The 6 Hands-Down Best Grocery Store Cupcakes, According To Customers

Who makes the best cupcakes in town? If it's not you, then it's probably one of your family members or a local bakery that always has a line. There's a time and place for gourmet cupcakes, such as when you're celebrating an anniversary, but there's also a time and place for grocery store cupcakes — final four watch parties, for instance, or children's birthdays. You might just be at the grocery store to pick up bread and milk when those brightly colored cupcakes catch your eye, and you simply cannot resist.

Some grocery store cupcakes are worth avoiding. For example, Walmart's selection is applauded for its affordability, but frequently critiqued for being too sugary; customers therefore recommend buying cupcakes from other grocery stores. To help you decide which grocery store cupcakes are worth buying, we've taken a deep dive into online forums. Naturally, the results often overlap with our roundup of the best grocery store bakeries, according to customers.

Do you savor the sweet tanginess of cream cheese frosting before biting into the cupcake underneath? Or are you more enamored by stunning swirls of buttercream piled high as a 1980s hairdo? Perhaps whipped frosting is more your speed. We've found recommendations for various kinds of cupcakes, and all of the products below have been vouched for by customers who say that they are moist, flavorful, and beautiful. No dry, crumbly cupcakes over here! If you can hold your appetite until the end, you'll find more information on methodology there.

Though eggs and milk are standard cupcake ingredients, vegans are not left behind by all modern bakeries. In particular, Whole Foods' vegan vanilla cupcakes are an excellent option for the plant-based community. Customers say that they are fluffy, moist, and tasty. Instead of cow milk, the batter is made with rice milk, while the frosting uses vegan cream cheese. The frosting and the cupcake are said to be well-balanced in proportion, further cementing their status as top-of-the-line cupcakes.

Part of the reason we love these cupcakes is that they are sold in single-serving packages. That means if you only need to cater to one or two vegans at a gathering, you need not buy a dozen cupcakes just for them. That said, even guests who eat dairy may adore these cupcakes, in which case, you might consider buying a dozen mini vegan vanilla cupcakes instead. Like their larger counterparts, these bite-sized cupcakes are described as moist, soft, and delicious. Several folks were pleased to report that these cupcakes are not cloying — a relief considering that excessive sweetness is a major flaw that supermarket cupcakes often suffer from.

If you are a cupcake purist, you might be hesitant to try this vegan version, but multiple reviewers stated that the vegan nature of these cupcakes is far from obvious. And we're not surprised; our recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes is a showstopper, too.

One grocery store came up time and again when we were thumbing through customer reviews: Publix. This grocery chain is known for its cupcakes, and some of its more unique flavors, like key lime cupcakes, have earned significant praise online. It's the cream cheese iced cupcakes, however, that we'd recommend trying if it's your first time swinging by Publix's bakery. The cream cheese icing is a fan favorite, and folks often say that they can't restrict themselves to just one cupcake when this sweet, tangy icing is in the picture. One customer said that they buy these cupcakes every other week, and we don't blame them. Cupcakes this moist and flavorful shouldn't be dismissed.

Though perpetually available in vanilla and chocolate bases, these cupcakes enter a whole new realm of deliciousness when the tree leaves start dancing in the wind each year. Oh, yes, we're talking about Publix's famous cream cheese iced pumpkin cupcakes. As one Facebooker noted, it would be a shame to let these treats go stale. That doesn't seem to be much of a concern, though; another Facebooker explained that these cupcakes "call to you in the middle of the night."

It's clear that no matter the time of year, Publix's cream cheese iced cupcakes are worthy of your money. Plus, these cupcakes are fit for all kinds of celebrations. Add gold sprinkles if it's a graduation or rainbow sprinkles if it's a kid's birthday party. Can't decide between chocolate and vanilla? Get half a dozen of each.

Whipped icing is divisive. Some may think it is too reminiscent of shaving cream to be enjoyed on a cupcake. Others appreciate that it tends to be less sweet than buttercream. Still others prefer the airy aesthetic that whipped icing lends to baked goods. There are definitely times when whipped frosting is a better choice than buttercream (and vice versa). When it happens to be one of those times, head to Sam's Club.

This big-box store's whipped icing is used by many cottage bakers, one of whom reported that it performs well even in hot environments (whipped icing has a tendency to lose its form when temperatures rise). For the everyday shopper, Sam's Club uses this icing to top a set of 30 cupcakes — 15 white and 15 chocolate — which have earned such great reviews online. Customers say that the cupcakes themselves are soft and moist, and one customer who usually isn't a chocolate cake fan even enjoyed these. Meanwhile, the icing has also earned top marks for its lightly sweet flavor and airy texture. Of course, customers also love that these cupcakes are budget-friendly, and they are often described as superior to Walmart's cupcakes.

