Today is the day. PRIME DAY.
One of those few days a year when we can fill our digital carts with all sorts of goodies and experience that rush of adrenaline you get from getting a great deal. This is the time of year that I treat myself to some fun new gingerbread products. I also like to send links to my family members for great holiday stocking stuffers. I took the liberty of compiling a long list of products I highly recommend for the gingerbread lovers in your life. Check it out and see what you can add to your arsenal this season.
All the items are broken down by category and I’ve provided descriptions where I thought they might be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or other great suggestions!
My Products
The first product on my list is actually one I created myself. It’s a gingerbread journal. A cute little book with a mixture of lined pages for written notes and empty spaces for drawings. It’s perfect for planning your next gingerbread creation. Every few pages has a quote about creativity, so get motivated and journal away!
Edible Materials
This category mostly includes products that can be used to glue, decorate, or create edible art.
Piping gel is often used for attaching small details. It can be an edible glue source, but it doesn’t have very strong holding power. I use it a lot for attaching fondant decorations to pieces or fixing very small breaks. I’ve also seen it used as “water” on displays. When used in large quantities, it has a tendency not to fully dry and remains slightly tacky.
Wilton makes an edible glue that acts much like Tylose Glue or piping gel. If you’re not one for making the glue yourself and you want an easy option that comes in a squeeze bottle, this might be for you.
Isomalt, which can be used as another type of glue or windows, comes in two different forms and I’ve included both below. The first option is the raw crystals that have to be cooked down to their melted form, and the second are nibs, which are pre-cooked and ready to melt in the microwave.
Gelatin is a popular edible material used in gingerbread construction. Many people will buy the gelatin sheets because they’re clear and look a look like plastic or glass. I see them used as windows on houses a lot. They can also be heated with water and used in other gelatin forms. I’ve included two options.
Gelatin also comes in powder form that can be combined with water and heated. In order to get a clear gelatin that can be used for various items (like windows), I prefer to use high quality powder that’s super clear. It’s a higher price point than what you’d get at the grocery store, but the results are worth it.
While we’re on the subject of windows, it’s best to spray isomalt windows with an edible glaze to keep them from clouding. However, you need to wait until they’re completely dry and cool before doing so. I like to use PME Glaze Spray. Some people use it to give shine to entire pieces as well.
And speaking of shine, I’d like to introduce you to my favorite luster dust. It’s the most full-coverage, shiny gold I’ve ever used and I absolutely love it.
It’s possible to just brush the luster dust onto pieces to give them some sparkle, but if you want the dust to act more like a paint, then you need a liquid medium to mix it with. I generally use flavor extracts. You can usually find these in the cake section at Michaels, but they’re available on Amazon as well.
If painting is not your thing and luster dust is too messy, you can always add shine and sparkle in different ways. Like adding dragees (sprinkles) to your project. I love the assorted gold and silver ones and often use them in my projects as studs, doorknobs, buttons, etc.
And if you want to embellish your creation with even more fun sprinkles, why not get ones shaped like tiny gingerbread men!
Another edible ingredient that I like to use is wafer paper. I use it in my edible printer, but I also use in many other ways. It’s a lot like regular paper, but it’s edible, so the possibilities are endless. Last year, I used it to paper mache some dragon wings and it turned out great! I also like to buy icing sheets. They’re very thin and can rip easily, so I generally only use them in my edible printer to print high quality images, but I imagine they would be good for painting images to transfer as well.
Fondant is also another material that’s super easy to use, relatively easy to find, and versatile. You can easily color it and mold it, and it eventually dries hard. I like to buy it in big tubs so I always have it around. One thing I would suggest is buying black fondant separately instead of trying to color it on your own. It can be very difficult to get a true black color.
Fondant does tend to dry hard, but it can crack. It’s not always the best medium for sculpting small details like faces. I like to use modeling chocolate to get those types of features on my projects.
Ingredients
Most of the edible materials mentioned thus far have been able to be used on their own for things. The next few on my list are still edible materials, but I consider them to be ingredients. Most of them are things you would combine with other ingredients to get the desired effect you want.
Starting with ground ginger. Gingerbread isn’t gingerbread without ginger, and ginger tends to be the most expensive of all the spices used in most recipes. I was going through the little glass jars of it very quickly and racking up quite a grocery bill. So, I finally found it in bulk and haven’t run out yet.
