Every Costco Muffin, Tasted & Reviewed

The selection at Costco bakery varies almost daily, and certainly weekly and monthly, but one perpetual staple that's always available through the seasons are the muffins. Some OG Costco members, as they refer to themselves, remember ejoying Costco's muffins back in the early '90s when they came in a plastic-wrapped variety pack. Since then, the muffin selection has certainly changed, but their enduring appeal has not.

These muffins aren't for the faint of heart. They are large in size with the calorie count to match—most hover around 600+ calories. Rumors are swirling that the muffins may be shrinking in size, but Costco is yet to confirm this. For now, if you can't finish the whole thing, they freeze well for later.

And when it comes to the flavors, Costco certainly keeps us with seasonal themes. Over the years, we've seen classics like blueberry and double chocolate, the pumpkin streusel which appears in the fall, all the way to the newest offerings of lemon raspberry and butter pecan for summer. There are around a dozen or so muffin flavors that, like most Costco products, reliably come and go throughout the year. On my most recent trip, I was able to find and try the following four flavors. I've compared them to discern what's worth buying and what isn't.

Vanilla Chocolate Chunk

Not to be confused with your run-of-the-mill chocolate chip muffin. As suggested by the name, these hefty creations are vanilla-forward, contain chocolate chunks instead of chips, and are made even more chocolatey with a drizzle on top. Marketing or major difference? Jury's out. Regardless, this is another muffin that seems to be on regular rotation at Costco and another one with quite a few calories, grams of fat, and carbs.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: A little extra well-done on the top with a chocolate drizzle. Nice chocolate chunks once cut open.

The taste: Very dry. It almost tasted like a Passover dessert. I would not put this muffin in the breakfast category, it tastes more like an afternoon snack or dessert. The chocolate chunks were tasty, but again not what I want to be ingesting for breakfast. No real vanilla taste. After a few bites I had no desire to keep going. File this one under "disappointing."

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Double Chocolate Muffin

Is this a muffin? Is this the All American chocolate mini cake sans frosting? Some on Reddit complain that the muffins have been tasting differently, perhaps due to the rise in chocolate prices (and thus Costco reducing the amount used in the muffin production) while others think it's remained the same. So with the chocolate sponge and the chocolate chunks inside, I was curious just how chocolatey this would really be.

The look: Good chocolate chunk distribution. Nice crumb and good cocoa color. If you didn't know it was a muffin it could probably be mistaken for the inside of a cupcake.

The taste: This one was simultaneously rich and dry, so I would make sure to have a cup of water or milk handy. Again, I am not sure I would categorize this as a muffin over a cake or cupcake. Except that there is a whopping 36 grams of fat . . . so maybe it is closer to a cake.

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Blueberry Muffin

There are few muffins more classic than the beloved blueberry, which is why you'll see this in regular rotation at Costco. However, these muffins haven't gone without criticism over the years. There was some discussion about the alleged decline in the amount of blueberries, which caused the muffins to have a lackluster flavor. I wanted to see if this was true.

The look: I'd have to agree with the criticism, where did all the blueberries go? There were a few dried blueberries and a few fresh ones when you look at the muffin as a whole. But when I cut the muffin in half I expected to see more of them and it was like a treasure hunt to find any. The berries were quite sparse, sparse enough to question whether this can even be qualified as a blueberry muffin.

The taste: This muffin had a nice fluffy texture, with the flavor being somewhere between a pound cake and a (denser) angel food cake. However, there was very little blueberry taste to speak of, I had to cut pieces strategically to be able to get a blueberry in the bite so after a while it just felt kind of bland to eat this cakey muffin.

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Coffee Cake Muffin

This muffin is the highest in calories, sugar, sodium, and overall carbs of the muffins I tested. In fact, it actually has more calories and saturated fat than a Big Mac and more sugar than a 12-ounce Coca-Cola. Oof.  Still, this appears to be one of the most beloved muffin flavors among Costco shoppers. This was the only muffin that had a wonderful smell coming out of the package—a nice whiff of cinnamon.

The look: The muffin looked like one that would taste amazing. It had a beautiful, crumbly streusel top with a drizzle of frosting and the inside was a nice shade of light brown from all the spices, a contrast from the stark white interiors of some of the other muffins.

The taste: It was moist, very spice-forward with a good streusel top that gave some contrasting texture. Definitely leaning toward more of an "adult" taste, as my 9-year-old informed me it "doesn't live up to the hype." I certainly found it the most interesting of all the muffins I tasted.