The Best And Worst Gingerbread House Kits, According To Customers

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As you look at the mess of icing and gingerbread lying before you that should have been a cookie house, you may think to yourself, this was supposed to be fun. Yes, too many have been traumatized after they tried to put together a gingerbread house that keeps falling apart and doesn't even come with nearly enough candy decorations. But do not give up on the dream of making the perfect Hallmark-style gingerbread house just yet. All you have to do to avoid a gingerbread house "Nightmare Before Christmas" (and not the fun kind with the skeleton) is buy the right kit. We've compiled a list of the season's best and worst edible cookie structures to ensure that taking part in this holiday tradition is stress and tear-free.

We based our list on customer reviews that detailed if the houses in question were easy to assemble, came with all their parts, and were tasty or tasteless — and while not a part of the judging, we also noted each gingerbread kit's price (which varies by region). Let's take a look at the gingerbread houses that belong in fairy tales ... and nightmares.

With the Barbie Cookie Dreamhouse kit, you too can have a girls' night every night — and you don't have to sacrifice your blood pressure to do it. This edible mansion is everything the Paw Patrol catastrophe wishes it could be. Coming with pink and blue icing, an array of colorful and Barbie-approved candy, and a figure of the queen of playtime herself (plus her dog and her bestie Christie), customers report that Barbie's cookie house will make you want to say, "Come on Barbie, let's go party."

According to reviews, Barbie's Dreamhouse is very easy to build and, once its icing dries, actually stays together. As one would expect from Ms. Barbie, this kit builds a pretty sizable cookie house and also comes with plenty of decorations for pink beautification. As a bonus, customers report the house is as simple to assemble as it is delicious to eat — one reviewer went as far as to say the walls tasted like freshly bakery-quality cookies. At a price point of $25.99, the Barbie Cookie Dreamhouse kit affirms that Barbie can do anything.

We can only assume the M&M's Gingerbread Stadium Cookie Kit came to be after a bunch of the brand's executives had a little too much fun playing paper football during a holiday meeting. But despite its outlandish concept (Seriously, a cookie stadium? Why?), M&M's edible sports arena is high-quality and full of fun, and (thanks to costing only $3.24) a good deal of a product.

Customers report M&M's tasty football field (or soccer field, depending on how you choose to decorate it) comes with all its advertised parts and even has different types of colored powder that sports fans can use to dye the icing the colors of their favorite team. However, the main thing this stadium has going for it is that it's ridiculously easy to put together. As one customer noted, because the kit's walls don't want to drift apart like two passing ships in the night, this M&M's gingerbread set is easier to build than your usual gingerbread house. So even if you're not a sports fan, the M&M's Gingerbread Stadium Cookie Kit may be the best shot you have at a no-stress gingerbread-building experience.

Now that we've booed Swiss Miss's chocolate gingerbread house off the stage, everyone welcome the first of two chocolate gingerbread houses in our "best" category: the Hershey's Chocolate Cookie Kit House. Costing $18.00, Hershey's version of a classic gingerbread kit comes with materials to build a full-sized chocolate cookie house, a cookie tree to spruce up the place, and a cookie person to pay the rent. The candy decorations also feature the brand's famous chocolates, making it arguably the tastiest gingerbread house on the list. Customers report that Hershey's chocolate cookie house is fun to eat and build.

Reviewers note that the house is simple to put together, with one customer on Walmart's website even going as far as to vouch that it was, "the easiest house to get to stand up that we've ever built." Aside from its easy-breezy assembly, Hershey's cookie house kit also doesn't skimp on the chocolate, and decorators found their kit came with a generous amount of treats to use for decoration — which is a good thing because if you buy this kit you'll be doing some eating while decorating. And isn't that what Christmas is all about?

We told you there were two high-quality chocolate gingerbread kits on the market, didn't we? Yep, the Oreo Arctic Cookie Kit Skating Rink is here to give Hershey's chocolate-filled winter wonderland a run for its money. Costing $12.98 per kit, Oreo's tasty DIY skating rink is admittedly kind of a cop-out because it involves decorating a skate rental shack, not an ice rink, alongside some chocolate cookie penguins and Christmas trees. But aside from not involving decorating an actual skating rink (and to be fair, how fun could decorating an icy circle be?) customers report that assembling and decorating Oreo's Arctic "Skating Rink" is good (and stress-free) holiday fun.

