7 Target Favorite Day Baked Goods To Buy And 6 To Avoid

Of all the things you could buy at Target, baked goods might not be the first to come to mind. That said, there is an abundance of baked goods tucked not-so-secretly away near the produce section, most of them falling under Target's Favorite Day brand. I'm talking grocery store bakery classics like old-fashioned donuts and frosted sugar cookies, along with more unique additions like mini scones and tiny cream cheese croissants. There's quite the variety to be found — so much so that the unfamiliar Target shopper may be unsure about which Favorite Day bakery goods are worth purchasing and which aren't.

To make your shopping experience a little easier, I've compiled a list of seven that are worth buying and 6 Favorite Day Baked goods that you should avoid. Not only have I enjoyed plenty of Favorite Day bakery products in the past, but I specifically tried each product for this article, so even those that I don't recommend come from a first-hand tasting experience. When determining which baked goods are or aren't worth it, texture was a big factor here (more so than with your average food item). No one likes a dry pastry or baked good, and moreover, no one likes a baked good that's too sweet (or, on the other hand, not sweet enough). It came down to balance with these baked goods, and those that I recommend purchasing strike that balance of being perfectly soft (or chewy) and sweet, while those less-successful pastries are those that were simply too dry, too bland, or even too sweet.

There's something about a grocery store bakery muffin that is undeniably delicious. Perhaps it's because these muffins tend to be oversized, or perhaps it's the fact that they tend to be ultra-moist (and, no, I don't want to think about what ingredient inclusions make that everlasting moisture possible). Whatever the reason, I've always been partial to grocery store muffins, and I'm happy to say that Target's Favorite Day blueberry streusel muffins are up there in terms of muffin royalty.

These big ol' blueberry muffins boast everything you could want from such a pastry. They're sweet but not overly so, and in many ways, they lean more into a rich, buttery flavor profile than anything else. That buttery flavor pairs well with the acidic pops of blueberry, and the impeccably moist, tender crumb keeps you going back for bite after bite. While I definitely consider these muffins more of an occasional treat than something I'd reach for every single morning, there's no denying how much I look forward to those mornings even more when I know I have one of these muffins waiting for me. 

While regular-sized grocery store muffins may have a special place in my heart, the same can't always be said for mini muffins. Now, don't get me wrong, these mini muffins aren't terrible, but they don't have that quintessential moist, tender crumb that the regular-sized muffins have. In fact, these mini muffins almost seem more cake-like (and perhaps a slightly dry cake at that), which isn't the texture I'm looking for when I seek out a muffin.

Another issue I have with these mini muffins is that the chocolate chips are a bit deceiving. Just looking at the tops of the muffins, you'd assume that they're positively laden with chips all the way through, but this isn't the case. Once you get past those chips studded across the tops, there aren't many chocolate chips actually baked into the muffin itself. A lack of chocolate combined with a dryer, denser crumb equals a mini muffin that I'm not going out of my way to reach for. Considering how good the regular-sized Favorite Day muffins are, it's a safe bet to get those instead of any mini version.

Not to be mistaken for banana bread, Favorite Day's banana nut cake is a positively delicious morning treat. Why do I mention banana bread? Based on the presentation of this cake, it's easy to mistake it for the classic quick bread, which might actually leave you feeling a bit disappointed if that's what you're after. These slices are cake through and through, and though they do have a slightly bread-adjacent texture (as in, the texture isn't exactly that of a classic cake), there's no denying that this Favorite Day bakery item leans more into dessert territory than anything else.

Technicalities aside, this banana nut cake packs in plenty of banana flavor, a perfectly moist crumb, and crunchy walnut bits for some added texture. It's actually impressive how moist this cake manages to be while still being reminiscent of classic banana bread, as if banana bread were transformed into something even better (and that's saying something). I don't find this cake to be too sweet, either, and I'd imagine that it'd pair especially well with a nice hot cup of black coffee. 

You'll find quite a few types of baked goods if you sift through the Favorite Day bakery section, and one sort of niche of items includes the "tiny treats" category. The tiny treats are often mini-sized versions of familiar favorites, like these mini cinnamon rolls. Right off the bat, the mini cinnamon rolls looked dry and didn't have any icing, which, in my book, is pretty essential to a good cinnamon roll.

Nevertheless, I gave these mini cinnamon roll treats a spin, and I can confidently confirm that they simply aren't worth purchasing. They were so incredibly dry, and dare I say that even the most delicious cream cheese icing wouldn't be able to save this disaster. These tiny treats almost didn't taste like cinnamon rolls at all, but rather fell into their own category of strange, overly-bready, dry pastry that was desperately attempting to pass as a mini cinnamon roll. Favorite Day has regular-sized cinnamon rolls (not included on this list, but ones I've tried before), so if you're a cinnamon roll lover, don't end up disappointed with these tiny ones and opt for the regular-sized treats instead.

