Costco Has Brought Back A Fan-Favorite Cake Just In Time For Spring

Sunshine and melting snow piles are good indicators that spring is approaching. But if you're less inclined to track the weather than to check grocery store shelves, seasonal products popping up is another sign that warmer weather is on the horizon. Costco is known for dishing out fun new offerings — like its 2024 spring pie, banana cream. But fan-favorite items can also return like clockwork, and customers are thrilled to have spotted a carrot cake that made it back just in time for Easter.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Carrot Bar Cake sounds like exactly what it is: a brick-shaped dessert that can provide some vitamin A. This take on the cake incorporates walnuts, raisins, and pineapple. It's a three-layer treat held together by cream cheese frosting. Size-wise, it's pretty substantial. The Carrot Bar Cake can serve up to 12 people — or one person 12 times.

And, Costco shoppers' love for the product is clear. An Instagram account dedicated to Costco updates posted a video of the cake, and was flooded with positive comments. One user wrote, "Def 10/10 best carrot cake I've had," and another said, "absolutely the best." At their Costco, the cake was being sold for $18.99, but its price may vary based on location.

If you're thinking about buying and sharing this Costco dessert, make sure you and anyone else who will eat it are on the same page about the ingredients. Many carrot cake recipes feature raisins, and some people love them. On the other hand, there are vocal opponents, and they've come for Costco's Kirkland Signature Carrot Bar Cake as well.

In a Reddit thread discussing the product, a user declared, "Carrot Bar Cake $18.99 good, but has raisins." Others discussed whether the dried fruit should be included (or where to find alternatives that don't contain it). One commenter wrote, "Raisins only enter my body accompanied by carrot cake, I assume it was the standard lol." Another asserted, "It's like complaining there are raisins in oatmeal rookies [sic]. Raisins belong in carrot cake."

We wouldn't be surprised if the argument goes further back in history, too. There are Medieval recipes that contain many of the same ingredients as the modern cake. One example in the 1591 work "A Book of CookRye" describes a "pudding in a carret root" that includes sugar, butter, spices, and "corance" (aka raisins). However, variations abound, and some don't contain raisins — like Brazilian carrot cake topped with chocolate frosting.