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The Kitchn’s Celia Funderburk tested nine gingerbread house kits and selected five for different priorities, including overall decorating, budget, young children, taste and decorating options. Dylan’s Candy Bar was her overall pick, though at $65 it was the priciest kit tested; the report also notes a broken roof in one Favorite Day kit.
The Kitchn’s Celia Funderburk tested nine gingerbread house kits and picked five for different priorities, including overall decorating, affordability, young children, taste and creative options. Her top overall choice was Dylan’s Candy Bar’s $65 kit, while two Favorite Day kits made the list for shoppers seeking a lower-cost or easier decorating experience.
Funderburk said she assembled all nine kits and took notes on whether the icing held the house together, how much candy was included, whether supplies were left over and whether any gingerbread pieces were broken before construction. The testing began with research in September, according to her account. The report presents her picks as personal product recommendations based on that hands-on comparison, not as a laboratory test or a ranking based on published performance measurements.
Dylan’s Candy Bar was named Best Overall. Funderburk described it as a splurge at $65, the highest price among the kits she tested, and praised its assortment of decorating supplies, including three icing colors, dot candies, rainbow belts, gumballs, cotton candy sticks and chocolate presents. She also recommended Favorite Day’s pre-built gingerbread house as a budget option for people who would rather decorate than assemble. It came with three bags of candy and two icing colors, but its roof arrived broken in her test.
For young children, Funderburk chose Favorite Day’s pre-built coloring village: four houses with white icing and black outlines that can be colored using food-safe markers. She said the setup was relatively easy and less messy than decorating with icing, though the activity was shorter. The report also names King Arthur Baking Company as Best Tasting and Wilton as Best for the Decorator, but the supplied article excerpt does not include the reviewer’s detailed findings for those two picks.
Choosing a Kit for Your Holiday Table
The recommendations give shoppers a way to match a kit to the kind of holiday activity they want: building a structure, decorating quickly, involving young children or sampling the gingerbread. That distinction matters because the kits do not all serve the same purpose. A pre-built house saves assembly time, while a more elaborate candy selection may appeal to people who see decorating as the main event.
The test also flags practical trade-offs rather than treating every recommendation as an unqualified winner. Dylan’s Candy Bar earned the top overall label but costs $65; the lower-cost Favorite Day house saved building time but arrived with damaged gingerbread in Funderburk’s experience. Those details can help buyers weigh price, effort and the possibility of a disappointing box before choosing a kit.
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How the Nine Kits Were Compared
Funderburk’s report focuses on the experience of making the kits, rather than only the finished appearance. She says she assessed whether icing functioned as construction adhesive or mostly as decoration, how much candy was available and whether the gingerbread pieces were intact at the start. She also noted when supplies remained after the houses were decorated.
The source lists five category winners: Dylan’s Candy Bar for overall performance; Favorite Day’s pre-built house for budget; Favorite Day’s coloring village for little kids; King Arthur Baking Company for taste; and Wilton for decorators. The available report text gives fuller descriptions of the first three than of the last two, so it does not support a detailed comparison of every feature across all five products.
““I got my hands on nine different kits to see which are worth your money — and time.””
— Celia Funderburk, The Kitchn
Prices, Breakage and Missing Test Details
The source says prices were accurate at the time it was published, but does not give a date in the supplied material; current prices and availability may differ. Funderburk’s broken-roof finding applies to the Favorite Day box she received and does not establish how often that damage occurs. The excerpt also does not provide the full testing notes, prices for the other kits or detailed reasons for the King Arthur and Wilton awards.
The review does not state that the kits were tested under controlled conditions or by multiple reviewers. Its conclusions should be read as one reviewer’s reported experience, rather than a guarantee that every box will arrive intact or perform identically.
Check the Kit Before You Buy
Readers comparing the recommendations can use the category picks as a starting point, then check current pricing, kit contents and retailer availability before ordering. For a kit that will be shipped, the reported broken roof is a reason to inspect the package on arrival and contact the seller if pieces are damaged; the source does not provide a broader rate of shipping problems.
The Kitchn’s article offers no announced follow-up testing or future update. Its recommendations reflect the nine kits Funderburk tested for this report, and further details—particularly the full evaluations of King Arthur Baking Company and Wilton—would be needed for a more complete side-by-side assessment.
Key Questions
Which gingerbread house kit did The Kitchn rank best overall?
Celia Funderburk named Dylan’s Candy Bar Best Overall after testing nine kits. She highlighted its range of candy and icing, and said it cost $65, the highest price among the kits she tried.
Which kit did the reviewer recommend for young children?
She selected Favorite Day’s pre-built coloring village, which includes four outlined houses and food-safe color markers. Funderburk described it as easy and relatively mess-free, but said the activity does not last as long as building and decorating a conventional house.
Did every kit arrive intact in the test?
No. Funderburk reported that the roof of the Favorite Day pre-built gingerbread house arrived broken. The report does not say how common that problem is.
What did the test evaluate?
Funderburk said she assessed whether icing held the structure together, how much candy was included, whether supplies were left over and whether gingerbread pieces were broken before assembly. The report describes a hands-on review by one tester.
Source: thekitchn.com