Amidst the sprawl of danishes, tiny treats, donuts, muffins, and fritters, it's easy to overlook the humble cookie in Favorite Day's bakery section. Sure, you could pick up a pack of classic chocolate chip cookies and call it a day, but if you want the most bang for your buck (in terms of variety, at least), then a variety pack is the way to go. This pack features 16 total cookies, with half of those being plain chocolate chip and the other eight divided between peanut butter and double chocolate cookies. 

I love this variety pack because it's the ultimate crowd-pleaser with no added effort. Sure, virtually no one will be disappointed if you show up to the function with a pack of chocolate chip cookies, but those chocolate and peanut butter lovers will be especially thrilled to see their favorites included in the mix. Another selling point is that there's no weak cookie flavor in this pack; they're all super rich, moist, and soft, so you won't have to worry about one flavor going untouched.

As someone who would argue that cake donuts are actually superior to regular raised donuts, I'm always on the lookout for a good grocery store cake donut find. Many grocery store bakeries churn out some pretty decent donuts, but I'm afraid that this can't be said for the Favorite Day version. I was excited to try these old-fashioned cake donuts — which boasted both a sour cream and chocolate flavor — but after trying them, I can safely say that they aren't worth the price of admission.

I started with the classic sour cream flavor, and just one single bite left me dreading the task of trying the chocolate flavor. For starters, the donut was so incredibly dry that fully chewing a single bite felt like an eternity. I get that cake donuts are supposed to be dense, but ideally, the icing would help out in the moisture department, and this wasn't the case here. The flavor was also bizarre — way too sweet and almost fruity, which made absolutely no sense for a sour cream donut. Once I mustered up the courage to try the chocolate flavor, I wasn't met with anything better, or anything that tasted chocolatey at all. 

Grocery store sugar cookies — the ones coated in frosting and somehow have a texture that's nothing like an actual cookie — can be a bit polarizing. I'll be the first to admit this, but as someone who falls somewhere on the "loves them" end of the spectrum, I simply can't agree with the naysayers. Though Lofthouse cookies may be the most recognizable brand when it comes to this type of cookie, nearly any grocery store is going to have a virtually identical version, and the Favorite Day bakery is no exception.

Obviously, if you fall on the "hates them" end of the frosted sugar cookie spectrum, you're simply not going to like Target's version. But to me, these cookies are everything they're supposed to be. They're impossibly soft, super sweet, and that icing on top just can't be beat. These cookies almost don't register as cookies to me, but as some sort of dessert that falls into a unique category all their own. I get that these aren't for everyone, but if you're like me and have always loved the classic Lofthouse cookies, then you'll surely like Target's very similar version.

Another day, another tiny treats fail — this time, the cream cheese croissant tiny treats didn't quite live up to expectations. I will say, before getting into any negatives, that I didn't hate these mini croissants or find them completely irredeemable, as I did with the mini cinnamon rolls. Instead, I found these to be overall lackluster with some textural issues, but I could see a world where these tiny treats have a (small) pool of loyal fans.

So, why did I ultimately label these mini cream cheese croissants as an "avoid" item? For starters, the texture is nothing like a croissant. I understand that you can't reasonably expect a bakery-quality croissant in a mini store-bought treat, but the texture was truly more like dense bread than anything else. Flavor-wise, there was a strange contrast between the mini croissants themselves, which weren't very sweet at all, and the icing, which was sweet but scarce. It definitely seems like these croissants were going for a sweet-buttery contrast, but the issue is that the croissants weren't all that buttery, and the icing wasn't plentiful enough to pack a worthy level of sweetness. 

Just seeing these mini cupcakes on the shelf at Target made me nostalgic for elementary school, when it was someone's birthday, and they'd show up with these bad boys in tow. I always loved mini cupcakes back then, but would I still love them as an adult? Considering I've labelled these as a "buy" option, the mini cupcake love did indeed translate into adulthood.

Although these Favorite Day mini cupcakes — which come with both vanilla and chocolate flavors — aren't doing anything extraordinary, they don't have to. That perfectly moist, tender cake base is delicious enough on its own, but pair it with a super sweet swirl of frosting, and you've got a winning little bite every single time. I've not been the biggest fan of other mini treats on this list (looking at you, mini chocolate chip muffins), so I was relieved that at least the mini cupcakes came through. Chocolate or vanilla, you can't pick a wrong flavor here, and if you want that perfect sweet treat without committing to a whole cupcake, these mini ones are a great option.

