Making Christmas cookies has gotten a lot more expensive
Inflation isn't just limited to the presents you're buying. The cost of ingredients for the holiday treat has spiked as well
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Leaving a treat out for Santa this year is going to take a fair bit more jingle out of your wallet. Rising food prices have caused the ingredient costs of holiday cookies to spike by 31% from five year ago, according to a new study by FinanceBuzz. That's above the national five-year inflation rate of 25%.
Overall, if you're planning to leave milk and cookies out for that jolly old elf (and carrots for the reindeer, since you're not a heartless Grinch), it will cost you $8.44 this year.
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That's a little more than last year, though not quite as high as 2022's $8.46. Five years ago, though, Santa's treats cost believers just $6.41.
Eggs are the primary reason for the spike, climbing 136% since 2020. (It is worth noting that egg prices have fallen considerably in 2025, dropping from $8.16 a dozen in March to $1.13 today. (FinanceBuzz did not provide dates for when it pulled the data.)
Other ingredients saw spikes as well. Salt is 73% more expensive. And sugar and butter both cost 35% more.
The data, of course, doesn't take into account things like sales by grocery stores, which often discount key ingredients during the holiday season. And the survey looks solely at ingredients for sugar cookies. If your house leaves out a different sort of cookie, the price difference could be notably higher (while if you just toss some Oreos on a plate, it could be lower).
The higher price of essential cookie ingredients overall, though, could serve as a warning to avid bakers, who make multiple batches of cookies throughout the holiday season.