Santa's Cookies Cost 31% More This Year Than in 2020

Santa's sweet tooth is getting pricier. The cost of ingredients for a basic batch of Christmas sugar cookies is up 31% since 2020, outpacing the overall five-year inflation rate of 25%, according to a new analysis from FinanceBuzz. Add in the traditional glass of milk and carrots for the reindeer, and this year's plate for the big guy comes to $8.44. That's slightly more than last year, a hair under 2022's $8.46 peak, and well above the $6.41 tab from five years ago, notes Quartz.

• Cookies: The batch—based on a standard recipe—comes to $7.09, with the price of most ingredients well up from 2020. Two eggs, for example, are priced at 58 cents, up from 25 cents. The cup-and-a-quarter of butter is $2.99, up from $2.21; two-and-three-quarters cups of flour is 43 cents, up from 34 cents; and two cups of sugar is 87 cents, up from 65 cents. FinanceBuzz has the complete breakdown.
• Milk, carrots: Santa's glass of milk is priced at 23 cents, up from 17 cents, and the carrots cost $1.12, up from 90 cents. (That's for a pound of carrots, which is maybe excessive, even if there are nine reindeer.)