Though it's a rare occurrence, it is possible for a sweet treat to simply be too sweet. I don't come across a too-sweet treat all that often, but when I do, it's something that simply cannot be overlooked or avoided. Unfortunately, Favorite Day's glazed apple fritters definitely fall into that too-sweet category, to the point where I almost couldn't bear the thought of a second bite.

So, yes, unless you somehow don't think there's such a thing as a too-sweet treat, then these apple fritters are on the avoid list. Any cloying sweetness aside, the apple flavor was also strange. It almost tasted more like an artificial apple flavor (like the one you'd find in candy) as opposed to real apple, which just felt like a strange choice for a baked good (since apple is such an easy and delicious flavor to naturally incorporate into a treat). Also, these fritters were super dry on the inside, and even that sickly-sweet icing on the outside couldn't mask that fact. The fritters were massive, too, so the thought of eating an entire one — down to every last dry bite and every last drop of super-sweet icing — felt far more torturous than eating a baked good should ever feel.

It's no secret that I have some long-standing issues with Favorite Day's "tiny treats" lineup. That said, I still treat each product fairly, not writing off a certain tiny treat before giving it a taste test. I can't say that I had a whole lot of faith going into the brownie bite tiny treats, though, as they looked a bit dry from the outside. I'm glad I didn't let this observation stop me, though, because these brownie bites ended up being super chocolatey and delicious overall.

There's nothing worse than a crumbly brownie, which is what I expected these brownie bites to be, but instead, they were the opposite. Perfectly dense, chewy, and fudgy, these brownies were reminiscent of something homemade — not quite as fresh, of course, but with that undeniably delicious chewiness. The chocolate flavor was on point, the texture was consistent all the way through the bite (as in, the outside parts were just as chewy as the inside), and truthfully, I found no flaws here. I especially like the idea of keeping these stocked in the pantry, ready to enjoy at a moment's notice when you need a pick-me-up. 

Favorite Day's raspberry danish doesn't look like your standard bakery danish (which is typically more of a single-serve treat). Instead, this danish looks something more like a coffee cake, and in reality, it kind of tastes like one, too. Regardless of semantics or what you'd call this pastry, it's one that I ultimately wouldn't buy again. Of all the treats that I'm labelling as "avoid" though, this was the one I had the toughest time deciding. 

On one hand, I enjoyed certain elements of this treat. The sweet-tart raspberry jam was a nice complement to the sweet pastry itself, along with the even-sweeter icing on top. But I couldn't get past how dry my slice was, and there's no way to get around that disappointment. At first, I tried the pastry as-is, but I eventually heated up the slice (per the packaging's recommendation) to see if that might improve things. To be fair, the danish was a bit better warm, but that dryness persisted, so I can't in good faith recommend this danish-coffee cake combo treat as a worthy purchase.

Rounding out this list of Favorite Day bakery items to buy and avoid are the lemon poppy seed mini scones, which have made it onto the buy list. As with many of the minis on this list, I didn't have a whole lot of faith that these scones would be anything special based on appearance alone. If anything, I was worried that they'd be hard and crumbly, like traditional scones, which isn't a baked good texture that I'm a huge fan of.

Needless to say, these mini scones were not hard and crumbly, but were instead quite soft. The texture is almost hard to describe, but that's what makes these treats all the more intriguing; they were soft yet dense, slightly chewy, and even slightly crunchy when you factor those poppy seeds into the mix. I enjoyed the texture of the scones, but if you are a scone purist and want something strictly hard and crumbly, these aren't the treat for you. Flavor-wise, these also hit the nail on the head: perfectly sweet and surprisingly fresh. I loved the light, bright lemon flavor, and though the poppy seeds didn't add much in the flavor department, I appreciated their presence nevertheless. 

When determining which Favorite Day bakery items to buy and avoid, it all came down to flavor and texture. Many of these baked goods were super dry, which was the leading textural issue that landed such items on the avoid list. Determining if a baked good's flavor was good or bad was a little more subjective, but the basis of flavor came down to whether I felt the treat lived up to its supposed flavor. An overly-sweet taste was also something I looked out for (only one real offender there), but I also considered those treats that perhaps weren't sweet enough.

As for how I conducted the taste test, I did this over the course of a few days so as not to overload on sugar. I also wanted to give each treat a fair chance to shine, without the lingering flavor of another one influencing my opinion. I tried all of these treats "as-is," straight from the package, though I did heat up the danish per the package's instructions (only after trying it as-is first).