Study: Basic Christmas Cookie Ingredients Cost More Than $9 in at Least 10 U.S. Cities

A study shows the cost of Christmas cookie ingredients this holiday season could run Americans anywhere from $2.23 to $12.40 depending on where they live, as food prices have risen substantially at grocery stores across the nation.

Meal-kit company HelloFresh conducted a study that details the cost of a homemade batch of Christmas cookies in 60 U.S. cities and territories ahead of the holiday season.

HelloFresh’s study examined prices of five key ingredients based on a Preppy Kitchen “classic butter cookie recipe.” Costs of baking soda, butter, eggs, flour, and sugar, were assessed in each location included in the study. Combined prices of the ingredients in a particular location account for the cost to make a batch of 100 cookies in a specific city or territory.

The top ten most expensive cities and U.S. territories to bake Christmas cookies this holiday season, according to HelloFresh’s “Christmas Cookie Price Index,” are listed below:

1. San Diego, California –  $12.40
2. Burlington, Vermont – $12.08
3. Virgin Islands – $11.87
4. Los Angeles, California – $11.41
5. Salt Lake City, Utah – $11.40
6. Wilmington, Delaware – $10.00
7. Bridgeport, Connecticut – $9.92
8. Milwaukee, Wisconsin – $9.79
9. Phoenix, Arizona – $9.21
10. Detroit, Michigan – $9.00

Based on the study, The ten most cost-friendly cities and U.S. territories to bake a batch of cookies this Christmas season are as follows:

1. Charleston, South Carolina – $2.23
2. Charleston, West Virginia – $2.90
3. American Samoa – $3.10
4. Des Moines, Iowas – $4.13
5. Portland, Maine – $4.62
6. Dallas, Texas – $4.76
7. Charlotte, North Carolina – $4.92
8. Lincoln, Nebraska – $4.97
9. Albuquerque, New Mexico – $5.05
10. Cleveland, Ohio – $5.20

The meal-kit company’s study also investigated the cost of a batch of Christmas cookies throughout 30 different countries. The study revealed that Sweden ($12.83), the Dominican Republic ($11.74), Denmark ($10.97), New Zealand ($10.57), and Russia ($9.81) are the most expensive countries to bake Christmas cookies in. 

Conversely, the most cost-effective nations to make cookies in are Ecuador ($3.50), Poland ($3.62), Spain ($3.80), Germany ($4.04), and Chile ($4.20), according to the study. 

HelloFresh’s study used the following quantities of ingredients for the study:

– Flour: a 2lb package of flour (32oz / 1kg)
– Eggs: a box of 12 eggs
– Butter: an 8oz serving of butter (200g)
– Baking soda: a 1lb packet (16oz / 0.5kg)
– Sugar: a 2lb package of sugar (32oz / 1kg)

While Christmas looms around the corner, Americans must first make it through a Thanksgiving that “is shaping up to be the most expensive in history,” per a November 9 article by Breitbart News’s John Carney. As of Tuesday, processed turkey prices were up 40.7 percent in comparison to last year, according to the Department of Labor’s Producer Price Index. 

Moreover, on Wednesday, Breitbart News reported on inflated prices revolving around breakfast foods. Since last year, bacon prices have skyrocketed 20.2 percent, breakfast sausage is up 8.3 percent, and eggs climbed 11.6 percent.

Food prices, in general, are up 10.5 percent in comparison to last year, Breitbart News reports.