With the holiday season at our doorstep, gingerbread houses are a fun way to spend quality time with friends and family. However, with so many different options, it can be difficult to find the right one. Almost every local grocery store has its share of gingerbread houses, each kit consisting of many creative and unique features. But which one is truly the best?

A.  Mid-Century Modern Gingerbread Cookie Kit

This sleek gingerbread house features a more modern approach that includes a flat roof and pillars supporting each side. The kit is not the typical square gingerbread house and has two different-sized roofs to create a slanted appearance. It was relatively straightforward to build because the icing only took a minute to knead and all of the decorations were easily accessible in their plastic pouches. There were also four purple plastic connectors that allowed all of the walls to stand upright. They were able to stand on the connectors, simplifying the building process. The decorations were creative and unique because the kit had a variety of materials that aren’t typically in other gingerbread houses. For example, there were pillars included in this kit, which added a more modern feel to the house. However, the icing was not very sticky and was too runny for many things to stick together. This kit can be bought at World Market for $13.50; it is a good deal because it comes with many creative features that not many other gingerbread houses have. 

B. Trader Joe’s Gingerbread House Kit

The Trader Joe’s Gingerbread House Kit takes a cabin-like approach, which incorporates a tall, narrow roof with a small path and a Christmas tree sitting in front of the house. While it is not very big, the kit makes up for it in quality. The gingerbread itself, the decorations and the icing all have an outstanding feel. Unlike many other gingerbread houses, the gingerbread infrastructure is soft instead of stiff. The icing had to be handmade by mixing an egg white (not included in the kit) with confectioner sugar. While making fresh icing is a good idea, it takes significantly longer compared to creating premade icing in a plastic bag. However, if time is out of the question, the freshness of icing makes the kit stand out. For only $8.99, this is one of the best deals around.

C. Candy Land Gingerbread House Kit

This classic gingerbread kit features everything that is needed for a good build. It comes with various candy, premade icing, gingerbread walls, a roof and a plastic base. The base is designed for the gingerbread walls to stand in, which makes the building process much simpler. Building this kit was enjoyable, with a lot of creative decorations to choose from. This kit retails for $16.99 and can be found at World Market. While on the more expensive side, it provides all of the basics for a good gingerbread house.

While there are many gingerbread houses available with many of them sharing lots of the same features, the best kit overall is the Trader Joe’s Gingerbread House kit because it excels in quality and the type of decorations included in the kit.