Overprocessed, overly sweet, and bad-smelling baked goods? Know where to steer clear:
We're ranking grocery store chain bakeries from best to worst.
"In the Publix bakery, service is my game. I'm ready to go way above and beyond for you."
Choosing Publix as your regular grocery store and go-to place for event cakes
and baked goods comes with some major perks. Parents hauling kids to the store can rely on
the bakery to have a cookie or two for their children. New parents will also appreciate
the free smash cake that Publix throws in with the purchase of a first birthday cake.
When prompted to choose cake and icing flavors, Publix allows customization of
icing colors for the base and two areas of trim. This helps make the cakes as
unique as you want it. Preset designs are also numerous, and each is just as tasty as the next.
The fillings options are also plentiful. Anything from fresh fruit fillings
to dulce de leche can be placed in between cake layers. These upgrades
can easily translate into a cake classy and quality enough to show off at weddings
or other traditionally expensive events — at a fraction of the cost.
Costco is the only grocery store bakery that actually does some from scratch
baking in-house. While a number of the store's beloved items are simply baked from frozen,
a lot of the bread and pies are made from scratch in the warehouse. This means you
don't have to feel guilty about purchasing your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie from Costco this year,
because it was made with love by hand — just not by yours. The Costco sheet
cake is a fan favorite, and will feed quite a lot of people to boot.
The popular buy-in-bulk store seems like it would be the ideal place to get baked goods
for large parties or to feed a good amount of people. If you are trying
to limit your confectionary intake to an average level,
Costco's baked goods keep extremely well in the freezer. This means you could have
one of its huge, delectable muffins every day for almost two weeks for under ten dollars.
Walking into a Wegmans is like entering a food paradise. By the time you've even reached the
bakery, you've likely spotted dozens of things you'd like to sink your teeth into. Once you
feast your eyes on the bakery's display of decadent cakes and cookies, though,
you'll be glad you still have an appetite. Prices are high, but you'll find the taste
of its baked goods are a step above your typical grocery store fare. Its cookies and cannoli dip,
in particular, are fan favorites among the packed bakery shelves.
The secret to the bakery at Wegmans is to arrive early,
as bakers work overnight. You'll nab the freshest baked goods,
and be privy to the aroma of just-out-of-the-oven bread. One of the great things about the grocery
store is that there are places to sit and eat your just-bought baked goods within the store itself.
The Fresh Market is the place to go whether you're not sure what you want in terms of baked goods,
or if you know exactly what you want. The high-end chain offers a wildly diverse
range of cake and pastry flavors, and they are all stunning. An abundance of fresh,
vibrant fruit top some cakes while others feature a range of frosting and filling flavors.
There are fewer than 200 of the gourmet chains in the United States,
so it may be a challenge to track one down in your area. If you do happen to come across one,
though, take a stroll toward the bakery and you'll be able to grab some delicious
pastries. Loyalty members who pop by on their birthday receive a free slice of cake!
The desserts here are unlike any other widespread grocery store. You
will feel as though you are in an actual bakery with the quality produced here.
Whole foods is one of the best grocery stores to buy cakes. This is especially true if you
have dietary restrictions or just like to consume food that is made with better ingredients. Whole
Foods has topped the market on food that is made with quality, whole ingredients,
and this applies to its bakery department as well. The chain is one of the few that
uses real butter in its baked goods, and you can tell the difference in both taste and texture.
Shoppers swear by the carrot cake, creme brûlée,
and the ever-popular berry chantilly cake. If you're popping in for a small treat,
Whole Foods throws its cake ends and leftover frosting in a cup for individual consumption.
This cuts out waste while saving customers from having to buy a whole cake for themselves.
If you find one thing to love at Trader Joe's, it'll have you always coming back.
The small grocery store carries its own products exclusively, so when it makes
something really good, shoppers tend to empty shelves faster than they can be restocked.
This has generally been the case with its viral Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean mini sheet cake,
which shoppers devour in the car on the way home from the store.
Viral cakes aside, Trader Joe's is a solid place for those who are gluten-free to satisfy their
sweet tooth. Some locations have their own table of gluten free bakery items,
which includes seasonal items, separated from the wall of bread and gluten-filled desserts.
While we wish the store would expand and bake items in-house, Trader Joe's sits
pretty in the top half of our rankings for being so inclusive and all-around awesome.
"This isn't a grocery store, it's an illusion. Lidl isn't real!"
The self-serve bakery section at Lidl offers some pretty fantastic items that hit your
taste buds just right. Sweet items like the chocolate croissant can be found here,
but also salty soft pretzels are up for grabs. Not only is the selection
wide for the area being so small, but everything is very affordable. Usually
you can grab a large soft pretzel for under a dollar, and they are fresh and fluffy.
The downside of Lidl's little bakery corner is that it is self-serve. While not having
to wait around for a staff member to help you may seem like a bonus, it can actually
get pretty unsanitary. Still, Lidl customers' favorite bakery treats keep bringing them back,
no matter how many hands reach in to grab croissants throughout the day.
