Think Twice Before Buying Muffins From The Grocery Store Bakery — Here's Why

If you're like us and are tempted to buy those big, plump, and tasty-looking muffins from grocery store bakeries, maybe it's time to think twice. In fact, we had revealed in the past that muffins are one of the 10 grocery store bakery items you should avoid buying. We also recently spoke with Alli Powell, owner of Grocery Getting Girl, and she told us her particular reasons why she doesn't buy muffins from a grocery store bakery. She tells us, "Usually an item like this is fairly expensive."

We checked Instacart on March 27th, 2026, and saw that four muffins from Sprouts and QFC cost $5.99, before taxes. Aside from the high price point, Powell has also found those muffins to dry out quickly, making them a less-than-ideal pick. She tells us, "That has been my experience with store-bought muffins. They either dry out or can get moldy." Dryness tends to be a red flag that indicates a grocery store-baked good has seen better days.

However, if you must buy the grocery store bakery muffins anyway, Powell has a tip on how you can store them. She explains, "If I were buying these, I would store them in the freezer instead of the countertop to extend the shelf life."

Bakery goods freeze well. In fact, Ina Garten has a genius way to freeze bread to preserve freshness that you should check out. But back to the topic of muffins, we must add that Powell does have a supermarket muffin that she would buy without hesitation. "I really like the muffins from Costco. They are great quality and usually last at least a week," she explains.

"They are also very large so you can easily cut them in half before freezing. The Costco muffins seem to be the best quality I've bought," she adds. As for March 27th, 2026, you can get a box of eight Kirkland Signature blueberries and cream muffins for $7.93, and they do in fact look moist and huge. 

So, if you can avoid buying grocery store bakery muffins, do so. If you can't, try grabbing ones from Costco, or immediately freeze other store-bought muffins the moment you have a chance to. Other than that, we also recommend that you check out Tasting Table's delicious muffin recipes. Try baking our unique and delicious Snickerdoodle crumb muffin recipe this week.