The Best Christmas Cookies In Every State

Getting a container of cookies from your neighbor during Christmastime is sort of like getting a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day: You wind up sifting through the medley in search of your favorite varieties. Have you ever wondered if your favorite Christmas cookie aligns with the rest of your state's preferences? A map shared with USA Today breaks it down, naming the most-searched Christmas cookies in each state according to Google Trends.

Related: Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

Rich in flavor and adorable by design, gingerbread cookies are the most coveted cookie in these states: 

• District of Columbia
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Montana 
• South Carolina
• Vermont

Related: Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies To Bake This Holiday Season

Break out the cookie cutters, frosting, and sprinkles — sugar cookies are the optimal decorating cookie for a fun (and edible) Christmas activity. This go-to, classic cookie is the favorite in these states: 

• Alaska
• Idaho
• New Mexico
• South Dakota
• Wyoming

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From cake-like cookies glazed with icing to rainbow cookies, the repertoire of Italian Christmas cookies is as expansive as it is tasty. With a prominent Italian-American population in the Northeast, it's no wonder they're the best Christmas cookies in these states:

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Maine
• New Jersey
• New York
• Rhode Island

Between chocolate chips and M&M's to brookies, cookie bars are always reliable. Here's where they're the fan favorite at Christmastime:

• Illinois
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• Washington

If a chewy peanut butter cookie rolled in sugar with a Hershey kiss in the center doesn't sound appetizing to you, you might not be from one of these states where it's the No. 1 Yuletide choice:

• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania 
• Wisconsin

There's something so endearing about a bite-sized piece of shortbread with red and green sprinkles. Mini Christmas cookies are the holiday favorite in California.

Straightforward and slightly salty, peanut butter cookies are good any time of year, but they're best enjoyed during the holiday season if you're from Nevada. 

You don't have to enjoy peppermint to love candy cane cookies. These sugar cookies look like candy canes but taste like, well, sugar. They're the most beloved cookie in New Hampshire and Utah during the holidays.

Hojarascas pack a punch in the flavor department with their cinnamon-sugar highlights. Folks in Arizona and Oklahoma opt for Mexican Christmas cookies during holiday baking.

Snowball cookies are basically the powdered doughnut of the cookie world, and they get the most holiday hype from Colorado residents. 

Why drink hot chocolate when you can eat it in cookie form? That's the philosophy in Kansas, where these chocolatey, mini marshmallow-laden cookies are a Christmastime favorite.

These German cookies boast intricate, embossed designs and a buttery flavor, and according to Texans, they're the best Christmas cookie there is.

Hawaii is practically a mecca for all things ube, so it only makes sense that ube Christmas cookies are the state's holiday favorite.

Almond extract gives spritz cookies a distinct flavor, and they're one of the most beloved decorative cookies — especially in Iowa.

The color alone is enough to make red velvet cookies a good go-to for Christmas baking; the cream cheese frosting is merely a bonus. They're the holiday favorite in Missouri.

We've all heard the saying, "everything but the kitchen sink." If that's the notion for Christmas cookies, you might add ingredients like chocolate chips, M&M's, sprinkles, pretzels, and a partridge in a pear tree to your batter. The practice is so common in Arkansas that kitchen sink Christmas cookies earned the state's No. 1 spot.

Polish cookies — namely kolaczki, which are filled with fruit preserves — aren't just a good tea time treat. They're also ideal for Christmas, and are a favorite in Alabama and Michigan.

Not to be confused with snowball cookies because of the powdered sugar coating, Mexican wedding cookies are in a league of their own. They're the top Christmas cookie in Indiana and West Virginia.

When it comes to decorating Christmas cookies, you can let the kids go wild with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles on sugar cookies. Or, if you're after something more aesthetically pleasing, royal icing is the way to go — especially in Kentucky, where royal icing Christmas cookies are the favorite.

A jam-filled, buttery cookie with powdered sugar sprinkled on top is the gist of Linzer cookies, which are the top choice in Massachusetts.

Pfeffernüsse and Spitzbuben are just a couple of beloved German Christmas cookies. Bakers in Maryland consider them the star of the show during the holidays.

Regarded as the "world's thinnest cookie," Moravian cookies lean on molasses and myriad spices for flavor. In North Carolina, they're the top pick at Christmastime.

Leave them plain like a shortbread cookie, add some sprinkles, or dip them in chocolate. There are tons of ways to enjoy Christmas butter cookies — just ask Floridians, who consider this the best Christmas cookie around.