You've seen gingerbread houses, but have you seen gingerbread cars? As a high school engineering student, I get graded to come up with new ideas and test them out -- it's great. For the holidays, my family has a long-standing tradition of making cookies, so I wanted to combine these two parts of my life to make something fun :)

Step 1: Finding Design

Classic design is characterized by a "form follows function" approach, though aesthetics often play a larger part in designs than anticipated. An example of this is the Beetle car, first designed in the 1930s. In this design, I will be recreating the 1950s Mini Cooper, shown above, using gingerbread.

Step 2: Cookie Cutter Outlines

Before even starting the cookies, we need to have cookie cutters, but 3D car cookie cutters aren't easy to come by... so we'll make our own! To do this, I looked up outlines of the Mini Cooper and found one that shows four sides of a 1964 model (shown above).

Using an iPad, import the image to Notability (or a similar drawing software). Using a pen tool, draw the outline of the side view of the car, going around the wheels and lights (don't include them in the shape). For the front-facing views, draw the top and bottom body sections (separated at the window) separately, as they will be different portions of the cookie. I made mine in a bright color (as shown above) then changed the ink color to black before moving on to the next step.

Step 3: Import to TinkerCAD

To make outlines 3D models, we'll have to take a jpg screenshot to an SVG or STL file that a CAD (computer-aided design) software can read. I used Convert.io (https://convertio.co/jpg-svg/) to do this. Follow the steps on the website and download the SVG (or STL!) file it makes.

Now, open TinkerCAD (tinkercad.com) and make a new design. Click the "import" button at the top of the screen and add your outlines to the design. You may need to change the design's size so that it fits on the build plate before importing (it'll give you a red error message if the size is too big and prompt you to change it). If this happens, I suggest scaling it down to half its size for now.

We have a design now! Select the model and hit the "d" key on your keyboard to have it rest flat on the build-plate instead of floating midair.

Next, adjust the sizing. It has to both fit on the build-plate and be a reasonable size to work with as a cookie later on. I suggest scaling it down by half until you reach your desired size so that the proportions don't get too messed up. The cookie cutters' height is up to you -- I made mine 10 mm tall.

Step 4: Print Your Design!

Follow your 3D printer software & device's instructions to bring your design to life!

Step 5: Make the Cookies!

Since I was at school and had to make this within a class period, I used a box mix. However, follow the instructions to whichever recipe you'd like to use! When you bake the cookies, try to slightly over-bake them, being careful not to burn your creation.

Step 6: Cut the Shapes

Let the cookie sheet sit for a few hours then use the cookie cutters to make shapes in your dough. If necessary, use a knife to help create the shapes. You will want to make 2 extra rectangular shapes to fill in gaps in the car later on. Also, make two cookies out of the "car side cookie cutter." For one of it, flip the cookie cutter so that, once you assemble your car, both sides of the car will have the cookies facing the correct way. As a final touch, make the wheels by cutting circles out of extra cookie sheet (using scissors) after tracing them our with a large bottle cap.

Let this sit for at least 24 hours in an attempt to harden your cookies.

Step 7: Back the Shapes

So, when I made this for the first time, I was determined to make the entire car edible. However, this attempt resulted in a car that fell apart as soon as I tried putting it together (which wouldn't go very far if it were part of real life...).

Get a sheet of cardboard roughly the size of your previous cookie sheet (to fit all the pieces); I cut mine from a large box. Trace the cookie shapes with a pencil or food-safe marker and cut the shapes our with a pair of scissors. Then, use icing (or hot glue, depending on how short on time you are) to attach the cardboard to the cookie.

Step 8: Assemble the Car

Ice (or use hot glue to attach) the pieces together according to the diagram! You might need a hand to complete this step. I used help from both my classmates and a paperclip holder to keep the pieces in place.

As an added bonus, you can take a wooden or bamboo skewer and run it through a straw then attach wheels (either cookie or plastic ones) to either end of the skewer. If you attach the makeshift axel to a motor, the car will run!