10 Costco Canada Desserts That You Can't Find In The US

Costco warehouses in the United States are known for their incredibly wide variety of desserts — after all, the discount store is the third-largest retailer in the world, so a gloriously wide choice is a given. But you may be surprised to learn that the millions of Costco members in Canada get to enjoy some exclusive products that you're unlikely to find in the U.S.

We dug deep into the dessert sections of locations in Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta, and we discovered that the choice is very strongly influenced by local tastes, suppliers, and regional nostalgia. This is probably one of the reasons why Costco Canada consistently bags the title of top grocery retailer in the country. No prizes for guessing that maple features heavily as an ingredient on the Canadian side of the border, especially as maple producers in Canada harvested almost 20 million gallons of maple syrup in 2024, setting a record. Here are the Costco Canada desserts that you'll be hard-pressed to find at your U.S. Costco stores.

You may not have heard of Laura Secord, the Canadian folk heroine who walked a 20-mile trek from Queenston to Beaver Dams during the War of 1812, but you're probably familiar with the iconic Laura Secord brand, a national treasure for all Canadian chocolate lovers. The good news is that Costco Canada offers the popular Hot Chocolate Mix K-Cups, roasted and packed locally, with customers praising the drink for its particularly intense cocoa flavor.

The brand was founded by Frank P. O'Connor in 1913 to honor the heroine, and today the range even includes kosher, gluten-free, and maple specialties. Consumers love it, and it currently enjoys a 4.3-star rating on the official Costco Canada site. For those of you located in the U.S., you won't find it in-store. You won't even be able to order it for delivery from the Canadian site, as shipping is restricted to Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. Our hot tip for an alternative is, if it's that thick, luxe hot cocoa you're after, Costco U.S. does stock the Starbucks Classic Hot Chocolate Mix.

This Canadian bakery's motto is "Eat joy!" Looking at the sumptuous photographs of products like the Ah! Caramel Super Sandwich, the Super Jos Louis, and the Super Passion Flakie Apple-Raspberry, it appears to be an apt way of describing these baked goods. The "snack cakes," as the company calls these small packages of happiness, are popular across the country, but are particularly sought after in the brand's home province of Quebec.

Many Canadian kids grew up with the taste of icons like the Super Jos Louis, which used to be the go-to birthday mini-cakes at many schools. The brand shows no signs of slowing down, with production actually increasing in recent years. Sadly, this increased production does not appear to be getting diverted to Costco in the U.S. If you're jonesing for a snack cake that's more easily available at your local Costco warehouse, Hostess baked goodies may hit the spot, with its Cupcakes, Twinkies, and Donettes all being highly rated.

To no one's surprise, we've got a second maple entry on the list of Costco Canada desserts that you'll find difficult to source in the U.S. This one possibly owes a lot to the fact that around 3% of Canada's population is of Dutch origin. Whatever the reason, if the taste of the Maple Terroir Maple Syrup Stroopwafel is as luscious as its description, we're confident that its popularity is high across all Costco stores. There are also variations on offer, like the strawberry and cocoa chocolate versions. 

These Canadian stroopwafels are so special because they use late-harvested maple syrup from a fourth-generation farm in the Appalachian Mountains. The company, Maple Terroir, credits the richness of the flavor to its single-origin maple syrup, and there's a list of glowing reviews in agreement, with at least two customers describing these as the best stroopwafels ever. If you're hoping to find a stroopwafel alternative at U.S. Costco stores, you're fresh out of luck — we couldn't get our hands on any.

What could be more quintessentially Canadian than maple syrup? Costco stores across the U.S. do stock the popular Kirkland Signature Organic Pure Maple Syrup. And, given it has over 5,000 5-star reviews, it's clearly doing a very good job hitting most customers' taste buds. Canada produces approximately 71% of the world's maple syrup, so there's something to be said about buying genuine, Canadian maple syrup. That's exactly what Costco Canada stores offer with Bernard's Canada Grade A Dark, Robust Taste Maple Syrup. 

The Bernard family has been producing maple syrup since the early 1800s, and it's all produced under the supervision of fifth-generation Bernard Master Sugar Makers. It's easy to understand why they're so popular in Canada, but you are very likely to encounter issues sourcing it at your local Costco U.S. store. Even those close to the Canadian border, including Helena's and Wenatchee's, didn't yield any joy. One word of caution if you do manage to get your hands on it: An 18.2-ounce tin will set you back a whopping CA$209.99, in Canadian dollars, naturally. The Kirkland equivalent, priced at $0.44 per ounce, is a lot easier on the pocket.

Strap yourselves in because this next entry is quite a mouthful, in more than one way. Costco Canada stocks the Yupik Chocolate TuxedoCookies Cake Bites, a luscious mix of smooth and crunchy sweetness. Now, to be clear, you will indeed find Yupik products at Costco stores in the U.S., despite this being a family-owned brand that's made in Canada. However, these are limited to hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, and hemp hearts. Not so sweet, then.

