Gingerbread house decorating tips from Whole Foods

(WJBK) - Gingerbread houses are a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays. Chef Robert Turner from Whole Foods joined us in the FOX 2 Cooking School with some tips on how to make a gingerbread house with natural and organic ingredients.

Step 1: Making the Gingerbread House
Take your favorite Gingerbread recipe, I used the classic Gingerbread recipe at WholeFoodsMarket.com, and created this gingerbread dough and rolled it out flat. Now to get your house pieces you want to cut:
 - two rectangles, about 3 by 5, for the front and back of the house
 - two rectangles, about 3 by 5.5, for the roof
 - two rectangles, 3 by 3 with a slant to a peak for a total height of 5.5, for the sides of the house

Bake the pieces and allow to fully cool before beginning.

Step 2: Make the Royal Icing
For the icing, it is super easy! You just whip egg whites, powdered sugar, and vanilla together, and fill a pastry bag. We went ahead and did this part in advance so we can get the fun stuff.

Step 3: Assemble the House
Take your now cooled pieces and "glue" them together using the icing. Start with the base of the house, working your way up to the roof.

Step 4: Decorate!
We take the remainder of the icing and use it for decorating and holding the delicious sweet treats to the house. Chocolate chips, graham crackers, gummy treats, peppermints and cookies all make amazing decorations.