Gingerbread house roof pitch and angle
Most gingerbread house templates give you a drawing and no angle. I looked at the two I opened that give piece sizes, and neither states a roof angle in degrees. Worked out from their numbers, one comes to about 48.2° and the other to about 58.6°. I would start with 45° for a first house. That is my own rule of thumb. This page shows what each angle between 30° and 60° does to the peak height, the wall and roof pieces, the dough and the baking sheets.
The pitch table
The house is the classic one: 6 in wide, 8 in deep, 4 in walls, dough rolled to 1/4 in and a 1/2 in roof overhang. Only the angle changes. The rise per 12 column is the roofer's way to say the same thing: how many inches the roof climbs over 12 in of run. The last column opens the house in the generator.
| Pitch | Rise per 12 | Peak height | Front wall | Roof panel | Dough with extra | Half sheets | Template |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30° | 6.9 : 12 | 5.73 in | 6 × 5.73 in | 9 × 3.96 in | 1,166 g | 2 | Open |
| 35° | 8.4 : 12 | 6.1 in | 6 × 6.1 in | 9 × 4.16 in | 1,202 g | 2 | Open |
| 40° | 10.1 : 12 | 6.52 in | 6 × 6.52 in | 9 × 4.42 in | 1,245 g | 2 | Open |
| 45° | 12 : 12 | 7 in | 6 × 7 in | 9 × 4.74 in | 1,299 g | 2 | Open |
| 50° | 14.3 : 12 | 7.58 in | 6 × 7.58 in | 9 × 5.17 in | 1,367 g | 2 | Open |
| 55° | 17.1 : 12 | 8.28 in | 6 × 8.28 in | 9 × 5.73 in | 1,455 g | 3 | Open |
| 60° | 20.8 : 12 | 9.2 in | 6 × 9.2 in | 9 × 6.5 in | 1,574 g | 3 | Open |
Half sheets are 18 × 13 in pans with 3/4 in left free at the edges. Dough is the area of all pieces times thickness, plus 25% for trimmings.
Going from 30° to 60° lifts the peak from 5.73 in to 9.2 in, so the front wall grows from 5.73 in to 9.2 in tall. The roof panels get longer on the slope too, from 3.96 in to 6.5 in. That adds up to 408 g more dough. The sheet count in the table shows whether the taller pieces still fit your pans.
The angle in two published templates
I opened two recipes that list piece sizes and turned them into angles with the same geometry as the generator.
The Food Network Kitchen peppermint house has front and back pieces "6 inches wide at the base, 4 inches to the roofline and 4 1/2 inches slanted to a peak". Its roof panels measure 4 1/2 by 8 in. I read the 4 1/2 in as the slanted edge, which matches the roof panel width. Half the base is 3 in, so the peak is 7.35 in high and the roof is at 48.2°, or 13.4 : 12. This is my reading, since the recipe gives no angle.
The HelloKids house builds its side from a rectangle 5 1/2 in wide and 3 in high, with a triangle "an additional 4 1/2” high" on top. That gives a peak of 7 1/2 in and a roof of about 58.6°, or 19.7 : 12. It is a tall, steep roof, my estimate again, since the page names no angle.
| Template | Gable base | Wall height | Peak height | Angle (mine) | Generator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Network Kitchen peppermint house | 6 in | 4 in | 7.35 in | 48.2° (13.4 : 12) | Open at this angle |
| HelloKids house | 5.5 in | 3 in | 7.5 in | 58.6° (19.7 : 12) | Open at this angle |
Choosing an angle
A shallow roof around 30° to 35° is the easiest to build and the cheapest in dough. It leaves a flat surface for candy. The price is a low peak, so the house looks squat.
At 45° the front wall has the shape most people picture, and the numbers stay moderate. It is where I would begin. Above 50° the roof looks like a cottage, the peak climbs well past the wall height, and the panels slide more while the icing sets. The assembly guide has the fixes for sliding panels.
If you know the peak height you want, type it into the generator instead. It has a peak height mode that works the angle out for you. For a house that has to fit a limit, the contest size guide shows how a steeper roof raises the overall height.
Print your angle
Open the generator with the classic house at 45° and change the pitch, or start from the dimensions guide for other house sizes. The one baking sheet guide shows how the pitch changes the sheet count for a small house.