The Best & Worst Muffins at Costco—Ranked!
Is a cupcake a muffin with icing or is a muffin a cupcake without icing? While the jury is still out, it's safe to say that many of the muffins on sale at Costco's bakery rival cupcakes in terms of nutrition.
With so many options to choose from, it may be hard to pick your favorite muffin from the bakery section of your neighborhood Costco. However, after looking at the nutritional information of 10 muffins, we discovered that one is a step above the rest. Without further ado, here is our ranking of the best and worst muffins at Costco. (Related: Popular Costco Foods That Are Making You Gain Weight, Say Dietitians)
Coffee Cake
These large pastries are almost more like individual cakes than muffins. One Coffee Cake muffin has almost 100 grams of carbs, and eating the whole thing for breakfast may leave you bloated and sluggish for the rest of the day. Plus, the 52 grams of sugar is the equivalent of consuming more than five Original Glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme. Try eating one-third or one-half of this muffin and saving the rest for breakfast later in the week.
Related: To get all of the latest Costco news delivered right to your email inbox every day, sign up for our newsletter!
Double Chocolate
The Double Chocolate muffins at Costco have slightly more fat than the Coffee Cake muffins; however, they have fewer carbs, sodium, and sugar. If you're craving a sweet and chocolatey breakfast or snack, try one of these recipes instead.
Vanilla Chocolate Chunk
If you eat a 2,000 calorie diet, the American Heart Association recommends not consuming more than 120 calories from saturated fat. Eating only one Vanilla Chocolate Chunk muffin gets you more than halfway there. Though this muffin is lower in calories, fat, and sodium than the previous two options, it does have more carbs and sugar. If these are your favorite muffins from Costco, consider reserving them for special occasions.
Almond Poppy
For an option with slightly less sugar, you could try Costco's Almond Poppy muffin instead. Yes, they still have a high amount of carbs, fat, saturated fat, and sodium. However, if you only eat half of a muffin (which is a serving size), you'll keep your sugar intake below 20 grams—and that could help prevent a sugar crash later in the day.
Guava Cream Cheesecake
The cheesecakes in the Costco bakery section are super popular, including the Guava Cheesecake. One nice thing about the muffin version is that it makes portion control easy. If you're really craving a sweet muffin, these are a better option than some of the other alternatives available at your local warehouse.
Mantecada Muffins
These sweet Mexican muffins typically contain eggs, flour, and sugar. Costco's version has additional ingredients that keep these pastries fresh until they reach your kitchen counter. In the end, there's still a lot of calories, carbs, fat, and sugar in Costco's Mantecada Muffins.
Apple Crumb
Summer isn't even over yet, but these fall muffins are already back in the bakery section. (Thanks for letting us know you spotted them on Instagram, @costcohotfinds!) Picking up a pack of Apple Crumb muffins isn't the worst idea; they're a better option than the Coffee Cake or Double Chocolate muffins. Plus, opting to save half for later or split one with a friend means you'd consume only 15 grams of fat and 4.5 grams of saturated fat.
Lemon Raspberry
One Lemon Raspberry muffin has just more than 600 calories, plus it's lower in saturated fat than many other choices at Costco. Though the ingredient list is long, this muffin is a relatively better choice if eating something fruity and sweet is on your mind. However, one still has 41 grams of sugar, which is more than one can of Coca-Cola, which has 39 grams.
Blueberry
Fruit-filled muffins claim some of the top spots on this list since they include natural sugars—not just artificial ones. Though the warehouse's Blueberry muffins are massive, they contain fewer calories, carbs, and sugar than other available options. While some muffins on this list have a little bit of protein, this one doesn't have any—which means you may feel hungry soon after finishing one.
Corn
Even though it has more sodium than other choices, the Corn muffin is the best muffin available at Costco's bakery. It contains significantly less fat and saturated fat than other options, plus it also has 10 grams of protein. The carb and sugar counts are still high, but cutting one in half for a snack is a great way to enjoy something sweet without loading up your body on unnecessary calories.
For more about shopping at Costco, check out:
