setting up a religious gingerbread legacy.

Checking out the tourist brochures and travel blogs at the time, he settled on France as the ideal destination and went there for 7 years doing a "University of Gingerbread" type module for all the priests and parishioners just outside Pithiviers.

It probably wasn't a lucky move. Greg died in 999AD.
No worries, it turned out, as the Germans had already flogged the recipe and were making it themselves, in contravention of implied copyright and trademark laws.
It was clearly theft of intellectual property, but what a work ethic those Bavarian bakers had. And the production? It sky-rocketed and became popular.. So ORGANISED. They were a German gingerbread production MACHINE!
They put up with around 300 years of nitpicking, culinary harassment and last minute gingerbread orders from the fairer sex, but the ordeal of running a bakery in Deutchland took it's toll as well.
Tiring of German women, the menfolk made excuses for a lengthy absence and went on a Scandinavian adventure around 1440AD to sit in some saunas, meet some girls and bake up a storm.
The monks had issues getting on with the Stockholm City types, so they decided to chat up the blond-haired Swedish nuns instead, and share their gingerbread recipe as an effective pick up line.
And that's how gingerbread spread across Europe. My version anyway. It's historically accurate with only the job descriptions and intentions changed.

Before starting the recipe

Have a read through and see what you'll need, the timing, and the ingredients.
Do it in stages – don't rush it.
Calm and organised is the key to success.

Do it over 2 days. 
The first day, make the dough and the patterns and bake the gingerbread. Cool it overnight. 
Day 2: Assemble the house and let it dry, then decorate.

What you will need

Day 1:

• Mixing machine with dough hook and paddle OR a bowl and whisk, and a floured clean bench for mixing
• Baking tray, greased. (black metal trays or aluminium trays are best)
• Pastry brush and soft butter for greasing
• Scissors and/or a sharp knife
• Cardboard to make gingerbread house pattern
• Xmas tree cookie cutter, gingerbread man cookie cutter etc

Day 2

• Clean piping bag with small round nozzles
• Mixing machine with whisk attachment OR bowl and whisk and a very strong arm.
• Lollies, candy and decorations for the house
• Cellophane sheet to wrap it, if giving away
• 6 cans of beer or softdrink (dry, at room temperature) for holding and propping the house as it dries. (Drink them AFTER)

Gingerbread house recipe – makes 2 each

Butter, unsalted 200 gram (1 cup)
Sugar, soft brown 280  gram (1¾ cups)
Sugar, white, plain 250  gram (1¼ cups)
Molasses, dark, Grandmas original 40  gram (2 tablespoons)
Eggs,  6 each
Flour, plain/cake 900 g  (6 cups)
Bicarbonate of Soda 8 g  (2 teaspoon)
Ginger powder, ground 15 g   (1½ tsp)
Cinnamon powder 10 g (1 tsp)
Allspice, ground 10 g  (3½ tsp)

How to make gingerbread house dough

1. Bring the butter to room temperature. Beat with soft brown sugar and white sugar in the mixing machine until well creamed and whipped smooth.
2. Add molasses and eggs (bit by bit to avoid splashing and slopping around) beating well to combine with the butter and sugar.
3. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, spices, bicarb soda) a few times until well mixed, smooth, evenly combined and free of lumps
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on slow to medium speed with a dough hook until smooth and combined into a nice dough
5. Wrap in cling-wrap and rest in the fridge for an hour or two. This allows the flour to fully hydrate and relaxes the gluten, so it isn't stretchy.
6. Grease a clean baking tray with fresh soft unsalted butter. Heat the oven to 150 degrees C
7. Flour the bench or rolling machine, and roll the dough to about 7mm (¼ inch) thick
8. Using your "cardboard ginger house pattern" as a guide, cut clean, confident shapes out of the evenly rolled dough, and lift them carefully onto the greased baking tray. It's easier to handle when the dough is cold
9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150º C (302ºF) fr around 15-20 minutes, It should be slightly firm to the touch, and nicely coloured

Patterns:

This is my downloadable basic gingerbread house pattern. Not an A-Frame, and simple, hand-drawn and scanned in real size
Here are some nice gingerbread house patterns from tipnut.com
The examiner.com has this page of patterns, recipes and techniques
here's some more patterns in downloadable pdf form from graphicality.co.uk 
 

How to make snow icing for gingerbread

This is the glue that sticks your house together. It's edible and easy to work with and it dries to be very hard.
Make it when you are ready to use – a mixing machine with a whisk makes life much easier.
You'll need to be patient while assembling the house, and may need a few props and struts to hold the pieces in place as the icing sets and dries.

Egg whites 4 each (white, clear, clean and fresh – no bits of egg yolk mixed in!)
Cream of tartar 7 grams (2 flat teaspoons)
Icing sugar 500g (5 cups) (Confectioners sugar)

1. Whisk egg whites in a clean mixing bowl until frothy
2. Add cream of tartar (tartaric acid) and whisk more until the egg white can form stiff peaks
3. Reduce speed and shake in the icing sugar bit by bit until all combined.
4. Beat for 3-4 minutes more until smooth, glossy and nicely textured. It should be thick enough to pipe and cling to a wall. If too thin or runny, beat some more and add a little more icing sugar to the desired consistency
5. Cover the icing completely with plastic cling film or greaseproof paper pressed down against the icing, completely touching and covering it like a skin. This stops it drying out and starting to set

Hints and tips

• The gingerbread must be completely cooled and dry before assembling or icing. Dry and cool on a rack for a few hours after baking. Don't put in the fridge!
• Lay the gingerbread pieces flat to ice around doors, windows and to write. Let them dry before assembling
• Icing should be quite thick
• Once you are comfortable using a piping bag, pipe the icing in nice even strokes, patterns or zigzag to make it look neat
• Ice the corners and assemble, touching the icing together to form a house. Hold that position very still by propping with beer or softdrink cans for 30 minutes to an hour until dry and hard
• Do the same with the roof. Only add the roof after the walls have set if using a pattern with 4 walls. To make an A-frame house as pictured here, all can be done at the same time
• Pipe decorative icing on the joins and outlines. Spot the roof with icing too. Decorate both by pressing lollies, candy and confectionery into the icing

Above, we also made a gingerbread base for the house to stand on. It's also possible to make one with plywood and foil, or any other firm base.
If you make a base out of gingerbread, the base should be thicker than the walls and roof. (see photo below)