The 12 Unhealthiest Foods At The Costco Bakery
There are a great many things that Costco brings to its loyal shoppers: ample canned goods, inexpensive and high-quality rotisserie chicken, bulk toiletries, gasoline, tires, clothing ... and last but not least: a delicious and impressive array of baked pastries.
"What is worth buying from the bakery?" asked one Redditor at r/Costco. "All of them," answered a user frankly, "Invest in a storage freezer." Another consumer admitted: "I don't think I've ever been disappointed with Costco's bakery stuff, only disappointed in my lack of self control."
This last remark amplifies the true toll of indulging in the deliciousness that is a Costco muffin, bagel, Danish, or cake ... and we are not referring to finances. Although the wholesaler's decadent baked goods are generally considered to be excellent deals from a price standpoint, many of them will cost consumers when it comes to their diets. Loaded with lots of calories, sugar, and fat, one Redditor summed it up with the sobering reality: "If you are trying to lose weight [...] unfortunately nothing." Here are some of the 12 unhealthiest foods at the Costco bakery.
1. Kirkland Signature Muffins
The single most popular items that comes out of Costco's bakery department are arguably its colossal muffins. People have been filling their carts happily with six-packs of these treats for years, with flavors like Vanilla Chocolate Chunk, Banana Chocolate Chip, and Mantecada. Costco employees have reported that the celebrated treats are one of the pastries are baked onsite rather than shipped in frozen and then reheated. But aside from their obvious freshness and deliciousness, these gorgeous muffins harbor a more complicated side in the form of a seriously elevated calorie count.
This is especially true of the Double Chocolate and Pumpkin Streusel variants. The first comes in at a whopping 690 calories, with 79 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of fat, and 48 grams of sugar a pop. The Pumpkin Streusel doesn't fare much better and even performs worse in some areas. At 680 calories per muffin, 82 grams of carbohydrates, and even less protein than the chocolate option, your body (other than your taste buds, of course) doesn't stand to gain much from one of these sugar-loaded breakfast items.
Consuming one Costco muffin on an occasional basis likely won't usher in any negative effects. However, if you're trying to stick to lighter treats or are on a diet that requires you to closely monitor your sugar intake, consider walking past the tantalizing stacks of muffin boxes in the warehouse ... as difficult as it may be to do.
2. Kirkland Signature Plain Cheesecake
While incorporating healthy fats (like those found in avocados or nuts) into our diets is a generally good move, saturated fats — the ones that can cause cholesterol to build up in your arteries — require more constraint. Physicians and health experts practically everywhere agree that a person should limit their consumption of saturated fats, which is where this next delicious bakery item on our list becomes questionable.
The Kirkland Cheesecake is generally hailed as utterly delicious by consumers, with some even referring to it as one of the best cheesecakes they had ever eaten. Sadly, the nutrition stats tell a different story. While the calories per serving (440 a slice) aren't too remarkably high considering the product's status as a dessert, you might find the saturated fat content more concerning.
That's because each of those fluffy white triangle slices brings 19 grams of saturated fat. Meanwhile, the American Heart Association recommends a daily limit of around 13 per day. For the love of your heart, you might want to say "no" to this one, at least on a regular basis.
3. Kirkland Signature Cream Cheese Danish
Danishes, as the name suggests, originated in Denmark, and bakers rely on a process called laminating to create the pastry's delectable buttery layers. Costco's bakery has adopted a few different Danish flavors over the years, but perhaps the most consistent offering has been that of the Kirkland Signature Cream Cheese Danish. A beautiful combination of savory and sweet, this noteworthy treat is particularly beloved by Costco shoppers. "The cream cheese danish is heavenly. They're almost too big for me to finish in one sitting but dear God so good," said one user on Reddit, giving voice to the majority public opinion regarding the massive yet tasty product.
However, the Cream Cheese Danish's notable size becomes its nutritional downfall. At 500 calories, a whopping 59 grams of total carbohydrates, 36 grams of sugar, and 27 grams of fat — 11 of which are saturated – the pastry leaves a lot to be desired in the health department. If you're going to go for it with a Cream Cheese Danish, we recommend that you maybe consider cutting it in half and sharing it with someone, at the very least.
4. Kirkland Signature Chocolate Chunk Gourmet Cookies
When it comes to the United States' favorite cookie, chocolate chip takes the title by a landslide. Surveys routinely place chocolate chip as the first cookie flavor choice, typically followed by peanut butter and oatmeal raisin, among others. Costco's version of the popular cookie is technically a chocolate chunk variant that utilizes larger-than-normal hunks of chocolate folded into the dough to create an even sweeter bite.
