Delicious Decision: Which Of These 5 Houses Won Patch's Gingerbread Contest?

ACROSS AMERICA — Deliciously difficult. That was the challenge put to Patch's Facebook fans in our second annual gingerbread house contest. And the entry that collected the most Facebook reactions was submitted by Maryann Kotarski of New Hyde Park, New York.

The final round of judging came after a panel of Patch editors narrowed the dozens of entries we received down to five.

As our winner, Kotarski will receive a $50 gift certificate to the local business of the winner’s choice, a stocking full of Patch swag and, of course, bragging rights.

Below, check out her winning entry. Of the effort to construct it, she said: “Make a template, make dough, bake each piece, add sugar to melt last minute in oven, assemble with royal icing, and decorate with icing and any candy I choose. Done.”

Go over to the Patch national Facebook page and congratulate her!

• RELATED: This Guy Took Our Gingerbread House Challenge Literally, And We Can't Stop Laughing

Here, in alphabetical order, are the other four finalists:

Laura Cardillo of Andover, Massachusetts, who made her creation, a replica of her family’s home, “with lots of love and homemade gingerbread.”

Sarah Etzel of Manasquan, New Jersey, whose creation is made 100 percent from scratch and is 100 percent edible. It features fencing made of icing. For the windows, Etzel melted hard candies.

Laura Napolitano of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, who calls her gingerbread creation “Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen.”

She combined pieces from various gingerbread house kits and customized them into the shapes she needed. “It’s also made with a lot of candy and frosting,” she wrote. “My favorite piece is the tiny oven!”

Amanda Vershinin of Warminster, Pennsylvania, shared a special creation.

“My stepdad, Bob, created this masterpiece, all from scratch and edible, in memory of my grandfather and uncle who we lost this year,” she said. “My grandfather had a boat back in the day named Georgie Girl and loved to frequent Tuckerton. My uncle loved his blue & yellow Corvettes and dreamed of driving along Route 66. This year’s gingerbread house is in memory of them, we miss them dearly!”

Here are a few more photos showcasing our readers’ skills:

Chris Tuleya of Long Valley, New Jersey, channeled the Clark Griswold family with this creation.

Kailey Crosson of Sonoma Valley, California, made this house from a kit.

Kristina Pinnix of Leesburg, Virginia, used a store-bought kit for the walls, then used what she had on hand to decorate. “The roof shingles are toasted coconut layered individually and sprinkled with sugar,” she explained. “The roof line is adorned with star sprinkles and icing icicles. Icing bushes and trees line the exterior walls adorned with pink and green sprinkles. Simple but ready for the holidays!”

Finally, Christina Freer of Hamden, Connecticut, offered this creation. “We made this church as a family,” she said. “We baked the gingerbread by scratch and made our own royal icing as glue. We melted candies for the stained glass windows. It was great family time putting it together and decorating.”

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