6 Aldi Pre-Packaged Bakery Treats You Should Get (And 3 You Shouldn't)

Aldi is a discount grocery store that focuses on private label products — and the chain has a significant section of bakery items that you could stock up on at a discount. Previously, we did a ranking of fresh Aldi bakery items. But those are far from the only things offered by this retailer. At the end of the bakery section, you can also usually find a large selection of pre-packaged bakery treats that are more shelf-stable than their fresh counterparts. But, unfortunately, not all of these treats are worth your hard-earned money. Some are a serious let-down, instead.

Thankfully, you don't have to go through a lot of trial and error to discover which items are amazing and which are far from it. I was given the opportunity to taste test nine Aldi pre-packaged bakery treats and report back on whether you should or shouldn't get them. Each item was ranked solely on taste. To make my determinations, I used a combination of my 15 years of food industry experience and previous experience creating ranking articles for The Daily Meal. You can find a full explanation of my methodology at the end of this article. Now, ready to discover your new favorite Aldi boxed sweet treats (and which items to avoid at all costs)? Let's get into it.

The Baker's Treat Mini Brownie Bites come in individual packs containing a handful of treats each — and trust me when I say this is one of the first products you'll want to get on your next Aldi shopping trip. In fact, this is one of my children's favorite sweet snack items, and they routinely beg me to restock when we run out.

Once you open the bag, you're greeted by a rich chocolaty smell that's surprisingly rich and fresh for a boxed good. The brownie bites themselves look and feel delicious. They have a nice texture that's firm enough not to crumble apart but soft enough to make biting in and chewing easy. And the taste? A rich chocolate brownie that's predominantly sweet and starchy with light notes of butter throughout.

Although I haven't tried it yet, I think these would be an especially delicious way to upgrade a classic ice cream sundae. Just dump these out into a bowl and scoop the ice cream on top of them before topping with chocolate sauce or fudge topping, based on your personal preference. This is something I'll definitely be trying in the near future.

The Baker's Treat Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins are very similar to the brownie bites in packaging and appearance. They come in individual packs for easy snacking and are one of several Aldi snacks I highly recommend you get.

These have a very light buttery muffin scent when you open the bag, which is lightly dotted with chocolate notes. Aesthetically, they're in the same circular mini muffin shape as the brownie bites and have a similar texture. The only real difference texturally is that these are just a little lighter and fluffier. As for the taste? It's absolutely mouthwatering. A light buttery starch profile is accented by chocolate notes and a light sweetness that feels perfectly balanced.

After my first taste test, I decided to heat these up for 30 seconds in the microwave. I highly recommend trying this because the muffins are even better when they're warm with gooey melted chocolate chips. Just don't heat them up in the bag they come in. Instead, transfer to a microwave-safe bowl or plate first.

The Baker's Treat Coffee Cakes come individually wrapped, one per clear plastic wrapper. My first issue with this treat is immediately apparent from just opening the box, and it's that each serving is very tiny. It would take at least two (if not three) to fill someone up. Another thing I immediately noticed was that a few of the cakes appeared to be misshapen, with flat bottoms on both sides instead of a rounded top and flat bottom. Due to the several issues I have with this product, I recommend skipping these on your next Aldi shopping trip in lieu of the recommended pre-packaged bakery treats.

I do want to offer a disclosure and say that the taste of these coffee cakes isn't terrible. I was able to eat one in its entirety. However, I find the taste and texture to be very mediocre and just a bit less than name-brand options I've had in the past. Plus, my biggest issue is that there was almost no streusel. Now, maybe this is a personal bias or preference, but I expect a nice layer of streusel on top of my coffee cakes, and it just wasn't there.

If you're really craving streusel coffee cake, I recommend baking your own at home. That way, you can ensure you get plenty of streusel and a fantastic taste profile instead of just "meh."

I could easily explain these Baker's Treat Swiss Rolls in a single sentence: they taste identical to name-brand options you're familiar with. But, of course, I'll go into more detail for those who aren't as familiar with this specific sweet treat as I am. Each package contains two Swiss Rolls in a plastic wrapper and smells like rich chocolate when you open it. You'll definitely want to grab yourself a box because they smell, look, and taste fantastic.

The cakes are swirls of cream inside a chocolate cake base that are then coated in thick chocolate. When you bite into them, you're greeted by a balanced profile of rich chocolate and sweet cream that offers a pleasant textural complexity I enjoy. To me, this is very reminiscent of a standard ganache-covered cake in taste and texture, but just in a different format.

The only disclosure I have is that these are a little smaller than other Swiss Roll brands I've tried. Otherwise, I have zero complaints.

The Baker's Treat Cherry Pie is purchased in a rectangular box that contains a single serving — and it's appropriately priced as such, being less than a dollar at my local Aldi in Vineland, New Jersey. I like the single-serving packaging because it lets you get a sweet snack on the go when you don't want to overdo it. Of course, I'm a big fan of this cherry pie generally.