Cinnamon is usually pretty easy to find in bulk at the grocery store, so I won’t include that here, but I did have an excellent suggestion from a group member about black cocoa powder. I’m sure this could be used in many ways, but it comes to mind as an ingredient to add to my gingerbread recipe to make it really dark. I also think it would be great as it’s own dust. I use regular cocoa powder to get a velvety look sometimes and being able to do that in black would be really cool.
Tylose powder has a lot of great uses. The most popular being an ingredient in tylose glue. I also use it in my ginger clay recipe, and I will add it in powder form to fondant or ginger clay when I am sculpting, to speed up the dying time on things.
The other ingredient used in my ginger clay recipe is Gum Arabic, which I also buy from Amazon.
Food Colors
The last of the edible materials I want to mention are food colors. There are so many different options out there and they can be used in so many different ways. The ones I’ve included below are some of my favorites.
Starting with Master Elites. Honestly, it’s probably easier to purchase these from the Sugar Art website, which I’ve included below, but I put a link to some of the glitter colors they have available on Amazon in case there are some sweet deals. I have the set that’s pictured in the photo (Master Elite Collection). These are very concentrated powders that you can mix with vodka and use to paint, or mix into icing, fondant, gum paste, gingerbread, etc. They are incredibly high quality. However, I do suggest practicing with them a lot and testing paint colors before using them on your project. The colors tend to dry a lot darker than what they look like when you first paint them on. I have ruined a few things because I screwed up the colors. You have been warned.
These are the glitter ones I found available on Amazon. I LOVE their options. It looks like they have 21 different colors.
The Master Elites kit that I bought comes with white food color, which is just food grade titanium dioxide. However, I use so much of it that I also bought it separately on Amazon. Now I must warn that titanium dioxide is not something that I would use in any projects that are being eaten. I would also check to make sure it’s allowed in any competitions you are competing in. It’s a great product to use for painting, adding to recipes, and mixing with other products to lighten up colors. However, it can be inconsistent. Sometimes it doesn’t mix well with all colors, it can crack easily, and it’s difficult to paint on top of. I haven’t mastered it yet, so I can’t even give the best advice on usage, but I recommend adding it to the arsenal and testing it out.
I also purchased it in liquid form for easier mixing in some cases. I use it regularly. I also bought the same product in black because it’s very concentrated and helps me darken all my projects. I highly recommend both.
Another type of food coloring that I like to use is gel paste colors. The AmeriColor kits are my favorite. I use them all the time, often mixing with the powders and vodka. These colors tend to be much more predictable. The color you paint on is usually the same color you see when the paint dries. Not something I can say for the powders.
The last food coloring I want to mention is candy colors. These are oil-based for use with chocolate. I used them for coloring modeling chocolate as well. It’s important to use the right type of color for the right types of edible material.
I think that does it for all the edible products. Let’s move on to some of the fun stuff!
Mats
I’m fully of the impression that you can never have enough mats. Cutting mats, baking mats, non-stick mats. I have so many mats and I always seem to need more of them. I use them for protecting the areas I’m working in, baking my pieces, rolling out dough, cutting parts, and painting. Below are some of my favorites as well as some recommended ones from other group members.
Everyone needs a few heat-resistant silicone baking mats (Silpats). They’re perfect for rolling dough and baking it directly in the oven. I cannot recommend them enough and I’ve included a few of my favorites.
I’m also a big fan of cutting mats. The first one is a self-healing cutting mat that I use a lot when I’m carving or using a craft knife for fine cuts. The other ones are more like cutting boards that are thinner with less maintenance.
I also love textured mats that I can use for making impressions on fondant or gingerbread. There are all sorts of options, but these ones in particular have a lot of good house-making patterns and other interesting impressions.
Rolling Pins
While the mats are great, you can’t get the perfect gingerbread pieces without a reliable rolling pin. When it comes to rolling pins, I find that the recommendations are all over the board. It depends on the recipe you’re using, the effort you want to exert, and the desired outcome you wish for.
I’ve had the basic Wilton rolling pin for years and I use it for almost everything. I have both the large and the small one. It has never failed me. I’ve tried other rolling pins but never found anything I liked more than these.
That being said, I know a lot of my gingerfriends hate the Wilton rollers and much prefer wooden or stainless steel rollers. I’ve included three of the popular options below.
Cutters
Now that we’ve reviewed the mats and rolling pins, let’s talk about the cutters. You might be thinking about traditional cookie cutters and thinking you don’t use those that often, but these are not your ordinary cookie cutters.
