Shortbread House

Perhaps a better title for this post would be "Shortbread House--FAIL".

I thought I would try making a cookie house, only something different from the usual gingerbread. After about two seconds of research on the internet I saw someone else had made a shortbread house, albeit with a walnut shortbread.

I'm not sure if that made the components any stronger but I thought I'd give it a try. I made myself a paper pattern and used a simple shortbread recipe (butter, sugar, flour).

Everything baked up fine. The problems started when I went to transfer the pieces from the baking sheet to the counter for cooling. The roof sections were larger than the spatula I was using and in my haste to transfer the large cookie an unsupported edge broke off. No worries. I figured I could glue the pieces back together. Then a piece from one side of the door wall broke off. Hmmm.

I went to glue the walls together using an Alton Brown royal icing recipe. I had three walls up when suddenly one fell over and committed suicide by falling off the counter. I rescued one large piece but then Clyde graciously helped me clean up the remaining crumbs.

I know when to throw in the towel so I just covered the pieces with the icing, stuck a few of the intended house and yard decorations on and called it a day.

I find wood and nail construction far easier.