There's a very light cherry pastry smell when you unbox this pie, but it's nothing to write home about. The crust looks beautiful and crispy, with hints of sugar across the top. But the taste is where I was really sold. From the first bite, my mouth was greeted with a cherry tartness paired with sugary sweetness and starchy notes from the crust. There are the faintest hints of butter that really help pull this taste together.

Honestly? I like this treat as much as homemade cherry pie, although the two have slightly differing tastes. I suggest pairing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert or eating it alone as a snack that's guaranteed to cure your sweet tooth.

I wanted to like these Baker's Treat Mini Confetti Cakes because they're another flavor of the mini treats alongside the brownie bites and mini chocolate chip muffins I loved so much. But I just couldn't, and because of this, I don't recommend you pick these up.

My primary issue with these is that they have an artificial flavor that the other options do not. Unfortunately, it wasn't a mild artificial taste, either, but the predominant flavor profile, which was only interspersed with hints of starchiness or buttery goodness. Being so strong, the chemical taste ruined my enjoyment entirely.

I will say, however, that there are positive notes, and I believe it's important to give credit where it's due. The texture of these was just as fantastic as the alternative flavor options, and they also come in easy-to-grab individual packages, which I really appreciate. Yet, this only increased my disappointment in the flavor department because there was a lot of unfulfilled potential here.

Although very different in taste, I enjoy this Baker's Treat Apple Pie as much as I do the cherry pie. It also comes as a single serving in an individual box that you can buy for just under a dollar in many locations and features the same fantastic crust. I really can't rave about the crust enough. It's flaky, sweet, and lightly coated in a sugary glaze that only serves to elevate the overall flavor profile. Definitely pick this up to try it for yourself so you can see what I'm talking about.

The smell is a light sugary apple, which is largely indicative of the taste. A predominantly fruity and starchy flavor profile is strongly accented with sugar notes and the faintest hints of butter. Truthfully, I found this close to though not quite the same as, fresh apple pie.

The apple pie filling, I think, would be even better warm. Next time I purchase this (and there will definitely be a next time), I'm going to try warming it up in the microwave for a few seconds. By doing this, I believe this little treat would be nearly indistinguishable from a fresh-out-of-the-oven apple pie.

These Baker's Treat Cup Cakes are Aldi's answer to the typical black cupcakes with white swirls on top offered by brands like Hostess — and here, they've hit the nail on the head with something that tastes exactly like name-brand alternatives. In fact, I think I like these just a little bit better. They come one per individual package, which is my singular complaint. It's not very hard to eat two of these in one sitting because of how small they are, but I suppose the single cupcake per serving may help to not overdo the sweet treat.

These smell absolutely decadent when you rip open the clear plastic wrapping, like gooey chocolate bordering on fudge paired with freshly baked cake. And, thankfully, the taste isn't dissimilar to that mouthwatering smell. The cake portion offers a balance between rich chocolate and buttery starch, while the topping is sweet, decadent fudge lightly laced with buttery notes of its own.

Definitely grab yourself a box of these to try for yourself if you like the standard black and white cupcakes offered by other brands. Here, you'll get what I believe to be a superior product at a fraction of the cost — it's a winning situation all the way around.

These Baker's Treat Peanut Butter Wafers were the singular item I didn't finish a full serving of in this whole taste test, and it's not because it was horrid; rather, it was strange. When you open the box, you'll find several individually wrapped packages featuring two peanut butter wafers each. This was a nice change of pace from the singular servings of other pre-packaged bakery treats on this list. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.

The smell was nice, although I found the peanut butter to overwhelm any other scent notes. This wasn't a dealbreaker for me personally since I enjoy the smell of peanut butter. However, when I bit into it, I found that it also largely overwhelmed the taste of the wafer and chocolate coating. This would be fine if the peanut butter were good, but it wasn't, as it was oddly salty, to the point where you could imagine it being dunked in salt water during production.

Definitely skip out on this. I'm not sure why these peanut butter wafers taste like they've been rolled in salt, but it's an unexpected and horribly unpleasant experience you should save your taste buds from.

The nine snacks I tried were all ones available at my local Aldi in Vineland, New Jersey. Nothing was altered, reheated, or dressed up — I ate each treat straight out of the package, exactly the way most people would. That was important to me because I wanted to judge these for what they actually are: quick, grab-and-go snacks.

I relied on my 15 years of experience in the food industry, including time spent in bakery and hot food departments, and drew on my past work ranking products for The Daily Meal. While taste is always a little subjective, I made a real effort to stay focused on quality rather than just my personal preferences. The goal wasn't to nitpick but to give a clear sense of which Aldi treats actually deliver and which ones just don't measure up.