However, the next time you swing by the bakery department and scan the clear plastic boxes full of Kirkland Signature Chocolate Chunk Gourmet Cookies, you may want to think twice about whether or not that chocolatey mouthful is worth it. Each one of those single treats comes with 210 calories, 27 grams of carbohydrates, and 16 grams of sugar ... and, really, who ends up eating just one? We aren't entirely convinced these morsels are worth the sugar-filled punch they pack, at least not on the regular. Of course, you'll have to decide that for yourself.
5. Kirkland Signature Butter Croissant
Croissants have become a worldwide bakery staple thanks in part not only to their tastiness, but to their incredible variety. Think dessert croissants, savory croissants, stuffed croissants. There are even deep-fried croissants out there. Despite the fact that the croissant made in the Costco bakery is a simple butter one, it appears to be this very simplicity that makes it so exciting for consumers. Want it warm and spread with jam for breakfast? Check. Prefer it sliced in half and stuffed with turkey and cheese for lunch? You got it. Anything is possible with a pack of Kirkland Signature Butter Croissants.
Well ... except for maybe sticking to your healthy eating plan. While you probably wouldn't expect a pastry that's so seemingly simple to be chock full of potentially problematic ingredients, Costco's basic butter croissant contains more than meets the eye, according to the nutrition stats on the package.
By the product's own label, each individual pastry is 300 calories, 160 of which come from fat. Sixty milligrams of cholesterol, 330 milligrams of sodium, and 30 grams of carbohydrates also join the mix to create a much heavier bite than the light, airy, bready vessel we may have at first envisioned for our scrambled eggs.
6. Kirkland Signature Apple Fritter Loaf
The Apple Fritter Loaf was introduced to the Costco bakery in 2023 and, soon enough, flocks of customers ran to their nearest locations to get a taste of the sweet newcomer. Channeling the flavors of a classic apple fritter doughnut, the cinnamon-and-spice creation was baked into a giant, shareable, rectangular loaf and topped with a sugary crumble. While the reception to this newest bakery item seemed to be mostly positive in nature, the nutrition stats might just change some minds.
When you first take a glance at the total calories per serving, you might initially breathe a sigh of relief. Just 220? That's not bad! However, once you realize that the serving to which they are referring is — rather sneakily — only 1/20th of the loaf, it hits you. Cutting the pastry into 20 different slices would mean you end with very, very small pieces.
Chances are good that the average person would enjoy double (or even triple) that serving in one sitting. That means all those pesky numbers listed on the side are either doubled or tripled, too. This means 220 calories becomes 440, 12 grams of fat becomes 24, 14 grams of sugar becomes 28, and the 26 grams of carbohydrates turns into a potentially gut-wrenching 52. Yikes. The artificial flavoring also listed on the label feels like the final icing on what has quickly turned into a rather unhealthy new Costco cake.
7. Kirkland Signature Chocolate Lover's Cookie Pack
The name of this item alone ought to ring some health and nutrition alarm bells. As with many food products where chocolate is involved, the Kirkland Signature Chocolate Lovers Cookie Pack is rich, luxurious, and pretty heavy. This delicious trio of cookies features the popular product of the tropical cacao tree — chocolate, of course — as its star flavor in triple chocolate, chocolate chunk, and white chocolate macadamia nut flavors. While you can expect plenty of flavor when biting into any one of these three choices, you can also expect a lot of calories, sugar, and fat.
Each cookie holds between 220 and 230 calories a pop, and while that may not sound too nefarious, it feels more so when you consider the size of the product itself. The cookies are relatively small. Moreover, they contain no fiber to speak of, or much protein to keep your stomach full. Instead, there is a rather staggering blast of 17 to 19 grams of sugar that will likely burn right through you, leaving you hungry again in an hour.
Dining on something a little heartier and with a bit more to offer your body nutritionally would obviously be a healthier choice for most. However, moderation is a beautiful thing, and so enjoying one of these cookies ever now and then likely won't hurt.
8. Kirkland Signature Tuxedo Cake
Costco's Tuxedo Cake, with its layers of chocolate mousse, cream cheese, chocolate bits, and frosting on top, is often heralded as the number one item produced in its bakery. "The best cake in the building," said one Redditor. "Not too sweet. Rich, dark chocolate. Amazing. My birthday cake every year." But as happy as this particular Costco culinary creation may make our taste buds, the rest of our bodies could do better.
