Costco Vs Sam's Club: Whose Bakery Makes The Best Muffins?

Costco's and Sam's Club's bakeries are the definition of go big or go home. Both are filled with massive cakes and pies and huge quantities of baked goods. Since they offer roughly the same sweets, you might ask, which big box store, Sam's Club or Costco, has the better bakery? We sent a reviewer to do some tasty investigating, and they determined Costco has the better bakery overall, as well as in individual categories, including the all-important category of gigantic muffins.

Before diving into taste, there's the size, amount, and price of muffins to consider. Costco sells muffins in packs of eight, while Sam's club only offers six packs. Costco's muffins generally cost less than Sam's Club's muffins, making Costco cheaper by pack and per muffin. However, it's not a completely equal comparison, as Sam's Club's muffins are bigger than Costco's.

Then there's the matter of flavor. In comparing Costco's Triple Chocolate Muffins (one of the best desserts at Costco) to Sam's Club Double Chocolate Muffins, our reviewer found Costco muffins to be wonderfully rich and full of chocolate flavor, saying "[It tastes] like a chocolate-chocolate chip pound cake poured into muffin wrappers." Sam's Club's spongier muffins just didn't hit the same high notes that Costco's did, giving Costco the edge when it comes to fresh bakery muffins.

Chocolate muffins are not the only flavor the chains sell. Costco also offers blueberry and cream, corn, almond poppy, and crumb cake muffins (one of the best new grocery store muffins), plus seasonal flavors like pumpkin streusel. Sam's Club has nearly identical options, but instead of almond poppy, the store has banana nut. Plus, Sam's has one option Costco doesn't: The store offers a six-pack of blueberry, double chocolate, and banana nut, as well as seasonal variety packs.

Both stores have made changes to their muffin offerings in recent years. In 2024, Costco's muffins were a few dollars more expensive, but they also came in sets of 12 (two packs of six, but you could choose two flavors). Those muffins were actually larger and allegedly a different recipe than the muffins of 2026. Sam's Club also reportedly changed its muffins, as multiple fans reported on Reddit packs had nine muffins for 50 cents more than the six-packs it offers in 2026.

Shoppers at both stores are outraged at the changes. One Costco fan wrote on Reddit, "I'm not renewing my Costco membership over this." While another customer noted, "They suck beyond belief." That said, some admitted to preferring the newer muffins, which goes to show taste is subjective. As for Sam's Club, which only appeared to have a price and quantity switch, one Redditor said, "I was so sad when I saw it today," confessing they were considering a swap to Costco. Which might work out for them, considering Costco's new muffins still beat out Sam's original muffins.