Top 14 Costco Bakery Items, Ranked

Costco rocks. And not just because you can buy a massive cake, a suitcase full of frozen shrimp tempura, a Carhartt jacket, and an “inflatable family lounge pool” in one trip. The store’s own proprietary products are usually pretty darn good—and that includes Costco pastries and other Costco bakery items. 

After our initial taste test of 11 different Costco baked goods, including cult-favorite Costco bakery cookies, Costco Danish pastries, Costco croissants, and Costco muffins, we recently tried some new (to us) Costco bakery items, like breads and cakes. 

What’s really good versus what should you definitely buy a full pallet of the next time you visit everyone’s favorite warehouse? Find out in this ranking of the best Costco bakery items. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Costco

Costco chocolate chip cookies have a cult following. So there are going to be a lot of people angry at me for my placement of these Costco bakery cookies. Don’t think of it as a ding on the cookie, think of it as a celebration of how extremely good all the other Costco bakery items are that are coming in ahead of it. The cookie is filled with chocolate chunks rather than chips—that’s great. They’re creamy and dark and rich. This is a classic supermarket soft cookie, but it doesn’t have too much of that supermarket cookie aftertaste. It’s a good cookie! It’s a really good supermarket chocolate chip cookie! But there are better Costco baked goods and even better Costco bakery cookies available.  —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc

Rating:

6/10

Sporks

White Chocolate Cookies

White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Costco

I am not a big fan of white chocolate, but the white chocolate in these Costco bakery cookies actually tastes like cocoa butter. Yes, the white chocolate chunks are very, very sweet, but they’re more complex than that. And there’s lots of them. Personally, I also like the actual cookie part of these Costco bakery cookies more than the chocolate chip cookies—it’s chewier and softer and more like a fresh-baked cookie. If you’re a white chocolate fan, get these Costco cookies ASAP. —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc

Rating:

6.5/10

Sporks

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Instacart

Yes, the oatmeal raisin cookie is best of all the Costco bakery cookies we tried. They’re so soft. They are packed with so many oats. The raisins (and there are lots of them) are tender and tart. For a cookie that’s thought of as boring these have such an interesting texture and fun pops of fruit. If you’re searching through the Costco baked goods section looking for a treat that you can pretend is almost healthy (but it’s not—it’s a cookie), pick up a pack of these. —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

Pumpkin Spice Loaf

Pumpkin Spice Loaf

Instacart

If you plopped this frosted pumpkin spice loaf on a plate and presented it to your family, they would give you a round of applause. It looks incredible with its thick icing and shaved white chocolate twirls. The loaf cake itself is pretty darn good. It’s not as good as my mother-in-law’s pumpkin bread—but it’s not far off. It’s very spiced with lots of nutmeg and cinnamon in the mix. The frosting is soft and sweet and pairs well with the fall-flavored cake. —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Costco

There are a lot of chocolate chips in Costco’s chocolate chip muffins. One of these baked goods is essentially just chocolate chips held together by a bit of muffin batter. But sometimes that’s exactly what you want. And the chocolate chips are good! They’re chocolatey and a perfect texture—not crunchy, not melty. It’s not worth a Costco membership like some of the items on our list but these muffins would be a total hit in the office. —Justine Sterling

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

White Cupcakes

White Cupcakes With Buttercream Icing

Instacart

Apparently, we missed these bad boys in our grocery store cupcakes ranking, which is a real shame. Typical of Texas Costco, these are obscenely large. It’s an instant sugar high (in a good, fresh-tasting kind of way).The buttercream icing isn’t just a flavorless, fluffy cloud—something far too common in store bought cupcakes—but has weight, with a beautifully whipped texture and a nice sugary sweetness. The cake body is soft, moist, and light. Most importantly, Kirkland cupcakes don’t taste mass produced. That alone is what puts them this high on our list of the best Costco bakery items. —Ariana Losch

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Butter Croissants

Butter Croissants

Costco

We got 12 Costco croissants for $5.99—that’s a pretty good deal for some pretty good croissants. They’re not crispy on the outside like fresh-baked croissants, but they taste buttery, the texture inside is chewy, and they are very big. They’re great for croissant sandwiches or you can pop them in a toaster oven to crisp them up a bit for a breakfast treat. They’re not the best Costco pastries out there, but they’re good to have around. —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Pound Cake

