Costco Cherry Fig Bread Review
Author’s Note: These are my own wicked little opinions. I have no affiliation with Costco.
It might be made with love.
I liked Costco’s Cranberry Walnut Bread. But I loved this new Cherry Fig Bread! It’s not even a contest. If you haven’t tried it yet, you are depriving yourself. Do better.
Textures
This is a hearty brown bread, leavened with fermented sourdough, and enriched with a kiss of barley flour. A sprinkling of crunchy sunflower, pumpkin, and chia seeds lurks inside. There are also flax seeds, oat flakes, and cracked whole grains — but not so many that it tastes like “bird seed.” (Not as “seedy” as these Power Grains Sourdough Rolls from Aldi.)
The crumb has a soft, but substantial texture, and medium air pockets throughout. I was pleasantly surprised by how moist and tender it is. It’s not as crusty as other Costco breads.
Fruits and Seeds
Besides the seedy whole-grain crunch, there is also the delicate crackle of fig seeds. In fact, there are entire continents of lush fruit here. Fruit islands, floating in the brown-bread sea. Bigger, juicier, and fruitier than I expected. But this is half the charm. This bread is full of discoveries and direction changes. Every bite feels like a new experience. It kept me enthralled.
I already love Costco’s Dried Montmorency Cherries. Somehow, they are even better in this bread! They’re tangy, chewy-moist, and bursting with deep cherry flavor. The tart-factor is strong — almost shocking — but in the best way possible. The fig flavor is mellower and sweeter, with a decadent, fudgy moistness.
Appearance
This is gorgeous bread. It’s a surprising square, squat shape. (I am also a squat-square shape, so no judgement.)
I love the rustic piercing on top, and artisanal floured bottom. The slices are narrow, but long. This is such a lovely loaf, I’d take it as a bespoke offering to a classy dinner party. Or as an entire gift to a worthy friend.
I don’t believe it’s that good?
I brought this bread to work and shared it with my co-workers. They were simultaneously given one of Costco’s new Peanut Butter Monster Cookies. Everyone circled back to rave about the “very good” bread. But nobody mentioned the cookies. So, there’s your empirical evidence: this bread is even better than a peanut butter cookie. In fact, it’s so good, it made them entirely forget about the cookies. (BTW, the cookies were scrumptious! But they didn’t stand a chance.)
Serving the bread
This is not what I’d call a “sweet” bread. Not a dessert. But there’s so much fruit, it ends up more sweet than savory. It would make a great breakfast bread, similar to raisin bread. But it’s also suitable to serve alongside a traditional meal.
While I typically prefer my bread sliced and pan-toasted (for maximum freshly-baked taste), I liked this one simply sliced and served at room temp. It doesn’t have a stale or dry taste, even after refrigerating for a week. I enjoyed mine with Kirkland New Zealand Grass-Fed Butter. (Which is becoming something of a splurge lately; have you seen the price?! Oi.)
Ingredients in Costco Cherry Fig Bakery Bread
Here is my best attempt at typing out the ingredients, from the label:
- Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
- Water
- Sweetened Dried Montmorency Red Tart Cherries (Cherries, Sugar)
- Dried Sliced Figs
- Grain Mix (Sunflower Seeds, Oat Flakes, Flax Seeds, Cracked Wheat Grains, Pumpkin Seeds, Chia Seeds)
- Contains 2% or less of the following: Wheat Sourdough (Water, Fermented Wheat Flour), Sugar, Sea Salt, Barley Flour, Enzymes, Malted Wheat Flour, Ascorbic Acid.
This bread is made in Canada. Which surprised me, since I live in Florida. It’s sold “freshly baked” in the Costco Bakery, so I’m guessing it ships to the stores refrigerated/frozen, and then is baked before selling? I had no qualms with this. Get in my belly.
Nutrition Facts
A serving is 1/16th the loaf and contains 150 calories. You get 2 grams of fat (0 grams saturated fat) and 4 grams of protein. There are 29 grams total carbohydrates, of which 2 grams are fiber and 9 grams are sugars (3 grams “added sugars”). There’s just 8% your daily value of sodium per slice, and 10% your daily value iron.
Price and Servings
Now for the bad news: the 28.22 ounce loaf costs an eye-watering $9 at my local Costco Bakery. Normally, I’d fuss about the price. But this is really good bread, y’all.
Since there are 16 servings per loaf, each servings costs 56 cents.
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) item, and the product # is: 1959177.
Shelf Life
The “sell by” date on my loaf was dated approximately 2 days after purchase. However, I kept mine in the refrigerator and ate it slowly over about a week. It gets less crusty, but otherwise stayed quite fresh.
Speaking of crustiness: the loaf is packaged in a bag with small holes punched through the plastic window. As per usual, I re-packaged my loaf in a different plastic bag (sans holes) at home, to prevent it drying out or getting stale. Beware the holes. They are not your friends.
Dramatic Conclusion
I loved this bread, and you should too. It’s full of hearty flavors and fruity goodness. It has a gorgeous, artisanal appearance. Canadians made it for you. Possibly with love, but who knows? Say “eh” after eating a slice.
On my wicked-smart Awesome-o-Meter, this bread scores a rare “Speechless.”
The End.
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