During the holidays, most people look forward to food and sweets. No one would want a bad cookie at Christmas time. That is why I went on a mission for the best holiday cookie in the area. I tested three cookies from Sweetness Cookie Company, a bakery in South Elgin, one cookie from Crumbl, and one cookie from Starbucks. I chose to judge the cookies on were dryness, presentation, and taste.  

Starbucks is known for their wonderful coffee and drinks, but their holiday sugar cookie was at the bottom of the list. It had good presentation as a snowman with sugar on the bottom to imitate snow, but it was very dry and had an average sugar cookie taste.  

The sugar cookie from Sweetness Cookie Company had good presentation with a screen-printed picture of a snowman face on the frosting. Its frosting was far too sweet, lacking other taste.

Crumbl is well known for their amazing premium cookies. The gingerbread cookie was not dry at all. It had great presentation with pristinely piped cream cheese frosting and gingerbread man sprinkles. It had a good taste, with the flavor of the gingerbread coming through, but the cream cheese frosting was a little too overpowering. 

The hot chocolate cookie from Sweetness Cookie Company had great presentation, with a small dollop of frosting in the center of the cookie with mini marshmallows sprinkled on top. It was not dry and had a great taste. It had chocolate chips mixed in and was made with real hot chocolate. If you’re looking for a great chocolate cookie, this is the one.  

Finally, the number one holiday cookie in the area: the white chocolate peppermint cookie from Sweetness Cookie Company. It was the best because it had great presentation, with white frosting and peppermint bark sprinkles. It had great peppermint taste and sweet but not overpowering. It also had no dryness to it at all.  

When looking for your perfect holiday cookie, check out any of these places to get in the holiday spirit!