Well, I guess these ones kind of are. But if you’re needing to make a bunch of small gingerbread houses in a short amount of time, it might be worth having some cookie cutters that make that process easier.
As for the rest of these, I have all of them. You never know when you’re going to need simple shapes, and having them in multiple sizes is always helpful.
The rest of these are ones I’m eyeing up for the season. I can’t necessarily recommend them, but they looked pretty cool!
Cake Decorating
Before I get into all the fun tools I like to use, I figured I would add a few more items that kind of fall into the cake decorating category and might not necessarily be considered “tools”. Like piping bags. These are perfect for royal icing, and if you’re using the icing as glue, you don’t even really need all the fancy tips. You can just clip the end of the bag off and squeeze the icing out from there.
These icing spreaders were recommended by a group member as well. Not even necessarily for spreading icing, but for moving small pieces around.
Baking Items & Kitchen Tools
This category has a lot of stuff to use in the baking process, but it also has a lot of items that could be considered tools, but not necessarily the ones you find in your garage. More likely you find them in the kitchen.
Everyone should have some good baking pans. Gingerbread is an addictive hobby and you probably want to have multiple good pans that are thick, sturdy, and large. You might also want to have some that can help you bake different shapes. These are some of my favorites.
Of course, in order to start baking, you first have to do some mixing. I love the stackable mixing bowls that have the silicone grip on the bottom. It makes for easy storage and much-needed security. I’ve dropped one too many bowls in my kitchen when they accidentally slide off the counter. I also enjoy my silicone spatulas for bowl scraping.
My absolute, hands-down, favorite products I own are my silicone pinch bowls. I use them for heating up isomalt in the microwave and pouring with accuracy. I also use them for painting and storing small items on the countertop. I LOVE them. The first ones are the ones I own and the second ones are ones recommended by another group member.
I also highly recommend the pre-cut parchment paper sheets. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cut myself on the little metal spikes that come on every box of parchment paper. I got tired of it.
Another thing that might be useful is mesh strainer bags. I had one group member suggest using pantyhose, which I thought was brilliant. But if you want something designed for food instead of feet, you can use these. They’re great for straining gelatin to get out all the chunks and bubbles. They’re also perfect for storing flour or corn starch to be used when rolling. By patting them on the baking mats, you can more evenly and finely distribute the powder. I also added some sugar shaker dusters.
I mentioned some of the baking pans I like to use. I also like to buy things that could be used in baking but that aren’t necessarily advertised as baking pans. One of my favorites are bath bomb molds. I like to use these for creating small spheres. You can bake the gingerbread on the outside or the inside. I just recommend using Crisco on the surface of the molds to make removal of the baked gingerbread easier.
While we’re on the subject of molds, I also like to recommend a silicone mold-making kit. You can create molds of your favorite items and then recreate them with edible materials.
There are a lot of materials you can use in gingerbread that could cause some injuries. I’ve burnt fingers with isomalt so many times and sliced cuts in fingers from craft knives and parchment paper spikes. I have a set of gloves I bought specifically for working with hot sugar and another set my husband bought me one year to use with all my saws in the garage. I highly recommend both. I also included some silicone finger protectors. They’re great for working with hot sugar and smoothing ginger clay and modeling chocolate.
Speaking of things in the kitchen that can injure you, I also own this culinary blow torch. It’s great for removing the bubbles in isomalt windows, or heating up spots that need to be fixed. Use at your own risk.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, if you’re looking to cool things down instead of heat them up, you might be in the market for some freeze spray. It comes with a little straw nozzle that helps you concentrate the cold air directly on the spot you need it. It’s great for immediately drying and setting isomalt, chocolate, icing, etc. Perfect for getting that roof to stick without having to hold it for an hour or having it slide off as soon as you turn around.
This mist sprayer was also recommended by a group member. Great for water or vodka (for mixing paints, not drinking).
The last kitchen tool in this category is the pasta machine. You can also buy attachments for your mixer that will do the same thing. These are great for flattening things like gingerbread dough and fondant to get very thin and consistent strips for your projects. I also added an extruder that many of my friends recommend.
Appliances
It’s starting to get really fun now! I have so many awesome appliances I use in this crazy craft. Some are obvious but others might surprise you.
Let’s start with the obvious. If you want to be able to make batches of gingerbread, it’s probably best to have a good mixer. One that comes with a dough hook that you can switch to when needed. I’ve put a couple options below.
I also found these great cord organizers recently. I bought them for all my kitchen appliances. They’re super helpful in keeping cords from getting stuck, knotted, pinched, or dragged.
