Holiday beer and cookie combos—ranked!

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Gingerbread and haystacks finally go head-to-head in this epic cookie fight club. But chill — we’ll celebrate after with beers that pair perfectly with these holiday treats

It’s the holiday season, so time to hop to it (see what we did there?) and figure out which festive cookies rule the roost. We know you’ve been losing sleep over this mystery, so we ranked eight classics from best to OK-but-only-’cuz-it’s-the-holidays. Best of all, we’ve paired each cookie with the brew it matches best under the mistletoe. Truth: Beer makes any cookie — even the least popular ones — tastier. It’s friendly like that.

#1: Haystacks + stout

These plain-Jane mounds might not be the belle of the ball, but the combination of coconut, oats and chocolate is a big winner taste-wise. Grab a stout to go with them — its chocolaty flavours will bring out the cocoa.

#2: Jammy sandwich cookies + fruit-flavoured beer

These timeless, tartlike cookies are a double whammy of great taste and beautiful design. If these cookies were carollers, fruit-flavoured beers would make them hit the high notes.

#3: Macaroons + India pale ale (IPA)

Macaroons show up to the party confident in who they are — chewy and proud of their unfussy ways. Thanks to their own tropical aromas, like mango and pineapple, IPAs get where these cookies are coming from.

#4: Gingerbread + Bavarian-style wheat beer

There’s some wiggle room here. Soft gingerbread scores high. Subtly spiced, hard gingerbread? That’s a no from us, dawg. However, add a Bavarian-style wheat beer and you can offset the tangy spice and dunk that crunch into submission.

#5: Sugar cookies + Belgian-style ale

These sweet morsels are good, but they play it safe, which is why they’re middle-dwellers on this list. A Belgian-style ale is what you’ll want to round out those sugary, bready cookie flavours.

#6: Rugelach + dark or brown ale

These treats also pose some ranking challenges, and it all hinges on the filling (chocolate gets high marks, but raisins go to the back of the line). Rugelach may be old-timey, but they can handle the richness of a modern dark or brown ale.

#7: Biscotti + brown ale

Biscotti are good after a long soak in something tasty. (Otherwise they’re why all you want for Christmas is your two front teeth.) The nutty flavours of a brown ale are the friend your pistachio-studded biscotti need.

#8: Danish butter cookies + British-style ale

Sorry, Denmark, but these cookies are what you eat at Grandma’s house. Their redeeming quality is their dunkability (and that reusable tin, if we’re honest). But pair them with a British-style ale and you have the perfect marriage of sweetness and buttery goodness.

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