8 Holiday Cookies From Costco, Ranked From Worst To Best

When it comes to holiday shopping, few retailers are as adept at stocking their store shelves with unique and gift-worthy wares as Costco. From truly gourmet food items to serve your friends and family at your next gathering to the latest and trendiest appliances and kitchen gadgets, the warehouse retailer has you covered, and one area it excels in is its wide assortment of baked items. Among these, cookies are a standout, and there's no shortage of festive offerings to snatch up this time of year. 

I headed to my local Costco warehouse to seek out the specialty cookies the retailer had available in its holiday display. Among these were classic options, like gingerbread cookies, and traditional standards, like Swedish cookies, butter pecan meltaways, and French madeleines. All of these are packaged in decorative boxes and tins that are perfect stocking stuffers or gifts for that favorite work buddy or relative. 

To determine which of these might be the ideal gift to add to your cart on your next visit to Costco, I brought home all of them and engaged in a gluttonous cookie sampling fest worthy of a competitive eating contest. Once my sugar levels returned to normal, I was able to review and rank each to find out the top contenders for your holiday gifting needs. Read on for the full scoop. 

Among Costco's cutest cookie offerings is its selection of Holiday House Cookie Tins. These tins are sold in three colors, white, blue, and red, and each resembles a gabled house decorated to the nines in wreaths, holly, and garlands. It's as cute as a button and I was enthusiastic to dive into these to see if the cookies were as well-produced as the packaging. Sadly, they were not, which is why these landed at the bottom of this list. 

The cookies themselves, speculoos or speculaas, are a type of spiced shortbread commonly found in Belgium and the Netherlands. Thin and crunchy, these cookies are typically served for Christmas and St. Nicholas Day. They're characterized by their distinctive flavor, which is conferred by caramelized brown sugar and warm spices, like cardamom, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. This particular batch was shaped into the form of tiny houses. And at first sniff, I was actually encouraged to dig into them, as the aroma was dynamite. 

Sadly, the cookies themselves left a lot to be desired. Not only were they hard as rocks, the flavor was absolutely horrendous. I couldn't even pinpoint why or what it was that tasted off, but off it certainly was. Interestingly, others have noticed this as well. Internet commenters have encountered the same issue recently, making me wonder if something might be amiss with the recipe. Regardless, I wouldn't recommend these at all.

Next to last on this ranking are the Gille Swedish Cookies, which come in visually stunning green and white or red and white-striped boxes the size of a small piece of luggage. The box contains six distinct types of cookies contained in individually packaged sleeves of ginger snaps, oat cookies with chocolate drizzle, farmers favorite almond cookies, crispy oat chocolate, blueberry oat rings, oat thins, and chocolate dreams. Since Swedes are well-known for their holiday cookie-baking traditions, I had high hopes for this assortment, which were quickly dashed once I dug in.

Though these cookies weren't all bad, they were all quite dry and crumbly overall, and not in a "these cookies typically have a firm, crisp texture" kind of way, but more of a "these cookies taste a little stale" kind of way. Since they're imported, I imagine they have been en route to Costco warehouses across the globe for some time, so this isn't altogether unexpected. Moreover, I simply felt the cookies as a collection were underwhelming in flavor. Perhaps the two standouts were the ginger snaps and the chocolate dreams, but even these seemed subdued in overall taste. These landed second to last on my list. 

Another offering that delivered in spades on packaging, but failed to impress in terms of taste, was the Stockmeyer Butter Cookie Music Tin. These tins come in three colors: Blue, red, and gold. The tin has a wind-up screw on the bottom that causes the center of it to spin around while it plays "Let It Snow." It's adorable and festive, and even if I wasn't overly enthusiastic about the cookies themselves, I'd be willing to invest in the tin itself to present as a gift, perhaps filled with home-baked frosted sugar cookies or another holiday confection. 

The cookies themselves, which are a type of butter biscuit filled with caramel, are individually wrapped in plastic for freshness, which resolved some of the issues I had with the previous two selections on this ranking in terms of texture and stale taste. While I did enjoy the cookies themselves, which were quite buttery and did have a tender crispness that was pleasant on the tongue, I felt the proportion of caramel filling to cookie was lacking. I also might have wanted just a touch more sugar and spice to enhance the cookie itself. That said, it wasn't a bad cookie. It just wasn't my favorite when compared with the others on this list, which is why these ranked where they did.

Raspberry Jam & Crème Cookies, like the ones from Chateau Du Monde, are a holiday tradition in many countries. Often referred to as Linzer cookies or jam thumbprint cookies, these butter-filled delights, dotted with jam, are the perfect juxtaposition of sweet and savory, with salted butter balancing out the sugary preserves. This particular batch of cookies is sold in a decorative holiday bag decorated with ornaments, snowflakes, and plenty of red, white, green, and gold to amp up your holiday cheer. 

The cookies themselves are individually wrapped in plastic for freshness, which is a plus. Though small, each cookie packs a punch of flavor. The butter cookies themselves are well-executed, tender but crisp. The jam is of high quality, with a robust raspberry flavor. Perhaps my biggest complaint is that I wanted a bit more of it in each cookie, to help boost the sweetness. Another thing about the jam that I quite appreciated was the mouthfeel, which was almost chewy, like biting into the center of a Fig Newton. This gave a nice juxtaposition with the crisp cookie that was a real surprise. Overall, while I quite enjoyed these cookies, I couldn't rank them any higher on this list because the top four offerings were either better value or outperformed in some other way, though I'd certainly recommend snagging a bag of these for the holiday season.

