USA: the most expensive Christmas cookies ever

In millions of households U.S it is almost mandatory to buy or prepare biscuits homemade at Christmas, especially to offer to Santa Claus with a glass of milk, but these holidays promise to be the most expensive in history due to the inflation.

This year, beyond choosing if they will be homemade or if the glaze (frosting) of the cookies will be in one of the traditional colors green, white or red, many families will be surprised by the cost of the ingredients, which have skyrocketed in the last months.

And all due to the economic stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and problems in the global supply chain. In November, year-on-year inflation in the US stood at 6.8%, the highest level in almost four decades in the country and eight tenths more than in October.

But if we go into detail, we see that the increase in the cost of eggs in November was 6.2%, that of flour was 5% and 3.4% in the case of sugar, the other great ingredient necessary before encouraging turn on the oven (also to watch for the 6.5% increase in the price of electricity).

And this situation is not unique to the United States. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) already warned in November of a year-on-year increase of 38% in world prices of wheat and 40% in sugar, to which must be added a “pronounced increase ”From dairy products.

Christmas through the clouds

While the video platforms summarize Christmas movies and the radio does not stop playing “All I want for Christmas is you”, by Mariah Carey, there are few things better than leaving the house, even if it is to go shopping to buy the ingredients.

But once you have decided if they will be shaped like a snowman, a Christmas tree or the more traditional gingerbread, you have to overcome the “scare” of seeing the purchase price.

Something similar happened to the Puerto Rican Blanca González, who explained to Efe that in other years she made elaborate cookies, but that this year she will bet on something simpler, with much less decoration: “Maybe some simple butter cookies.”

“It’s that it’s not just the desserts, it’s everything, the food and the gifts. Prices are much more expensive this year. It is going to be, for sure, the most expensive Christmas, “he lamented.

In a similar situation are the companies that produce products for events and special dates such as Christmas. Salvadoran Zissy Castillo, who runs the catering company Food Cart Party, acknowledges that they have felt the increase in prices.

“It’s to burst into tears,” he told Efe, giving as an example that 5 gallons (18 liters) of the vegetable oil most used by food professionals have skyrocketed and went from about US $ 17-22 to around US $ 54.

“Oil, sugar, and fruit for Christmas desserts have doubled the price,” he lamented about a situation that has forced them to “play with prices”, reduce margins and rule out smaller Christmas events.

The most expensive cookies

Castillo works in Los Angeles, California, a state where it is more expensive to bake cookies than others in the US, where the price can differ greatly depending on where the impromptu Christmas pastry chef lives.

If baking a batch of Christmas cookies in Miami costs on average US $ 6.67, the most expensive place to bake Christmas cookies in the US is in the Californian city of San Diego, where a tray costs US $ 12.4.

This according to food kit provider HelloFresh, who published a study on the cost of baking traditional Christmas cookies in 60 US cities and 30 other countries using the prices of the basic ingredients for this recipe: flour, sugar, butter. , eggs and baking soda.

The average in the US would be US $ 6.10, far from the US $ 12.83 for Sweden, the most expensive country to bake Christmas cookies in the world, the Dominican Republic (US $ 11.74) and Denmark (US $ 10.97).

But the Christmas spirit of González and Castillo encourages them to enjoy the holidays and their traditional desserts and forget that everything indicates that this year will be the most expensive Christmas in memory.

Still, according to the National Retail Federation (NFR), Americans plan to spend on these dates when Christmas is celebrated, Hanukkah (Jewish “Christmas”) or Kwanzaa (celebration of black culture that runs from the 26th each year December to January 1) an average of $ 997 between gifts, food, decorations and miscellaneous expenses.