All Butter Pound Cake

Instacart

I have no critiques for Kirkland’s butter pound cake, other than what it does to my health every time I fold and bring this two-pound log home with me just to stare at it, longingly, as my coffee brews in the morning. (Yes, I eat it, too; just after an obscene amount of staring.) This cake is pillowy soft, with a light sweetness, hint of vanilla, and good crumble with every bite. It has a soft, dark, golden-brown crust that isn’t overdone anywhere. Each slice maintains the perfect level of moisture—no matter where you cut, the cake isn’t too dense or too airy. If anything, some people might think this pound cake is a little forgettable compared to all of the other best Costco bakery items we tried. Personally, I think its simplicity is what makes it great. —Ariana Losch

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Instacart

Kirkland’s viral coffee cake is an instant hit—you know it as soon as you taste it. The cake sponge is so tender, you’d expect it to be overly moist just to achieve that signature softness, but nope! It’s a great balance between soft, fluffy, crumbly, and dense. The thick layer of crisp, crunchy, cinnamon-infused streusel on top did, in fact, make me believe in love again. The cake is perfectly soft and perfectly sweet. And yes, coming in at 30 ounces, the Costco cinnamon coffee cake is indeed huge. Right on brand for Texas Costco. —Ariana Losch

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Cream Cheese Danish

Cream Cheese Danish

Costco

These Costco Danish pastries are a real treat. They are coated with icing like a better Toaster Strudel, so they are so sweet and messy. And the cheese feeling isn’t too sweet; it has a nice tang—it almost tastes like a touch of lemon. The pastry itself is buttery and tender—it’s the best quality of pastry we tasted from all the Costco bakery items. Plus, no surprise, they’re huge. Buy a box of these Costco Danish pastries and be the hero of your office. —Justine Sterling

Credit: Merc

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Mantecada Muffins

Costco

We weren’t sure what to expect from these muffins. We’d never heard of mantecada muffins before. But now we’ll never forget. Because these muffins rule. These are, essentially, poundcake muffins! How awesome is that? It’s like moist, vanilla-forward poundcake in muffin form! If you avoided buying these because you thought they were just corn muffins or boring plain muffins, you still have time to change your ways and buy them. —Justine Sterling

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Costco

This new Costco cake went a wee bit viral—and for good reason. It really seems like the folks in Costco’s R&D lab were having a lot of fun when they came up with this dessert. There’s three layers: chocolate cake, cookie dough-studded mousse, and then chocolate chip cookie-inspired cake. It’s topped with chocolate frosting. It weighs 2.5 lbs and it’s only $18.99. It really encompasses what the Costco bakery is all about when it’s at its best: fun and value. —Justine Sterling

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling

Costco

We’ve spoken at length about this Costco cake. My colleague Jordan Myrick even wrote a full essay on it, proclaiming that it alone is worth the price of a Costco membership. And we ranked this as the best chocolate cake you can get at a grocery store. It’s so moist and chocolaty and fudgy. It’s the best version of a classic grocery store chocolate cake. —Justine Sterling

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Tuxedo Cake

Costco

While I do think the chocolate cake is a perfect cake…this one is better. First of all, it looks like a cake you’d get at a high-end bakery. It has a feathered design on the top and lovely chocolate twills. But it wouldn’t rank so high on this list if it didn’t taste as good as it looks. And it does. You get layers of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, brownie chunks, white mousse, and then more chocolate cake, all topped with chocolate ganache. One bite of these really transports you—it turns you into a woman in a Dove chocolate commercial from the ‘90s. Absolutely incredible. —Justine Sterling

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other Costco bakery items we tried: 

Mixed Berry and Cheese Turnovers, Caramel Apple Mini Cakes, Double Chocolate Muffins, Almond Filled Danishes, Blueberry Muffins, Baguette, Plain Bagels, Everything Bagels, Cranberry Walnut Round, Rustic Italian Bread, Cinnamon Chip Bisconie Bites