The Google Cookie Map

Obviously, I’ve got a strong interest in Christmas cookies. So when USA Today carried a story reporting on what Google searches indicate about Christmas cookie interests in different states, I had to check it out.

The Google American Christmas cookie map is based on searches. The USA Today article explains: “The map shows Christmas cookies that were over-represented in a state compared to the country as a whole. It includes searches from Nov. 29 to Dec. 6, as Americans were baking some of their first batches of holiday desserts.” You can see some of the “over-represented” cookies on the part of the map above, and USA Today helpfully lists them, by state, at the end of the article.

You’ll be pleased to know that, according to Google, Ohio and Michigan (improbably) share the same apparent interest in “snowball cookies,” whereas Maine is one of many states that is keenly interested in gluten-free Christmas cookies. Texas is focused on “Christmas cookie ice cream,” which seems like it is out of step with the rest of the country–but then, it is Texas. No one who watched Fargo and listened to the accents will be surprised to learn that North Dakotans want to know more about “Norwegian Christmas cookies.” And whereas states like Alabama, Nebraska, and Kentucky are all-in on “Christmas cookie fudge,” people from a number of other states are evidently already worried about their waistlines and want to know more about “Keto Christmas cookies.”

It’s nice to see the diversity that still prevails in the U.S. in the important Christmas cookie category. That’s why it’s so darned inexplicable that Ohio and Michigan are both focused on snowball cookies, of all things.