Reviews repeatedly confirm that these cupcakes are fit for children's birthday parties, church gatherings, and pretty much any type of community gathering you can think of. That includes weddings; after all, you can always add your own garnishes to Sam's Club cupcakes to help them look more elegant!

Cupcakes are healthy if they're topped with fruit, right? We're going to pretend that the answer is yes. If you don't have the time to make our own recipe for berry Chantilly cupcakes, which are filled with a scrumptious strawberry core, then the next best thing is to buy one of these creamy, dreamy confections at Whole Foods. Of course, the high-end grocery store's berry Chantilly cake went viral a few years ago when its recipe temporarily changed, but the cake has actually been a store staple for longer than most college seniors have been alive. The cake's crowd-pleasing flavors are also available in cupcake form, and customers have reported back with raving reviews.

Whole Foods' cupcakes are generally a hit and said to be worth the price. Aside from their flavors and textures, folks love that they are free of artificial food coloring. One customer said that the berry Chantilly cupcakes are particularly noteworthy for their balanced sweetness and the light, somewhat fruity flavor of the cake. Another mentioned that these moist cupcakes are huge, which, if nothing else, might persuade you to cough up their asking price. Who could resist that mascarpone frosting?

Customers love that these cupcakes offer a way to enjoy the berry Chantilly sensation without having to invest in (and practice restraint around) a whole cake. However, it should be noted that the flavors, textures, and cake-to-frosting ratio are not precisely the same as what you would find in the cake version.

There are myriad treats to love in Costco's bakery section. From the exquisite tuxedo cake to the complex raspberry crumble cookies, you'll undoubtedly find what you need to remedy a sweet tooth in this wonderland of baked goods. And according to customer reviews, the white cupcakes with white buttercream might just do the trick. Topped with confetti sprinkles, these cupcakes are sold in packs of 12, making them suitable for picnics, potlucks, pool parties, and other gatherings that don't begin with "p."

These cupcakes are said to feature a pleasant shortening-based buttercream, and though they are sold in a beloved chocolate flavor as well, the white cupcakes have especially turned heads. "The vanilla cupcakes are out of this world", exclaimed one Redditor, who went on to say they were among the best store-bought cupcakes they had ever tried. On the same thread, the frosting is lauded for not harboring the greasy mouthfeel to which some grocery store cupcakes fall prey. Meanwhile, on another thread, a customer praised the fact that these cupcakes do not taste like chemicals.

The main complaint customers have with these cupcakes is that you have to buy either a dozen chocolate or a dozen vanilla cupcakes; Costco doesn't sell combo packs yet. Nevertheless, Costco only started regularly offering cupcakes in 2025, so there's still hope for lovers of both chocolate and vanilla.

As one Redditor observed, "Publix is the gold standard" of cupcakes. Therefore, there was no question whether we should include the grocery store's buttercream iced cupcakes on this list. One Facebooker said that they would eat a cake consisting only of the buttercream icing, while another said they would crawl over broken glass to have any buttercream frosted treat from Publix. Yet another customer mentioned they were sending buttercream icing in the mail to their daughter, who doesn't live near a Publix. Clearly, this icing is a hit, and reviews indicate that it pairs well with the store's moist cupcakes that carry hints of vanilla.

Even if you typically prefer whipped or cream cheese icing, give this buttercream a chance. One converted customer was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Publix's buttercream and now buys it in tubs. Though they recommended the store's cupcakes, they also confessed to eating the icing on its own. If you, too, want to eat buttercream with nothing more than a spoon, just ask Publix to sell you its buttercream frosting in bulk. A Publix bakery employee shared that the buttercream is made by hand, which may help explain its superior quality.

Like the cream cheese iced cupcakes, you can have this buttercream icing swirled on top of Superfetti, vanilla, or chocolate cupcakes, then add your choice of sprinkles. One additional benefit of the buttercream variety is that you can choose between a dozen icing colors. You can also purchase mini cupcakes and pull-apart cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

We scoured the Internet for the best grocery store cupcakes, using customer reviews in online forums like Facebook and Reddit as our guide. We only considered cupcakes made in-house by each store's bakery, skipping over third-party brands like Rubicon and Abe's. Occasionally, we turned to customer reviews on stores' websites as well. We sought to represent grocery stores with a large footprint across the United States. Cost, though noted from time to time, was not a factor in curating this list. We featured cupcakes described as moist, flavorful, and reliable — not those said to be dry and/or crumbly.