Another good kitchen appliance to have is a scale. A lot of baking recipes are done in weight. I also like to use my scale to weigh pieces of things I’m sculpting, so I know that the pieces are the same size and likely to result in more uniform results.
I also recommend a thermometer. Working with isomalt and cooked sugar or tempered chocolate can sometimes be tricky. You have to get mixtures to a certain temperature before they can be used as intended. This thermometer is perfect for that and easy to clean.
Speaking of chocolate, I like to use a candy melting pot for melting chocolate or candy melts.
I also have a similar product that I use for heating gelatin, keeping gummy bears melted, or just melting and keeping other products warm. It’s a mini lunch crock pot.
Another warming appliance that was suggested by a group member is an electric skillet. It was suggested that this could be used for keeping isomalt melted while applying it to gingerbread structures. This might be going in my Amazon cart.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from the gingerbread community is that dehydrating some food items can help speed up the drying and hardening process. I tried using my husband’s dehydrator, but he has one of the stackable ones with trays that don’t have much room. So I could only dehydrate items that were already relatively flat. I’ve put a dehydrator below that acts more like an oven than the one I’m describing. I also included an air fryer with a dehydrate feature. Once I figured out that my air fryer could also act as a dehydrator, the game was changed. I used it multiple times this year, including the time I dehydrated Rice Krispy treats into the shape of a dragon’s tail. After a few hours, they were hard as a rock. And the air fryer gets used in our house way more than the dehydrator does.
Another kitchen appliance that would be good to have is a food processor. Ginger clay has become very popular in the gingerbread world and it requires several cups of ginger crumbs in the recipe. Ginger crumbs are basically ground up gingerbread or gingersnap cookies. I do not have a food processor. I use my bullet to grind the cookies, but it has it’s limits. I used to used my coffee bean grinder, but I killed it from too much strain. A food processor would be the most efficient appliance to use because it’s built specifically to grind up food. However, if you want a bullet, I recommend that as well, so I’ll include it.
The next appliance I have was one I randomly came across and couldn’t help but smile about. It might be a good gift item, but it’s not really going to help much with the gingerbread projects. It’s a mini waffle maker that makes little gingerbread men. I love waffles, and I love using waffle makers to cook cake batter into fast desserts. Maybe you will too. If nothing else, maybe it will make you smile.
The last three appliances on my list are a little weird but hear me out. Humidity is the enemy of gingerbread. It wreaks havoc on our lovely creations and crushes our dreams. Having a dehumidifier in the room can go a long way in helping combat the efforts of that enemy. I also included the handheld vacuum that I own. It’s small, powerful, attractive, and comes with a cute little charging station. I put this thing through the ringer during gingerbread season, and it has played it’s role very well. Might be worth considering. The last is a desk fan. Perfect for setting up and drying painted pieces or glue.
Tools
Let’s get into my favorite category of all… tools. I do not have a culinary background. I can’t bake anything without a recipe in front of me, and even then, there’s no guarantee it will be any good. I do, however, have a crafty background. This blog is proof of that. I enjoy crafting, painting, woodworking, etc. My garage is my workroom and I honestly spend just as much time out there working on gingerbread (if not more), than I do in the kitchen. I’ve taken all of that knowledge and background and applied it to my “edible” art. I put edible in parentheses because nothing I make is ever going to be something you actually want to eat. Instead, I consider my creations to be art but with the medium being edible materials. That being said, I use all sorts of crazy stuff on my creations. Some of what I have below is pretty normal. Some of it might be a little off the wall. Either way, I hope you find something that you didn’t consider before.
First, I will start with the normal things. Like paint brushes. I have a ton of paint brushes that I use for my gingerbread creations. I enjoy painting tiny details, so I included some regular brushes along with some high quality, very fine brushes. I also put some makeup brushes recommended by a group member. Those are great for dusting, luster dusting, adding texture, and getting unique brush strokes and coverage options.
Another product I have is this brush cleaner. It’s great for cleaning my brushes and storing them for ideal drying. It’s also perfect for my kids art projects.
If you’re looking for something that will give you better and more even coverage, consider an airbrush. I probably don’t use mine as often as I thought I would, but when I do, it’s super helpful and very fast.
I have tons of tools I use for sculpting and creating small details on my projects. One of my very favorite products is this set of silicone clay sculpting tools.
The others are crafting tools, tweezing tools, and even dental tools.
