Christmas Candy House (Fun Gingerbread House Alternative)

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This Christmas candy house is a festive gingerbread house alternative. Made with simple ingredients like chocolate bars, rice krispie treats, and peanut butter cups, the adorable house is as fun to make as it is to eat!

Christmas candy house with KitKat Bar, Hershey's Bar, Reese's Pieces, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Rice Krispies Treats.

This post has been sponsored by The Hershey Co. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Chocolate Christmas Cabin

As a mom, I want to make Christmas a magical time for my son. One of our cherished holiday season traditions is building a gingerbread house. However, since my son prefers chocolate over gingerbread, this year we decided to craft a candy Christmas house using all of our favorite treats.

Not only is this Christmas tradition a great way to spend time with family and create lasting memories, but the finished candy gingerbread house also makes the perfect addition to our holiday decor. It’s a sweet Christmas centerpiece that everyone will admire and enjoy.

If you want to give building a Christmas candy cabin a try this year read on for the instructions with step-by-step photos.

Ingredients & Supplies

Candy Cabin Supplies: Rice Krispie Treats, Reese's Pieces, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kat Bars, Hershey bars, and Hershey Kisses.

Walls: We used XL size HERSHEY’S and KIT KAT® bars to make the walls and foundation of the house. The XL size was perfect for creating a large cabin-style house.
Roof: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats or Rice Krispie Treat Sheets. While I usually prefer to make Homemade Rice Krispies Treats, I actually think the pre-made ones are better here.
Decorations: REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups, HERSHEY’S KISSES, REESE’S PIECES Candy
Snow: coconut flakes
Glue: We used both royal icing and melted chocolate. You can make your on royal icing using your favorite recipe or use a royal icing mix. I have seen royal icing for sale at Walmart and Target this time of year as well.

All these goodies were easily found at our local grocery store, with candies in the candy aisle and Rice Krispies Treats in the cereal aisle.

You will also need the following supplies:

Sharp knife
Cutting board
Large baking sheet or cake stand

How to Make a Chocolate Christmas House

Step 1: Use KIT KAT® bars to create the base of the house. Add a little bit of “glue” under the base so that it does not slide around.

Step 2: Cut HERSHEY’S bars to the appropriate shape and use melted chocolate to “glue” them in place as the front and back walls. Hold them in place for a couple of minutes as the melted chocolate sets up.

Cutting Tip:

Soak your knife in hot water for 60-90 seconds to make cutting the chocolate bars easier. Your knife will basically melt right through the chocolate! That way you don’t have to press down too hard, which can cause them to break. Just be sure to wipe the water off the knife before cutting.

Wall made of chocolate Hershey bar being attached to kit kat base.

Step 3: Use KIT KAT® bars to form the remaining walls.

Step 4: Top with Rice Krispies treats to make a roof.

How to Make a Candy Cabin with kit kat and Hershey bar walls and a Rice Krispies Treat roof.

Step 5: Fill in any seams or gaps between the walls or roof with icing or melted chocolate.

Step 6: Now the fun part, decorating your cabin! We added a chimney and front steps with pieces from a KIT KAT® bar and used REESE’S PIECES Candy to make windows and a door.

Step 7: Add cute little trees by stacking 3 Peanut Butter Cups and topping them with HERSHEY’S KISSES.

Adding Hershey's Kisses to Top or Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Trees.

Step 8: As a finishing touch, we sprinkled coconut flakes around the cabin to look like freshly fallen snow.

Candy Cabin with Snowy Ground around the base made of shredded coconut.

If you’d like to take it a step further, you can use icing to glue additional coconut flakes to the roof and the tops of the trees. Snow is a lovely winter scene!

Candy Christmas House made of chocolate treats.

Building our candy cabin was a fun family activity, and the result was as beautiful as it was tasty. The best part is that we have plenty of extra REESE’S and HERSHEY’S KISSES left over to keep us from digging into our beautiful cabin before Christmas!

Looking for ways to use your leftover candies? Use them to make Reese’s dip, Christmas monkey bread, peanut butter cup cookies, or secret kiss cookies.

