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Inflation can be felt just about everywhere with food, from soda to seasonal confections to fast food and beyond.
But certainly, Santa's cookies are inflation-immune, right? Our FinanceBuzz research team tracks all things inflation, so we found a sample Christmas cookie recipe and tracked ingredient costs since 2020 to see how much more consumers are paying now vs. then.
Key findings
- Overall recipe costs rose a little more than 31% from 2020 to 2025, outpacing the national inflation rate of 25%.
- One of the key drivers of Christmas cookie cost increases is the change in prices for eggs, which have increased by 136% since 2020.
- Other ingredients with notable cost increases include salt (+73%), sugar (+35%), and butter (+35%).
- Overall, the total cost for Santa's milk, cookies, and carrots (for reindeer) this year is $8.44
The cost of Cookies, Milk, and Carrots for Santa in 2025
To set up our Cookie Tracker, we found a top-rated recipe for sugar cookies from Allrecipes.com. We used the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS') Consumer Price Index data to calculate the cost of each individual ingredient in our recipe. This covered most of the ingredients on our list for staples like butter, sugar, and flour. Then we supplemented our dataset for more niche ingredients like baking powder from popular grocery stores like Walmart, and data on carrots from the USDA.
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Between the costs of a batch of cookies, a glass of milk, and a pound of carrots (there are nine of them, after all), the estimated cost of leaving snacks out for Santa this year was $8.44.
Christmas inflation: The cost of Christmas cookies, 2020-2025
Leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of milk out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve is a time-honored tradition, but how much more expensive is it to leave out this festive snack compared to a few years ago?
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In 2020, the ingredients needed to make a batch of frosted sugar cookies, a glass of milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer cost a little more than $6.50. Costs actually went down a touch in 2021 before a major jump to nearly $8.50 in 2022. Since that time, costs have remained fairly steady, staying a little over $8.40 in both 2024 and 2025, though costs rose slightly year to year. While many of the ingredient costs we looked at went up from 2024 to 2025, the decline in egg prices kept overall costs relatively stable.
All told, the price hikes from 2020 to 2025 amount to a 31% increase in Christmas cookie costs, a figure that outpaces the national inflation rate of 25% over the same period. It's worth noting how drastic the price changes were from 2021 to 2022.
From 2021 to 2022, cookie costs went up by 32% year-over-year, while the national inflation rate from December 2021 to December 2022 was a little under 6.5%. This means the prices for cookie ingredients went up by nearly five times the overall inflation rate in that year and have largely stayed at that level ever since.
Costs for holiday baking essentials over time
Ingredients like eggs, milk, sugar, butter, and flour are crucial for making holiday staples like cookies, eggnog, fruitcake, and more. We tracked how prices for these essential ingredients have changed in recent years.
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Since 2020, the national inflation rate has been 25%. Milk is the only key ingredient that has had costs rise more slowly than that rate (17%). The average cost of flour also increased by 25% from 2020 to 2025, matching the national inflation rate.
Prices for both sugar and butter rose by 35%, 10 points above the national inflation rate, though that pales in comparison to egg prices. Eggs have been a particularly volatile commodity in recent years, with year-over-year prices fluctuating wildly. As it currently stands, the cost of eggs has risen by 136% since 2020, though that number stood even higher in both 2022 (187%) and 2024 (180%).
Full ingredient cost data
| Ingredient | 2020 Cost | 2021 Cost | 2022 Cost | 2023 Cost | 2024 Cost | 2025 Cost | Cost Change, 2020-2025 |
| Cookies | |||||||
| 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour | $0.34 | $0.29 | $0.40 | $0.41 | $0.42 | $0.43 | 25% |
| 1 teaspoon baking soda | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | 30% |
| ½ teaspoon salt | <$0.01 | <$0.01 | <$0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | 73% |
| 2 cups white sugar | $0.65 | $0.65 | $0.78 | $0.86 | $0.88 | $0.87 | 35% |
| 1 ¼ cups butter | $2.21 | $2.17 | $3.01 | $2.82 | $2.96 | $2.99 | 35% |
| 2 large eggs | $0.25 | $0.30 | $0.71 | $0.42 | $0.69 | $0.58 | 136% |
| 2 teaspoons vanilla extract | $1.33 | $1.33 | $1.67 | $1.50 | $1.50 | $1.55 | 16% |
| Frosting/Icing | |||||||
| 1 cup confectioners' sugar | $0.24 | $0.21 | $0.27 | $0.32 | $0.31 | $0.31 | 28% |
| 2 teaspoons milk, or more if needed | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | 17% |
| 2 teaspoons light corn syrup | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 | 0% |
| ¼ teaspoon almond extract | $0.08 | $0.08 | $0.09 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.10 | 21% |
| Food coloring | $0.14 | $0.14 | $0.14 | $0.14 | $0.14 | $0.16 | 14% |
| Cup of milk (for drinking) | $0.19 | $0.21 | $0.24 | $0.23 | $0.24 | $0.23 | 17% |
| Carrots (for reindeer) | $0.90 | $0.93 | $1.07 | $1.07 | $1.09 | $1.11 | 24% |
Bake delicious holiday cookies without breaking your budget
With all the major holiday meals this time of year, grocery runs can get expensive. If you're baking Santa and all your friends and family cookies this year, here are some tips to make sure you don't overextend your wallet.
- Save when shopping for ingredients at the grocery store with the right rewards card. Christmas cooking adds up quickly, so using a card that earns strong cash back at the pump and the supermarket can help you save on every trip. Check out the best cash back credit cards to stretch your holiday budget.
- Get holiday groceries delivered for less. Whether you're ordering ingredients ahead or some last-minute baking supplies, the right card can make every purchase more rewarding. For example, many Chase credit cards offer DoorDash benefits that could lower delivery and service fees.
- Make holiday shopping easier with a budget-friendly membership. If you're planning to grab gifts, household essentials, or groceries from Walmart, a subscription can help you save on fees and get fast delivery. Learn how Walmart+ can keep Christmas shopping simple and affordable.
Methodology
FinanceBuzz used a top-rated recipe for sugar cookies found via AllRecipes.com to compile the list of ingredients needed to make one batch of cookies with frosting/icing. Ingredient costs were sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index wherever possible.
Costs for ingredients not tracked by the BLS were sourced via current and archived websites of major national grocery retailers. Costs were calculated based on the amount of each ingredient needed to make the cookies. All prices reflect costs as of November or December of each year, with BLS data exclusively applying to December prices (2025 data reflects costs for September, the most recent month available). National inflation rates via the BLS CPI Inflation Calculator.
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