Seeing this cake on Costco shelves is like seeing the first signs of spring pop up around the garden. I know exactly what I'm serving for Easter dessert!
The Costco Bakery Just Dropped the One Dessert I Wait All Year For
Published on Apr. 04, 2025
There are certain signs of spring that I look forward to each year. The first tulips popping up out of the ground, colorful buds blooming on tree branches and, of course, the Carrot Bar Cake returning to Costco. I recently spotted a video on TikTok from a Costco superfan declaring that the Carrot Bar Cake was back, and I couldn’t get over there fast enough. Most people either love or hate carrot cake recipes—I’ll always love them, especially the beautiful version Costco makes.
The Carrot Bar Cake Is Back at Costco
The dessert features three layers of decadent carrot cake topped with three layers of tangy cream cheese icing. A sprinkle of toasted walnuts decorates the top. It’s called a bar cake because the cake itself is a long, narrow rectangle. Serve it by slicing off pieces from one end. For the cleanest cut of cake, use a hot, serrated knife.
The cake has a combination of raisins, carrots and pineapple. This gives the cake density and moisture. Since the cake only has frosting between the layers and on top, it isn’t overly sweet and there is a perfect cake-to-frosting ratio. All in all, the bar cake is 2 pounds, 9 ounces of deliciousness selling for $18.99.
What People Are Saying
While this treat is something many Costco shoppers look forward to every year, there are some divisive elements with the Carrot Bar Cake. A quick scroll on TikTok and Reddit showed that people have very strong opinions on whether raisins belong in a carrot cake. Comments ranged everywhere from “Proper carrot cake does indeed have raisins” to “Raisins are rotten grapes. Keep them out of my cake.” Some folks didn’t love the fact that pineapple was also included in the cake batter.
Costco bakery items tend to be on the larger side, but even if you don’t finish all of this dessert, there are solutions. Several commenters noted they like to freeze individual servings for later when the cake has been phased out for the season. One fan said, “See, what you do is, you buy it, bring it home, slice it into individual servings that you put into Ziploc freezer bags, and you put those in the freezer. From time to time, you have a single serving of this absolutely decadent cake. Also works exceptionally well with tuxedo cake.”
If you aren’t convinced the Carrot Bar Cake is for you, maybe this comment straight from a Costco bakery employee might sway your decision. They said, “We just started it today in my Costco. It’s really good, not super sweet. You can see the carrot bits in it. Very few things I get from my bakery, but I’d buy this.”