This cookie kit has all the usual marks of greatness (it's easy to assemble and comes with all its advertised parts). But aside from not having misshapen or missing pieces, Oreo's answer to the classic gingerbread house is also aggressively Oreo-flavored. And we mean that in the best way. According to customers, the kit has Oreo creme icing that truly tastes like enjoying the inside of the famous cookie and makes the whole house smell like a chocolatey Oreo dream. As one customer wrote on Walmart's website, when it came to putting this kit together, "the hardest part was trying to keep the kids from eating it while they were supposed to be decorating!"

At a price point of $30.51, the Hogwarts Castle Cookie Kit is one of the McMansions of the gingerbread house world, because, as customers attest, cookie Harry, Ron, and Hermione (who the kit comes with) have a huge edible Hogwarts school to manage mischief in.

According to reviewers, on account of its being a literal castle, the Harry Potter Build Your Own Hogwarts Castle Cookie Kit has lots of parts to decorate and plenty of hard candies and usable (what a concept) icing to decorate them with — which makes this cookie castle the perfect thing for a big family or a group of friends to put together. And don't fret — even though this kit looks like it'd be complicated to assemble, customers also report this edible Hogwarts is surprisingly easy to put together. Making this Harry Potter cookie kit, in the words of one reviewer and Harry Potter super fan on Walmart's website, is a holiday activity that "Even Dumbledore will approve!"

Wait...Trader Joe's makes a gingerbread house? Yep — not only does the grocer beloved by Gen Z, New Yorkers, and vegans make a gingerbread house kit, but it's triangular, comes with animal figures made out of sugar, and has got to be the best gingerbread house $8.99 can buy.

IIt is important to note that the icing in this kit isn't pre-made. Instead, it comes with a frosting base that you mix together yourself. However, while DIYing icing is an extra step of preparation, this aspect of TJ's gingerbread house kit is ultimately a plus, not a minus. Because, according to reviewers, the egg whites and lemon juice you need to use to whip up this kit's icing make it as strong as sugary steel — so your house will be held firmly in place. And, if you're interested in actually eating your gingerbread cottage, reviewers also report that TJ's triangular take on this Christmas staple has all the tasty flavor a merrymaker could ever want. So if you want to get some real bang for your buck, you'll for sure need to take Trader Joe's gingerbread house (and its candy animal friends) home for the holidays.

While themed gingerbread kits are fun to dabble in, nothing quite beats assembling a good old-fashioned gingerbread house like Santa intended. The Create-A-Treat Easy Build Gingerbread Houses 2 Pack is one of the best cookie kits for Christmas gingerbread building. Seriously — this kit has almost 5 stars on BJ's website.

Customers gush that this traditional gingerbread kit comes with plenty of ready-to-use icing and classic gingerbread candy for building two glorious gingerbread houses at a very reasonable price point of $13.99. Plus, these gingerbread cottages are easy to assemble. Many reviewers reported their young children (including a daycare's worth of eager little elves) had no issues putting these houses together and decorating them — we're sure — with an artist's finesse. With all its parts accounted for and its walls' ability to stay together after its been iced up, the Create-A-Treat Easy Build Gingerbread Houses 2 Pack is a great choice for those on a budget with little patience and a dire need to build two gingerbread houses.

While Harry Potter's gingerbread castle may be considered the winner of the best themed gingerbread houses category, the Williams Sonoma Gingerbread House kit is in the running for the title of the ultimate classic gingerbread house set.

Like Bee's many failing gingerbread houses, this kit's gingerbread pieces are made to interlock, however, unlike the aforementioned brand, reviewers report William's Sonoma's cookie cottage's sides fit effortlessly into each other, making this an easy kit to assemble. Also, as one would expect from a company specializing in home products, customers have gushed that this fanciful gingerbread kit comes with lots of beautiful candies, including ones shaped like lights and stars to place across the house's roof to help light gingerbread Santa's way. Plus, this kit allows you to DIY your own icing so you don't have to worry about dealing with any of the less-than-solid pre-made stuff.

So although it costs $29.95 (which is almost $10 less than the ginger....thing that the Dancing Deer's Baking Co is selling), for its timeless elegance and easy assembly, the Williams Sonoma Gingerbread House kit is well worth every holly jolly penny.