The Best Bakery Treats At Sam's Club, Ranked

When you spot a crowd at a get-together or office party, there's a good chance it's gathered around a tray of the best bakery treats at Sam's Club. Its Member's Mark brand goodies are a popular pick when you need to bring something to a potluck, work event, or big family dinner on the cheap. But which treats are actually worth your time and money?

Walmart's Sam's Club just celebrated its 40th anniversary of providing members with unbelievable deals. Maybe you're a loyal shopper for your bulk supplies (and the free samples of course) but if you've never tried its baked goods, you're missing out. That said, not all of the bakery's items are equal. Bringing home a treat that turns out to be not so great is one thing, but the stakes are higher when you end up with 4 pounds of a pastry you don't like. We've laid out some of the best Sam's Club goodies you'll be happy you bought in bulk.

At the bottom of the list, we have Member's Mark sandwich croissants. Croissants are so famously difficult that even some experienced home bakers won't try to make them, but that's fine because the Sam's Club bakery offers a 12-pack of these buttery beauties for under $6.

They're called "all butter" croissants because they don't rely on hydrogenated oils to create that signature flakiness and to-die-for taste. All butter, all the time. It's a surprisingly short ingredient list and isn't packed with artificial preservatives –- but that might be a bug as much as it is a feature. These croissants would be higher on the list but fans of the pastry complain in the reviews that they have a short lifespan on your counter. One buyer wrote, "I was able to eat one before the rest molded three days after purchasing this bread. Sam's, you can do better than this."

They're amazing fresh and a steal at that price so the key is to eat them quickly. They're sized for sandwiches so slice these babies in half and get to sandwiching. Breakfast sandwiches are an obvious go-to. but for lunch, ham and Swiss in a warm croissant is heavenly. If you have a sweet tooth, elevate your plain croissants with Nutella or homemade frangipane, which is easier to make than you'd think. If you still can't finish them in a couple of days, there are plenty of options for what to do with all those leftover croissants.

Offer guests what's arguably the best part of going out to eat: warm, honey-sweetened bread rolls. Nothing makes a meal somehow feel both fancier and homier than a basket of oven-warmed bread that tastes homemade. At only $0.16 per roll, Sam's Club's yeast dinner rolls are a great way to feed a crowd on less. People can't resist a basket of bread on the table (especially if you serve the rolls with an herby compound butter) so they're more likely to feel full and sated at the end of the meal.

For that true restaurant feel, you need to warm up your rolls before serving but as anyone who has thrown a sandwich in the microwave knows, it's easy to ruin bread by reheating it. Your best bet is to put your rolls in an oven-safe dish and cover them tightly with aluminum foil to prevent moisture loss, then slide them into an oven on a keep-warm setting, which is around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You can toss in a damp paper towel or two if you're concerned about them drying out.

Sam's Club bread isn't packed with preservatives, which is great but also means these rolls are not going to last forever. If you have leftovers after your event, consider freezing them in an airtight bag until you're ready to eat them.

When you hear Sam's Club, you're probably not immediately thinking of authentic naan bread but here we are. Member's Mark naan bread is baked in a traditional tandoor tunnel oven at over 900 degrees Fahrenheit and if it seems unlikely that every Sam's Club has a tandoor oven in the back, that's because they don't. Some baked goods are made in-house, but these come from a Member's Mark facility in Canada that has all the equipment to make traditional naan bread right.

The result is soft, salty, and delicious. In a review on the Sam's Club website, one customer said, "This naan is honestly some of the best I have ever had!" and they're not the only reviewer with that sentiment. To maximize your enjoyment of this naan, you'll want it to be warm. There are many methods to reheat naan from microwaving to air frying. As long as you keep an eye on them and add a little water at the start, you should be fine.

For under $6, you get 10 naan, which comes out to over 2 pounds of chewy, bubbly bread at around $0.55 per naan. Plus each naan contains a surprising 8 grams of protein –- that's two more grams than you get from an average egg.

This eight-pack of mini cheesecakes is perfect to bring to a family function or gathering of friends. Each person gets their own individual 3-inch cheesecake. There's no hassle of cutting slices and no sharing required.

For variety, each package contains three different toppings so there's something for everyone. For the fresh and fruity, four of the mini cheesecakes are topped with a classic combination of mixed berries and cream. The other four are for the folks who like it sweeter. You get two brownie cheesecakes (big chunks of brownie, pecans, and caramel sauce) and two turtle cheesecakes (pecans, chocolate curls, and caramel sauce). They're cute and scrumptious. Best of all, they look fancier than they cost, which sets them above the others in the middle of the pack.

That said, this isn't going to cut it for a party of more than eight people or where there won't be easily-accessible tables and silverware. This and the inclusion of nuts limit their appeal to all families and gatherings so we'll keep hoping Sam's Club offers a bigger, nut-free option soon.

You can't get a blue-ribbon-winning apple pie at most bulk and bargain stores but you can at Sam's Club. This apple lattice pie won the 2019 American Pie Counsel Championship in the commercial category of Super Gourmet Apple Pies. (Member's Mark also won Super Gourmet Pumpkin Pie that same year.)

With a taste that's classically American, it's everything you expect and more -– and when we say more, we mean it. This pie clocks in at 12 inches across while an average pie dish is only 9 inches in diameter. The pie serves 16 and weighs in at over 4 pounds so it's great for large family get-togethers or if you want a Thanksgiving with plenty of leftovers. The scalloped lattice work keeps the pie looking elegant and professionally crafted, even at such a bulky size.

While this pie is an award winner, it's not higher on the list because it's not the best choice for gatherings where people aren't sitting down. Also, some people think of apple pie as exclusively a fall flavor and are less likely to be interested in it the rest of the year, even when warmed up and served à la mode.

The tuxedo bar cake with chocolate mouse is our must-try pick. It's the definition of decadent with moist chocolate cake surrounding layers of smooth chocolate mouse and mascarpone cream cheese filling –- all topped with dark chocolate ganache. This cake shines above the rest because it is so balanced. The sweet ganache is offset by the less sweet mascarpone and tangy cream cheese layer so each bite is as delectable as the first. It's elevated but still chocolatey enough for kids to love. In a review on Youtube, Kevin Dunn says, "It's not as sweet as you might think it would be. It is sweet, don't get me wrong, but it's more a rich chocolate flavor than a sweet chocolate flavor."

The cake is listed as serving eight to 10 people but it's so rich you could get away with thinner slices. It's a little pricier than some of the other available options but it's easily worth the money. You couldn't get something like this at an artisanal bakery for double the price.

Most of the bakery treats at Sam's Club are on the casual side but the decoration on the tuxedo cake is exquisitely detailed. The fancy appearance will steal the show at a casual event or, if you move this cake to a platter, you could confidently serve it to people wearing ties, gowns, and maybe even tuxedos.