Perhaps understandably, the selection available at Costco Canada is much wider. It includes most of the brand's bestsellers, such as cocoa powder, dried mango, and sunflower seeds. But more importantly, for those with a well-developed sweet tooth, you'll also find the Pure Maple Leaf Syrup Candies, rainbow sprinkles, and Coffee Latte Almonds. Those of you who are Statesside will need to be content popping some Kirkland Signature Almonds, Milk Chocolate instead, or perhaps a couple of Heaton Chocolate Covered Pecans if you're feeling fancy.

Our next maple-focused entry on the list of Costco Canada desserts you'll have a hard time finding in the U.S., the Biodélices Organic Maple Butter, is also made in Canada and is sourced from maple trees in Quebec. Biodélices is the sister brand of Maple Joe, another iconic product that sees its origins in Quebec but has made it as far as France. It is yet, however, to gain equal popularity at U.S. Costco stores, and it was not available at any of the locations we tried.

In fact, you'll find yourself scrambling to find any maple butter at all at Costco in the U.S., perhaps because it's not as widely requested as peanut butter. At least 94% of Americans stock one jar of peanut butter at home, so we know where the priorities lie stateside. As expected, you'll find no shortage of this product at U.S. Costco stores, including the in-house Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter and third-party brands like Skippy. That said, if you'd like to add layered, creamy flavors to your breakfast pancakes, you can easily make your own maple butter at home — all you need are the two ingredients, and they're right there in the name.

You'd think there's nothing particularly Canadian about macaroons, and you'd be right, as they originated in Italy. Be that as it may, Costco Canada stores proudly showcase these Piccola Regina Regali Almond Macaroons, unlike their U.S. counterparts. However, these crunchy bites aren't the coconut cookies we typically expect when buying macaroons. They're closer to the old Italian recipe, which originated in the eighth or ninth century in monasteries. This original formula used almond paste for its main ingredient, and Regali Walnutti are made with almond flour. 

Taste-wise, this is one decadent Italo-Canadian fusion. The baking process is similar to that used for Italian amaretti, enriched with a deep maple flavor. No cookie we found at the U.S. Costco stores matches this concoction, but we did source a jar of La Dolce Vita Classic Almond Biscotti. Not quite the same, but they go down a treat dipped in milky coffee or tea.

When you've got a product proudly stating Oh My! Canada on the packaging, you know that this is going to be a hyper-local, hyper-loved affair in its country of origin. This also means that you're unlikely to find it at a U.S. Costco. You won't be wrong in this case, with the Herbaland Gummies Oh My! Collection, which is plant-based, gluten-free, and proudly showcases the Canada banner. You're very unlikely to find these at any of the U.S. Costco stores — we certainly didn't manage. 

The history behind the Herbaland brand is as rooted in Canadian heritage as the moose and beaver illustrations on the packaging suggest. Husband-and-wife team Aisha and Musharaf started it from their kitchen table in 2009 and, by 2018, the brand had expanded across Canada. By 2023, it had become the largest gummy vitamin manufacturer in the country, producing over 70 million gummies for almost 40 countries across the world, including the U.S. Sadly, though, Costco stores have yet to join the movement of this vegan, health-focused brand.

The Dare Foods company describes itself as proudly Canadian from the get-go, so don't be too put out if you don't manage to find any of its goodies in your U.S. Costco store. The Dare Bear Paws must be some of the cutest Canadian goodies we've stumbled upon. These are soft cookies made with real chocolate chips in the shape of, you guessed it, a bear claw. The brand is particularly trusted among Canadians, with its "Made Better" label, which promises a rigorous production process that's free of artificial flavors and uses wholesome ingredients and less sugar.

Even Costco Canada stores are not particularly well-stocked when it comes to Dare products. The Bear Paws were the only sweet treats we could source, and there was no sign of the iconic Wagon Wheels and Whippet cookies. The latter is a simple marshmallow cookie covered in chocolate, and is considered Quebec's best-selling marshmallow cookie brand. Costco stores both in the U.S. and in Canada are yet to stock any dessert that comes close.

There's nothing like an old-fashioned oatmeal cookie, and when it's called Dad's Classic, then you know you're in for a nostalgic treat. Dad's cookies have been baked in Canada since 1929, and the company has quite the colorful history as it was bought by the giant Mondelez, which owns mega-brands like Oreo. Canada's Costco stores currently stock both the Classic Oatmeal and the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip flavors, neither of which were available at the long list of U.S. stores we checked out.

We actually found it difficult to source plain oatmeal cookies at a U.S. Costco warehouse, period. The closest thing we found was Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies, widely available at all the stores we tested. Luckily, oatmeal cookies are very easy to make at home and most recipes only need simple ingredients that you'd normally find at home. If you're in a rush, or you don't want to complicate matters, here's an excellent three-ingredient oatmeal cookie recipe that will only take up 20 minutes of your time.