7 Costco Bakery Items Actually Fresh-Baked in Store
Costco's bakery offers a huge variety of goodies including cakes, bread, cookies, bagels, buns, and so much more, at those very competitive Costco prices. Whether it's the fan-favorite Tuxedo Cake or the beloved croissants, the bakery has you covered with a dedicated team of staff working away to create these addictive delights. While many items are shipped in frozen (no hate here, making puff pastry every day would probably be a nightmare) plenty of items are made from scratch every day in the warehouse. Employees on social media happily share information about which products are prepared fresh in-house—here's what I discovered.
Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pies
Pumpkin pies are made in-house around the clock during the holiday season. "Costco bakes all of their pumpkin pies from scratch. Source – work at Costco bakery for years," one Redditor shared. "Definitely made in house. They bake 24 hours a day during that period," another added. "At my warehouse the pumpkin pie shift was 11 pm -7:30 am straight making pumpkin pies and dinner rolls for the two weeks before Thanksgiving making ~1000 pies a night. We rented a refrigerator truck just to sit on the dock and be extra storage just for the pies," a third confirmed.
Muffins and Cakes
One Costco baker shared that the cookies, breads, bagels, and baguettes come in frozen before being baked in-store, but many other items are made from scratch. "Baker here. Muffins, cakes both rounds and sheets. The white butter cream, the chocolate fudge icing, the cake fillings, the cheesecakes, the cream pies like the banana creme pie and peanut butter chocolate. We proof and bake the danishes and the cheese for the danishes we make."
Cheesecakes
The beautiful Costco cheesecakes are made in-house, one bakery worker says. "The pie crust is made and pressed in-house and we made the pecan and pumpkin pie fillings from scratch. We used to use pre-made apple pie filling but now the apple pies come frozen and we just bake them," the Redditor shared. "Cake rounds and sheet cakes and cheesecakes are baked in-house but bar cakes come frozen. Muffins and quick loaf breads like lemon and banana bread are like the cakes also baked in-house from a mix."
Banana Nut Loaf
Another Redditor shared the banana nut loaf and dinner rolls are made completely from scratch: "Made in house but has mixes- muffins, cakes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, blueberry lemon loaf. Sent frozen but raw- cookies, Danish, almond croissant, onion and cheese pinwheels, cookies, apple pies. Sent frozen and par baked- rustic Italian, bagels, baguette, artisan rolls, multi grain, cranberry walnut, Rosemary Parmesan."
Muffins and Pecan Pies
One employee makes the point that everything is made "fresh" in that it's baked in-house. "Costco baker here! We make all the muffins, dinner rolls, cheesecakes, cake cakes, all cake fillings, loaf cakes, and pumpkin, pecan pies from scratch," the Redditor explained. "We bake from raw dough the croissants, danishes, almond pastries, cheese pinwheels, cookies, pies other than pumpkin and pecan. We bake from par baked frozen the rolls, bread, baguettes, bagels. Everything is baked 'fresh', just from various starting states."
What About the Croissants?
While the croissants are not made from scratch in-house, anyone craving that fresh flavor can buy them frozen, one helpful Redditor suggested. "The business center does. They're not the same as the bakery but they come in a box of 50 and we think they're better. They're smaller and come out of the oven very good without that overly buttered taste." So, you could kind-of sort-of make them fresh yourself.
Frostings and Fillings
Costco bakers make all the fillings in-house for specific items. "The frosting for the cinnamon rolls and the gooey stuff under them, the pumpkin pies, the pecan pies, cake loaves, the icings for the loaves. The icings for the muffins. These are all mixed and made in house," one Redditor shared.
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