Christmas Cookie Debate: Sugar Cookies vs. Gingerbread

By: Connor Iadevaia

Just as Christmas is right around the corner people from all over the country are making delicious treats; but one that stands out the most is a classic Christmas cookie. Over many years there have been various debates about what Christmas cookie is actually the best; and now I’m going to find out the right answer. As I was searching the web on many different websites and sources I narrowed the Christmas cookie list to two final cookies; a sugar cookie and gingerbread. According to realsimple.com; a trusted and updated baking website, America’s most popular Christmas cookies are a mix of sugar cookies, peanut butter, gingerbread, oatmeal, and nuts (almonds, cashews, etc.). Since I wanted to do a live test, I had to only choose two cookies; the gingerbread and sugar cookie. 

The next step in finding the perfect Christmas cookie was to find an amazing recipe. When I had searched for the perfect sugar cookie recipe I was looking for a 4 or 5 star rated recipe, a trusted brand or website, and an easy or mediocre recipe to follow so you too could make them at home. I had come to a decision and found a website called glorioustreats.com. The title of this recipe had caught me right away because it had said, “Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe”. In addition this was rated a total of 5 stars which was amazing. Although the website was updated about a year ago, I still trusted this recipe. This website had not just given me the recipe but also included why the cookie was so perfect. With its perfect cutout every-time, superior flavor and texture, and little to no spread while baking. Once I had gotten down to the recipe part, the website had explained very detailed instructions and the ingredients were everyday home items. All that I had to do now was to finally test the recipe! 

Now that I had completed the first successful cookie, I was on to the next. I had done the same procedure as the sugar cookie and looked for the most credible and well rated recipe. I had finally come across a perfect gingerbread recipe from cooking.nytimes.com. I had already known this was a credible website because NY Times is a well known news source and has factual information. This website had even given a short paragraph in the beginning about how good and simple these gingerbread cookies are. I had gotten down to the recipe and realized that these cookies have a lot more ingredients than the sugar cookies. You may not have all of these ingredients in your home, so you might have to stop by your local supermarket. This website had also given detailed instructions which I had appreciated. Once I had scrolled to the bottom I found the reviews of this recipe. I had immediately seen fantastic words and reviews but they were from at least 3 years ago. I was a bit skeptical about how far back these reviews were but I still wanted to try this 5 star recipe!

Furthermore, the best Christmas cookie from my entire test is a sugar cookie! I had done the live test with about 10 people and the final results were one person for gingerbread, and 9 people for sugar cookies. Since I was testing the actual recipe and procedure I would have to say that sugar cookies do not take long to make and you don’t really have to go out to the store because the ingredients are everyday home items. So in conclusion, the best Christmas cookie to have this year will be the classic sugar cookie! 

Sugar cookie recipe: https://www.glorioustreats.com/perfect-sugar-cookie-recipe/

Gingerbread cookie recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015813-gingerbread-cookies

Gingerbread cookies: Expectation

Sugar cookies: Expectation

Gingerbread and sugar cookies : Reality