You can never go wrong with a good set of craft blades. Especially, ones that can swivel.
A good set of fine scissors is always recommended as well.
I also enjoy using this magnifying light that helps me see small details up close, gives me more light to work with, and clips directly onto my table. My husband uses it for his Lego building projects as well.
I am big on sanding my construction grade gingerbread to make it flat, even, and smooth. I buy sandpaper in sheets of different grit and just rub the pieces back and forth over it on a flat surface. I also have a set of small files I use for tiny details.
If hand sanding is too time-consuming for you and power tools are more your speed, consider purchasing a Dremel, another one of my favorite products. You can buy all sorts of fun attachments, including ones for sanding. I also use it for drilling holes, cutting, and carving. I also just got myself a belt sander and the speed with which I can now sand my gingerbread is amazing.
And if the idea of using power tools on gingerbread excites you, you totally need a scroll saw. I use this puppy to cut EVERYTHING. It’s constantly covered in a thick layer of gingerbread dust.
If an electric saw is a little outside of your comfort zone, you can always get a hand saw to help with small cuts.
These next three items aren’t really tools, but I didn’t have a good category for them, so they’re going here. The first are moisture absorbing tubs. These are kind of along the lines of the dehumidifier and just help keep the environment dry. The second are battery operated lights. Perfect for those gingerbread houses you want to light up on the inside. The last is a waterproof notepad for the shower. I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of great ideas in the shower, and I bought one of these for me to be able to record my thoughts and not immediately forget them once I’m out.
Storage
I’ve listed A LOT of products on this post already. Most of which I have some version of. I have an entire shelving unit dedicated to my gingerbread products. They used to be spread out all over the house, making it very difficult to remember what I had and where it was. So last year I consolidated everything and purchased a few items to make organization easier. I even busted out my Cricut and created labels for a lot of stuff.
This section is all about storage. One of best pieces of advice I ever got was on a Food Network show I competed on. I was competing against a culinary pastry chef who had decades of experience in the food industry. He told me that keeping your workspace clean and organized is the most important thing you can do in this craft. An organized space is an organized mind. Being able to clean up and put things away every day is crucial. If you can physically organize your items, you can mentally organize your task list. It makes execution so much easier. And he was right. For the most part, I only take out what I need to work with at that particular time and clean it up and store it when I’m done. It helps me not get distracted and be able to find things easily. Hopefully, this list will help you achieve a little more productivity in your craft as well.
The first few items are for storing edible paint or glue. First, nail polish bottles with built-in brushes. Second, plastic pots with with snap lids for easy access. Last, sealable jars.
I’m a big fan of clear, stackable storage containers. I have multiple sets in different sizes that I keep in my gingerbread closet. These are what I labeled with my Cricut. They make it easy to access your tools and see where they are.
On that note, I also like clear storage bins.
And I love my clear lazy susans. I put all my containers of sprinkles and other ingredients on them and put them on my shelves where I can easily turn them and access all my stuff.
Another item to consider is a rolling cart. Something that not only stores all your items, but moves around with you too. This one could easily roll into a corner of your house and disappear from sight for half the year.
My last two storage items are more for transportation. The scariest part of any gingerbread creation is transporting it to another location. If you’re competing in a contest, it’s best to bring a triage kit, just in case anything breaks. These are two great options.
Apparel & Accessories
I don’t know about you, but my obsession with gingerbread extends beyond the kitchen, and sometimes I enjoy wearing it. I took the liberty of finding a few apparel and accessory choices that you might enjoy.
Some pajamas and sweatpants.
A few t-shirt options.
Some earrings and a cute little dress for those kids or grandkids who like to share your gingerbread enthusiasm.
Decorations
If you like to show your gingerbread spirit in your holiday decorating, you can consider a few of these options.
Adorable gingerbread ornaments.
Gifts
I found a few additional items that I think are super cute and would make for great gifts.
This gingerbread book was actually illustrated by Lindsay Deibler, a member of the Gingerbread Tips & Tricks Facebook group. Her mom wrote it.
All Done!
Well, I think that does it! I hope you were able to find some items on this list that got you some good deals. I know a few of these things are going to end up at my house.
I’m pretty sure that most people seeing this list are probably already part of my gingerbread Facebook group, but just in case you aren’t, feel free to join us!
Gingerbread Tips & Tricks Facebook Group
Please note that I am an Amazon affiliate. If you click on any of the links in this post and purchase something, I will be paid a very small commission. So please, click away!