Does Costco Make Its Bakery Items From Scratch?

Costco's bakery boasts cheesecakes bigger than your face and boxes of buttery croissants that would make a cafe owner consider closing up shop. However, not every item is made from scratch. Some of Costco's bakery items are premade and some are not. The massive cinnamon rolls might call to you, but they could be partially premade rolls.

Every trip to Costco can be an exercise in self-discipline. Try not to take every Costco free sample available (something I often fail to do). Avert your eyes from the massive flat screen televisions conveniently located near the front entrance. But, do you really want to pass up the chance at freshly baked goods? Costco first introduced its scratch bread program back in 2015; this brought multigrain and country French scratch-made bread loaves to Costco stores. 

The pies might be a slice of delight, but were they made by hand or outside of the warehouse store and shipped? Spoiler alert: most of the pies are in fact made from scratch, with the exception of the apple pie (more on that later). The bakers at Costco might decorate and package the cannolis and cookies, but are they throwing in the chocolate chips? It's time to find out. Here's what Costco's bakers make from scratch.

Costco is pretty tight-lipped about its inner workings, but every now and then the internet reveals a little inside scoop. For example, a 6-year-old Reddit thread sparked discussion about which bakery items are made fresh at the warehouse by its bakers and which are simply prepared.

One of the first comments, from a self-identified Costco baker, notes some bakery items are shipped frozen to the store and baked on-site, some come in a mix that is then baked, and then others are actually made from scratch. A number of breads, including the multigrain, rosemary, and garlic bread are in fact made from scratch by Costco bakers.

In addition to the breads, many of Costco's pies are made by its bakers as well. These pies include the pumpkin, cherry, pecan, lemon meringue, strawberry rhubarb, and peach pies. Within the same thread, another self-identified Costco baker contended that the brand's bakers do make the cheesecakes from scratch.

As previously stated, some of Costco's baked goods consist of frozen items that are prepared at the store and some are made from a mix. For many of the shipped frozen items, it is just the dough that is sent to the warehouse.

The frozen dough is then formed and baked at the warehouse; items that are made from frozen dough include bagels, croissants, and cookies. On the other hand, items like the baguette, danish, strudel, tiramisu, and even apple pie are simply finished off in the oven at Costco stores. For the apple pie in particular, bakers at Costco add the lattice to the top of the already made filling and crust, then bake it.

Large cakes like the tiramisu or tuxedo cakes arrive to Costco frozen, get cut to size by the bakers, and are then packaged. Within the Reddit thread, one Costco baker noted the tuxedo cake would arrive at the size of about three or four cakes per box and then be cut down to fit.

Knowledge of these frozen and pre-mixed baked goods might break a few hearts of dedicated Costco goers, but don't let the preparation methods deter you. Some of the sweetest desserts can be made with great care from a box mix.