In terms of affordability, Walmart is one of the best options for baked
goods. The grocery giant is known for its low prices, but doesn't always stay
on top of quality or creativity. If you are looking for a traditional bakery experience,
purchasing from Walmart's bakery is about as far from that as you can get. Almost all of
the available goods are processed and sent in frozen or prepackaged, and the taste reflects
that. The sugar bombs can be too sweet for some and give off an aftertaste of artificial flavors.
Ordering a cake at Walmart can be inconsistent. Most grocery store
decorators ask that you give them 24 hours notice when ordering a custom cake. However,
Walmart's widespread popularity may call for more prep time. You may be able to nab
a custom cake the same day, but it could also take a few to get to your order.
Even with Walmart's less-than-elite status and quality hiccups, there are some that
swear by its baked goods. If you're on a budget or have a rich enough sweet tooth,
its bakery could be your honey cake haven. The national grocery
staple earns a not-quite-middle-of-the-road spot, which isn't too shabby for a fakery.
When it comes to Safeway's bakery department, well,
it plays it a little too safe. Not only does it not bake the majority of its products in-house,
but it also does not make its own icing. The grocery chain also keeps its cakes pretty simple,
and you won't find a thick book of intricate designs to choose from. If you are okay with
sticking to the basics, though, a lot of customers back up the taste of Safeway cakes.
The biggest things that Safeway's bakery has going for it are the freshly baked bread and
the prices. It claims its bread is fresh-baked, but not made from scratch, between 4 and 6 p.m.
everyday. This has proven not to be true with all locations, which really knocks the franchise down
in our ranks. What helps, though, is the price. While typically priced similarly to Walmart,
Safeway's Friday deals can occasionally see bakery items at prices akin to theft.
Let's start out by saying that, despite its low ranking, Sam's Club is not a bad option
when it comes to baked goods. In fact, its cakes are typically very well-received. There
are a wide range of flavors and colors, and you can request your themed pastry
to be a sheet cake or even a 3-tier round cake. As customizable as the cakes may be,
though, Sam's Club does not stand out from other grocery store bakeries. And,
with the store's annual fee, it should absolutely offer more than non-membership grocery stores.
While Sam's Club has some tasty cakes, its cupcakes surprisingly don't stack
up the same. The taste and texture are both different from the cakes,
even if you match up the flavors correctly. This is not only disappointing, but it can
be confusing for customers. If you've had a good experience with the cakes,
shouldn't you feel safe purchasing a mini version? This inconsistency in its products,
along with the fee for mediocrity, puts it below most other popular grocery store bakeries.
"Harris Teeter. We do summer the best."
Traditionally, Harris Teeter has a fantastic bakery. Nostalgia wins over customers as they
remember the free balloons and sugar cookies they once received as children when grocery shopping.
Since being bought out by Kroger, though, some of what shoppers fondly look back on
is no longer offered. Free balloons are a thing of the past, but Harris Teeter has brought back
its free sugar cookies for kids when shopping with their parents. Unfortunately some report that the
modern day sugar cookie recipe has changed and isn't quite as good as they remember.
Harris Teeter has gained a bad rap for its bakery quality lately,
with some reviewers saying the icing on the donuts is hard and stale. It's clear that
when it comes to quality and taste, this long-time grocery spot has deteriorated.
Taste and appearance are two of the most important aspects of baked items,
and Kroger's bakery falls short in both of these departments. Even by grocery store standards,
the cakes and treats from Kroger's sweets department are lacking — but not when it
comes to their sugar level. Kroger's wide variety of cookies, for instance,
are overpoweringly sweet. They also lack any other flavor, relying solely on their sugar content.
It's not just us that has an issue with the lack of flavor found in Kroger's bakery. Customers
are consistently dissatisfied, with some reviewers citing instances of disappointment,
most notably a bad-tasting and -smelling cinnamon roll. The large grocery chain
may have a wide variety of baked goods, but it doesn't seem to excel anywhere. Overall,
Kroger needs to work on its quality and rightfully finds itself at the bottom of the bakery barrel.
"I'm on the clock and ready to rock!"
Finding Target at the bottom of any list likely comes as a shock. It's warranted in this case,
though, because its bakery fails to check any of the boxes we look for in a solid source of baked
goods. The majority of Targets do not have a full scale bakery, and instead set out a few
over-processed, packaged cookies. Anything that seems at all fresh here, actually comes frozen,
packaged, and dated once thawed. The few and far between Super Target locations, though,
do have a real bakery, but it still doesn't stack up to the hype surrounding the grocery chain.
Although Super Targets do a good amount of their own baking, this actually only
applies to the oven part. Everything comes into the store frozen, with bakers only needing to let
dough rise overnight and slide it in the oven come morning. If you'd like to try Target's baked goods
despite these qualms, good luck, because tracking them down is almost akin to finding a unicorn.