Ranking in fourth place are David's Butter Pecan Meltaways. These classic shortbread-like butter cookies, studded with chopped pecans and coated in powdered sugar, are a common fixture at the holidays. As their name suggests, they have a light, buttery texture that virtually melts in your mouth as it's warmed by your tongue. This variety from David's Cookies delivers on a number of levels, earning it a solid ranking. 

While there's nothing especially fancy about the packaging or the cookies themselves, these are simply comforting in a way that really drives home the nostalgia of bygone holidays. The scent of these cookies carries the enticing aroma of nuts and caramelized sugar. The cookies themselves are light and tender, with just enough pecans to be noticeable, but not enough to dominate the flavor. I also felt the ratio of powdered sugar to cookie was spot on and not overwhelming or cloyingly sweet. The only reason these didn't rank higher was because the top three offerings were so delicious and well-executed. 

Landing in third place are the Bakery Street Soft-Baked Gingerbread Cookies. Christmas isn't Christmas without gingerbread cookies, and this variety is exceptionally well done because of the soft texture. Though I enjoy a crisp gingerbread cookie, a soft-baked, chewy cookie is just irresistible to me. While these don't come in a fancy tin or decorative packaging, the cookies are no less festive. They are bursting with the rich aroma of molasses from the moment you open the container, and they just get better from there. 

The texture of these cookies is spot on, each bite being luxurious and velvety. The taste is no less spectacular, with vibrant notes of real, spicy ginger lingering for quite a while on your tongue. Lastly, the cookies are just kissed with sweetness, but not overly sugary, which I tend to prefer, since I feel like this allows the ginger and rich molasses to shine through. In short, if you love gingerbread, you'll love these cookies. If you aren't fond of the sharper flavor of ginger, these may not be the cookies for you, but to me, they're a triumph, and I could see myself stocking up on them this holiday season. To store these cookies so that they remain soft and tender, try popping a slice of bread into an airtight container along with the cookies. This will help eliminate any excess moisture that may build up inside as the cookies age. 

When it comes to overall value and quality, you won't do much better than the selection of European Cookies With Belgian Chocolate from the Kirkland Signature brand. This tin of cookies is a steal, considering the variety inside it. Each tin contains 15 cookie varieties, giving a total of 156 pieces. Among the options included are crisps, rolls, caramel delights, wafers, and butter cookies topped with at least 45% pure Belgian chocolate. 

What sets Belgian chocolate apart from other varieties is its high cocoa content, which gives it an inherently bittersweet flavor that's dynamite for chocolate aficionados. When paired with these cookies, the marriage is nothing short of triumphant. Every one I tried was better than the last. Choosing a favorite would be virtually impossible, though I did have strong preferences for the Caramel Sensation, Mocha Milk, and Chocolate Bliss cookies. 

While this collection of cookies may not be ideal for those who aren't fond of chocolate, it's a dream come true for chocoholics like me. The only reason it didn't land on top was the quality of the final cookie collection. That said, this is a must-buy from Costco this holiday season. 

The winner of "best in show" from Costco this holiday season is the St. Michel French Pastry Collection. This tin of small, delectable French pastries will inspire even the biggest Scrooge among us to feel a little holiday cheer. Each tin contains three different types of individually-wrapped pastry: Chocolate-filled madeleines, almond cakes topped with shaved almonds, and milk chocolate-covered cakes. There are 24 pieces in total, per tin. 

The pastry itself is a classic sponge-like batter known as a genoise, which is typically baked into a variety of decorative patterns — in this case, a heart, a tuile, and a shell. Though more cake-like in texture than a classic shortbread cookie or butter cookie, these bite-sized confections are every bit as deserving of inclusion in a holiday cookie exchange. They're impossibly moist and fluffy, with just enough sugar to make them decadent but not sickeningly sweet. The chocolate inside the shell-shaped offering is of the highest quality and abundant enough to fill most of the pastry, while the almond variety has an almost marzipan-like quality that I found really satisfying. The milk chocolate-covered heart was adorable, with just the right proportion of rich milk chocolate to genoise. Perhaps the only thing that could have made these better would've been accompanying them with a festive holiday libation, like a spiked eggnog or a hot apple cider. Even without, these are a home run, and you should definitely stock up while supplies last

Though it was a monumental undertaking, I sampled these cookies in one sitting to make sure my palate remained consistent and no single cookie was sitting around any longer than another, which may have compromised the taste and texture. I cleansed my palate in between bites, to ensure the flavors didn't start blending together or blinding my taste buds. 

The main things I took into consideration when assessing each cookie variety were the packaging, value, overall appearance, aroma, texture, and flavor. Where there were multiple cookies per package, I based my final ranking on the sum total of all the cookies, allowing for standouts to skew my results and giving some leeway for a single dud in any one collection. 

Ultimately, though my results do reflect my individual tastes and preferences, I tried to remain as objective as possible. To this end I did have a secondary taste tester who came on this journey with me, giving me their feedback to help me more effectively factor in different palates. I hope that this will help make your holiday season a little less stressful and more joyous.