What Does The Costco Bakery Actually Make From Scratch?

Behind the food court, the Costco bakery is likely the most frequented section in the store. Tasting Table has taken it upon itself to answer all of the hard hitting questions — from the best and worst bakery items to the one you'd be based on your zodiac sign. But there is still one question left unanswered: Which items are made from scratch in the Costco bakery? It's only fair to warn you now, some things are better left unknown. Prepare to be disappointed, because your favorite bakery item might have been delivered frozen or, worse, made from a mix, but not all. 

Costco shoppers will be happy to know that some breads, including the multi-grain, country French, rosemary, garlic, and cranberry, are all made from scratch inside of the bakery. Other pies — excluding the cherry and the apple — are made from scratch, including the pumpkin, cherry, pecan, banana cream, peanut butter lemon meringue, strawberry rhubarb, and peach. Costco bakers have also noted that both the granola and granola nut bread are made from scratch, as well as the cheesecakes and the muffins — although those last two might depend on which location you shop at. Knowing what is made from scratch at Costco, you can easily figure out which bakery items aren't through a process of elimination. Still, it never hurts to directly ask your local bakers what they make from scratch to be sure.

Costco bakers broke the news on the items aren't made from scratch on Reddit, claiming that everything from the apple and cherry pies to the baguettes, bagels, artisan buns, croissants, tuxedo cake, tiramisu, rugula, cranberry orange bisconie, and yes, the cookies, all arrive frozen at the store. One former baker explained that many items arrived as dough, while "some of the breads were already made and pretty much needed to [be] heated or finished off in the oven."

The cakes, on the other hand, are simply cut to size and packaged, while the pies — drastically — are delivered with the bottom crust and filling. "We take them out of the box, put them on a rack, and leave them in the cooler overnight. Next day, we add water, sugar ... and then bake," another baker posted in a different Reddit thread. As for what's made from a mix, Costco bakers revealed that the sheet cakes, dinner rolls, custard pie, pound cake, all-American chocolate cake, and the fruit bar cake are all guilty.

While it might impact the item's perceived price, remember that just because something isn't made from scratch doesn't make it inherently bad. In fact, Costco isn't the only grocery store bakery that doesn't bake everything from scratch — you should think twice about buying baked goods from any grocery store, not just Costco.