Baking during Advent
Are Christmas cookies more expensive than 2023?
Many foods have become more expensive, including butter. If you want to save money when baking cookies before Christmas, you can switch to a different ingredient. However, an expert advises against this.
For many people, baking Christmas cookies is one of the best things about Advent. Food prices have also risen sharply this year. Does this make homemade cookies more expensive? The answer is: it depends on what’s in it.
A look at the most important ingredients in classic types of cookies provides insight. According to the Federal Statistical Office, butter was 40 percent more expensive in October than a year earlier. Wheat flour was recently a good 10 percent cheaper, and sugar was even 20 percent cheaper. Customers recently paid a similar amount for eggs as in October last year, and 3 percent more for milk. Chocolate, which is also used for some recipes, cost a good 8 percent more.
“If butter is used as an ingredient, Christmas cookies are likely to be a little more expensive this year,” says the head of consumer research at Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI), Thomas Els. The fact that flour and sugar have become cheaper can be the reason for the sharp rise in the price of butter therefore not compensate.
“This means you miss out on a lot of enjoyment.”
However, there are ways to reduce costs. If you want, you can use margarine instead of butter for baking, the consumer advice center advises. This works “just as well” in most recipes and takes the strain off your wallet, according to the website. Margarine was almost 3 percent cheaper in October than a year earlier.
Jürgen Hinkelmann, Vice President of the Central Association of the German Bakers’ Trade, does not believe in margarine as a butter substitute. “It tastes bad and you miss out on a lot of enjoyment.” Then it’s better to bake less and get high quality. “It’s also good for your figure,” he says, who owns the Grobe bakery in Dortmund.
The reasons for the increase in the price of butter are smaller quantities of milk available and a lower fat content in the raw milk. According to the dairy industry, high demand for other dairy products such as cheese meant that less fat was available to make butter.
dpa
Source: Stern
