Cocktail

46 Drink & Cookie Pairings for a Crawl Around the World

December 25, 2015

Take a look at our Cookies of the World map and you'll find more than one recipe you want to make. And when you get thirsty after all that baking, you might need something to wash down all those sweets.

Eating around the world can be tough work. Photo by James Ransom

Heck, you might just want to turn the whole affair into a cookie-cocktail crawl, so we helped you out (because we like the way you work). We paired each one of the 46 cookies on our map to a drink that would go with it nicely. And no, we didn't pick milk every time.

Both are rich with chocolate and good really really cold.

Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas Cookies and Holiday Milk Punch: both impossibly festive and old timey Americana.

For the kid at heart—and anyone who likes really sweet treats.

If we're putting potato chips in cookies, then we're putting ice cream in beer, too.

Our home and design editor Amanda Sims voted to pair these sesame-studded cookie with Arnold Palmers, on account of needing something with tang to offset the richness of the wafers. And I chose a boozy version.

Gift these rugelach with a bottle of red wine—Manischewitz if we're really being traditional.

New York state of eating—and drinking.

Anise-seeded cookies from New Mexico, meet this drink that has a dab of anise-spiked absinthe.

Nobody has ever served me cookies with a margarita, but maybe winter—when margarita consumption is down and cookie eating is up—is the time to try it?

These Brazilian cookies taste like icing rolled in sprinkles; all you'll want is a big glass of milk.

These sandwich cookies have a little more going on than, say, an Oreo. So you should eat them with a drink that also has a little surprise: Magical Coffee's got cinnamon and brown sugar.

Fiveandspice knows Norway.

This combination screams Christmas in Sweden.

For these light, buttery, jam-filled cookies, you want something fruity yet not too sweet. Enter Apple Peel Tea, which is like an earthier apple cider.

When you're shopping for these spiced German cookies, grab a bottle of German wine to make a spiked, spiced apple cider.

The match for crumbly vanilla cookies? A creamy vanilla latte.

These Serbian cookies translate to "The Little Vanilla Cookies"—so a little more vanilla can't possibly hurt.

I couldn't decide if I'd rather have these cookies for breakfast or with after-dinner drinks, so I went with a shandy—like a mimosa, but with beer.

French fanciness—without fuss.

Brandy cookie, meet Brandy drink.

A cookie and a cocktail that are more zesty and sprightly than many other winter renditions in their categories (the lemon may have something to do with that).

Spain at its simplest.

These earthy shortbread cookies are begging for freshness—in the form of mint (or any other herb!) tea.

Almond and orange, two ways.

Itty bitty drinks for itty bitty cookies.

This cookie recipe makes 10 dozen cookies, so you're going to need a big batch of booze to follow suit.

You'll find seeds and nuts in both the truffles and the shake—fiber but in a funner form!

Saying "mbatata" over and over will make you very giddy, so let some eggnog help that merry holiday spirit along.

Neither the pepper-laced cookies nor this coffee-rum concoction are in any way shy or demure—get ready to shock your system (in a good way).

The bitterness of the citrus peel in these German cookies finds a friend: the tangy pomegranate juice in this mulled wine. And honey in both helps sweeten the deal.

The 7-ingredient spice blend in these gingerbread-like cookies begs for something cooling and subtle, like almond milk.

Gobble up all the dried figs in every way you can while you wait patiently for fresh fig season.

If curd cheese is going in our cookies, then butter is going in the drink.

These cookies and this punch aren't what you'd normally consider wintry: Instead, they're light as can be, aromatic and springy thanks to rose water and rice flour (for the cookies) and ginger and bubbles for the punch.

If these recipes seem old fashioned (in a good way), that's because they are.

Both are festive in red—and Dorie Greenspan, who created the cookie recipe, is an American living in Paris, so an Americano in Paris seems only natural.

A little spritz with fried foods is how the Italians like things to be.

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More: The art of the Italian antipasto platter.

Two cheers for cherries times two.

Tea time, Indian style.

Coconut, saffron, cardamom, and lemon are great friends in Indian cuisine—and here in this 3-ingredient fudge and 5-ingredient lemonade.

While these sandy cookies would be divine with a pot of green tea, a green tea-infused cocktail might be wiser. 'Tis the season.

I'm sorry—this one was too obvious. Please proceed.

A little brown butter for the cookies—a little for the rum.

More: How to brown butter.

These "tangerine pies" from Singapore do not actually have tangerines in them, so the drink should be more honest: There is orange, and there is green tea.

The cookies one-up Thin Mints, and the boozy drink one-ups hot chocolate. It's like childhood, all growed up.

If we're dreaming of the tropics by way of mango cookies, then we might as well get ice cream involved.

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Editor/writer/stylist. Author of I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To). Last name rhymes with bagel.

1 Comment

gardeningal December 28, 2015
Mmmmm, which pair of sweet treats do I try first??
Thank you for a fun learning experience.Lots to try out for the New Year. I will have to finish reading over some of these...Thank you and Happy New Year!