One Flavor Is Dominating Christmas Cookie Searches

What is America's favorite Christmas cookie? Good luck with that. All kinds of surveys have all kinds of answers, but a look at Google Trends suggests that cookies with peanut butter are surging in popularity this year, reports Axios. Searches for Peanut Butter Blossoms (usually with a Hershey's Kiss on top) or Peanut Butter Balls saw the biggest spikes from Nov. 12 to Dec. 12.

• 42 states: One of the peanut butter cookies was the top-trending cooking in a remarkable 42 states, with blossoms leading the way.
• Outliers: In the other eight states (plus DC), "spritz cookies," a type of shortbread cookie, took the No. 1 spot.

• Store favorite: Target, meanwhile, looked at what cookies Americans are buying, not baking, and pronounced gingerbread cookies the unofficial cookie of the season. They led purchases in 38 states, ahead of sugar cookies (eight) and shortbread cookies (four.)
• One suggestion: Washingtonian baked all seven holiday cookies featured in the New York Times cooking section and settled on a favorite: Dark 'n' Stormy Cookies. But it's not for teetotalers: "Yes, this cookie does actually taste like a dark and stormy cocktail, in large part thanks to the rum- and lime-spiked frosting," reads the review.