Christmas candy house made with chocolate bars, kit kats, reese's peanut butter cups, kisses, and rice krispie treats.

Storage

Wrap the house in plastic wrap and/or place it in an airtight storage container to protect it from dust and debris. Store in a cool, dry place away from humidity and direct sunlight to prevent melting and fading.

For long-term display, you can use a craft spray varnish to preserve the house. However, note that once varnished, the house can not be eaten.

Tips & Tricks

Check your candy bars carefully in the store to make sure that you don’t buy any that are broken.
To be safe, it may be helpful to buy a few extra candy bars just in case one breaks as you are cutting them or assembling the house.
When cutting. the chocolate bars, don’t press down too firmly or they may crack. Heating up your knife with hot water helps so that you can use less pressure and let the knife kinda melt through the chocolate as opposed to cutting it.

Additions & Variations

Add peppermint candy or candy canes for a festive touch.
Use graham crackers for the roof, side pieces, and back pieces of the house for an easy-to-build option.
Various candies such as jelly beans, red hots, gumdrops, skittles, and gumballs all make great gingerbread house decorations and add a pop of color as well.
Add people to the scene using gingerbread cookies.

Front of Candy Cabin with orange Reese's Pieces front door and kit kat steps.

Christmas Candy Cabin FAQ

What can I use for the base of the house?

A large cookie sheet, cake stand, or a flat serving tray works great under the bottom of the house. Tip: Cover the base with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup.

How do I make the walls stick together?

Through trial and error, I found that melted chocolate secures the chocolate walls in place better than icing. Hold the walls in place for a little bit to let the chocolate “glue” set up.

Where do I get the icing?

You can use any one of the many royal icing recipes online or use a royal icing mix. Walmart, Target, grocery stores, and craft stores often sell ready-made royal icing as well, especially during the holiday season.

How do I make a Reese’s Christmas tree?

To craft a Christmas tree out of chocolate stack 3 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups on top of one another and then top with a Hershey’s Kiss.

Can I use different candies than what’s listed?

Absolutely! Feel free to use your favorite candies. Jelly beans, red hots, candy canes, or even tootsie rolls can be great additions.

More Fun Christmas Ideas

Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Christmas Candy House

Author: Jaclyn

Prep: 1

Cook: 0

Total: 1

Skip the gingerbread house this year and try this fun (and tasty!) alternative! Made with chocolate bars, Rice Krispie Treats, and Reese's, the candy house is as fun to make as it is to eat!

Ingredients

▢ 2 HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate XL Bars
▢ 3 KIT KAT® XL Bars
▢ 1 bag Family Size HERSHEY’S KISSES Milk Chocolates
▢ 1 bag Share Size REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups
▢ 1 bag REESE’S PIECES Candy
▢ 1 box Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats
▢ royal icing for binding
▢ coconut flakes optional, for a snowy effect

Instructions

Lay KIT KAT® XL Bars down as the base of the house.
Cut HERSHEY’S Bars to the apropriate shape for the front and back walls. Soak your knife in hot water before cutting to smoothly slice through the chocolate.
Using icing or melted chocolate as "glue", add HERSHEY’S Bars for the front and back walls. Hold them in place as the "glue" sets.
Add 2 more KIT KAT® XL Bars to complete the cabin's walls.
Top with Rice Krispies Treats to make the roof.
Fill in any gaps with melted chocoalte or icing.
Create windows and a door with REESE’S PIECES Candy.
Add a chimney and front steps using KIT KAT® XL Bar pieces.
Stack REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups and top with HERSHEY’S KISSES to make trees.
If desired, sprinkle coconut flakes around the cabin and “glue” to the roof and on the tops of the trees to mimic snow.

Notes

Soak your knife in hot water for 60-90 seconds before cutting to make cutting through the HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate XL Bars easier. That way you don’t have to press down too hard, which can cause them to break.
Melt leftover pieces from the cut HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Bars to use as “glue.” I found that the melted chocolate bonded the chocolate bars together better than the royal icing.
To store: Wrap the house in plastic wrap and/or place it in an airtight storage container to protect it from dust and debris. Store in a cool, dry place away from humidity and direct sunlight to prevent melting and fading.