Looking for the perfect gingerbread house? There is a store in Massachusetts that can help

WAKEFIELD – As you drive down Main Street in Wakefield during the holidays, you may notice the smell of gingerbread.

It’s all thanks to Gingerbread Construction Company, which has been serving customers in Massachusetts and beyond for 44 years.

“No one else was making gingerbread houses,” chief operating officer Ali Palmer told WBZ-TV.

History of Gingerbread Construction Company

“My grandparents were bakers and then taught my father the trade,” Palmer says.

They have been helping families build the perfect gingerbread house for generations with ready-made kits. Now it’s in Palmer’s hands.

“We’re still hand cut, hand made and hand assembled, so it’s a little different than the larger manufacturers,” she told WBZ.

They opened their first store in Winchester in 1980, but soon found another space in Woburn for production. In 1996 they opened their second store in Wakefield, where hundreds of thousands of fresh gingerbread sheets and cookies are baked.

“Our cookies are made to be a thicker cookie that you can actually enjoy and eat,” Palmer said.

She told WBZ that the trick to building the perfect gingerbread house is their homemade icing.

So what happens when the holidays are over? Palmer’s father realized that.

“Knowing that gingerbread houses were not something that would be supported year-round, he introduced the line of muffins and gourmet cookies so he would have products to sell year-round,” Palmer said.

Giving back to the community

Palmer said they also make it a priority to give back to the community that has embraced them.

“We bake fresh every day,” Palmer explained. “We keep anything left over overnight, and we donate it to homeless shelters because everyone deserves a good breakfast.”

They’ve been using the same family recipe since 1980, but don’t ask them to share the secret ingredient that makes their gingerbread so delicious.

“Watching your parents go to work at one and two in the morning instills a work ethic that has very high standards and never compromises,” Palmer said.

The store is only closed two days a year, on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, so there’s plenty of time to pick up one of their kits. Visit their website for more information.