The Kirkland Signature Tuxedo Cake is another of Costco's loaf-shaped cakes with some rather unrealistic serving sizes. The calorie count is marked at 280 per serving. However, that is assuming the cake is cut into 16 portions. Most will cut their slices at least twice that size, giving each piece a more accurate read of 560 calories per slice.
If you double the other stats, you get a whopping 34 grams of fat, 100 milligrams of cholesterol, 380 milligrams of sodium, and almost 60 grams of carbs per slice. In addition, the cake throws in some questionable ingredients, such as modified cornstarch or corn syrup. However, given the deliciousness of this particular cake, you'll have to weigh the benefits against the rather lowly nutritional factors and decide if it's worth looking the other way to enjoy.
9. Kirkland Signature Pecan Pie
With so many nuts, it's no secret that pecan pie is a high-calorie dessert. A standard slice is around 500, making it one of the highest-calorie pie variants out there. While you may have been holding out hope that, somehow, Kirkland's seasonal Signature Pecan Pie would be a lighter edition, we must swoop in with the bad news: Costco's pecan is not only just as calorie-heavy as the rest — it's even more so than the average.
Each 1/16th serving of a Kirkland Pecan Pie is a hefty 540 calories and 29 grams of fat. And if you're having a larger slice than one 16th — which, let's be honest, the majority of us would — it's going to be even more than that. Whether or not the taste is worth the caloric load in this case is up for debate, as well. Many consumers dislike the taste of the Kirkland creation, saying it's overly sweet, the crust is too thin, or has a runny custard center. If you are in the minority that has a particular fondness for the Kirkland Pecan Pie, then you might deem the calories worth it. If not, you may want to steer clear.
10. Kirkland Signature Mini Carrot Cakes
The term "mini" tends to give consumers the hope that an otherwise rich pastry must be healthier based on smaller serving sizes alone. Surely if a sweet treat is miniaturized, you'll fare better than if it was full-sized, right? Unfortunately, despite that hope, this is not the case for the seasonal Kirkland Signature Mini Carrot Cakes. Costco's cupcake-like pastries might sport some seriously adorable frosted orange carrots on top, but they also sport some seriously hefty nutritional stats.
Each Kirkland carrot cake muffin carries 740 calories, 31 grams of fat, and an almost unbelievable 107 grams of carbohydrates. Despite the undeniably awful nutritional specs, the mini cakes are, according to customers, extremely delicious. Shoppers were thrilled to find them on the shelves earlier this year after a long absence.
"I'm a fiend for these carrot cake muffins," said a user on Reddit, "and think it's the best carrot cake anything that I've ever had. I haven't seen them in store for about five years, so I was stoked to see them today!" The rave review is certainly enough to make a person want to dive in just on curiosity alone. Whether or not you dare is up to you.
11. Kirkland Signature Cherry Danish
Danishes are a particularly enjoyable dessert because of their flexibility. They can be savory, sweet, or a mix of the two, meaning the laminated, buttery pastry on the outside serves as a vessel for diverse uniquely-flavored fillings on the inside. Costco has certainly taken advantage of this, integrating different fillings into the classic pastry over the years. One of these celebrated takes is the Kirkland Signature Cherry Danish, which comes with a deep red, luxurious, and sweet cherry-filled center.
This will likely make your mouth water immediately. Prior to diving in, though, make sure you educate yourself on what you're getting into from a nutritional standpoint. This cherry-forward bakery treat's stats are, simply put, not good. One round of creamy, flaky treats will put you 470 calories in the hole, tacking on 23 grams of fat, 400 milligrams of sodium, and 59 grams of carbohydrates.
At least there are seven grams of protein mixed in there. Since protein can help you stay fuller longer, if you do decide to have one of these, you should at least be able to count on staying satisfied for a while afterward.
12. Kirkland Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie
Peanut butter and chocolate are a combination that many consider heavenly, so it's no wonder the flavor mashup has inspired so many decadent desserts. The Kirkland Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie is one of these, harnessing the tastes of peanut butter, caramel, and chocolate goodness to create a three-layers-thick mousse-based pie with a cookie crumble crust on the bottom.
The above description was likely enough to fire your suspicions as to the makeup of this rich, indulgent beast of a dessert. While we wish we could tell you that Costco's creation wasn't worthy of suspicion, we simply can't. This is because one slice (a measly 1/16th of the pie) comes in at 540 calories, 41 grams of fat, and 31 grams of sugar.
As for the ingredients themselves, they are numerous and sometimes difficult to pronounce, though some reviewers urge ignoring the label and eating a slice anyway. We have to say that we appreciate this outlook. Life is short, after all, making the occasional carefree indulgence an important aspect of living.