Costco Onion & Cheese Pinwheels (Kirkland) Review
Author’s Note: This is an unbiased and unsponsored review. I have no affiliation with Costco.
I give them 6 out of 10 stars.
Yeah, I totally jumped on the bandwagon here. These Onion & Cheese Pinwheels are a brand-spanking-new item at my local Costco, and I went over my budget this month to try them. I had to. *whimpers*
Anyway. Here’s the scoreboard:
- Pastry: 10 stars
- Filling: 2 stars
Which gives these an average rating of 6 out of 10 stars. Ouch.
Alright. What do they taste like?
I was deeply impressed by the bread-pastry. It’s a flavorful, flakey, layered pastry — which tastes richly of butter. It has a super crisp texture that is different from other Costco pastries (such as the Danish or Croissant). The structure is more delicate, too. An airy, light crunch. I loved how each bite changes in texture — softening towards the center of the spiral. Never a dull moment.
The Cheesy Filling
I didn’t like the filling as much as I thought I would. It’s soft, but there’s not scads of it — and it’s sort of congealed and melded to the pastry layers. The insides are so soft, they are nearly raw. The cheese doesn’t have tons of flavor. Rather disappointing. For some reason, it reminded me slightly of rubbery American Cheese, which I cannot choke down. More about the ingredients later.
Fortunately, the outer pinwheel rings have no discernable cheese. In fact, the goopy cheese filling is pretty much isolated within the inner 30% of pinwheel. I ended up eating the outside of each of my pinwheels, and throwing away the offending centers.
Even without the filling, these pinwheels have strong, savory flavors throughout. When baking, the intense oniony-garlic aroma fills the kitchen. If you’re cooking desserts at the same time, I would bake those separately — to avoid the odors permeating your treats.
The garnish is zesty and visually satisfying. There are two kinds of sesame seeds — black and white, plus dehydrated onions. Plus poppy seeds! It’s like an Everything Bagel, without the bagel.
These are LARGE pastries! Although you only get 6 per package, they could be a full meal, without anything extra. I wanted to hibernate after finishing one. If you are serving these for breakfast, the most I would add to the meal is some light fruit. Here is a view from the bottom:
I was surprised to find these are a refrigerated item at my local Costco — the other pastries, (including the cheese danishes), are sold at room temperature. And, unlike other Costco Bakery items, these Onion & Cheese Pinwheels require baking at home before serving.
Fortunately, all you need is 350 degrees for 10 minutes to transforms these pinwheels —Eliza Doolittle style — from guttersnipe, to a consort for a king.
Ingredients in Costco Onion & Cheese Pinwheels
The store label was not printed correctly and cut off part of the ingredients. I had to guess at some of these, so here’s my best attempt. This is the second Costco bakery label I’ve received printed like this. Also, the opening/closing brackets are used inconsistently, so I am not certain which string of ingredients goes with which sub-ingredient. I tried to fix this in my list, and eventually gave up. Do better, Costco!:
- Onion and Cheese Pastry (Roasted Onions and Cheese Filling [Water, Cream Cheese {Milk, Cream, Skim Milk, Salt, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Bacterial Cultures}, Béchamel Cream {Nonfat Dry Milk, Modified Food Starch, Dried Whey, Salt, Whey Protein Concentrate}, Roasted Onions, Swiss Style Cheese {Pasteurized Milk, Modified Milk Ingredients, Salt, Bacterial Culture, Calcium Chloride, Enzymes}, Parmesan Cheese {Milk, Salt, Microbial Enzymes}, Eggs, Cultured Skim Milk, Skim Milk], White Vinegar, Salt, Natural Flavor, Black Pepper], Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], Water, Butter [Cream], Sugar, Yeast, Less than 2% of the following: Eggs, Salt, Wheat Gluten, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid, Dried Eggs, Nonfat Milk, Soy Flour), Everything Topping (Sesame Seeds, Salt, Dehydrated Garlic & Onion, Black Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds)
Typing this made my brain hurt. Anyway. It’s great to see the real butter in the pastry, and the several different cheeses. I don’t see any obvious artificial preservatives or flavors. This makes me happy.
The one weird thing that stands out is the “Modified Milk Ingredients” in the “Swiss-Style Cheese.” This might be what is contributing to the goopy, unpleasant cheese texture in the filling.
Price and Servings
There are six large pinwheels per 28 ounce package. The price is $11.99 at my local Costco. Per pastry, this is approximately $2.
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) item, and the product # is: 1849073.
Shelf-Life
My package had a sell-by date of 1 day after purchase. The label says to keep refrigerated. See below for freezing/reheating ideas.
Heating Instructions
Unlike most Costco Bakery items, these aren’t ready-to-eat. The label specifically lists baking instructions prior to serving:
“Remove from packaging; Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes; Cool 5 minutes and enjoy.”
Can you freeze leftovers?
Yes. I froze three of my Onion & Cheese Pinwheels in a large ziplock bag. Re-baking was surprisingly easy — 13 minutes at 350 degrees did the trick. The pastry was as crispy and fresh-tasting as the day I bought it, and the center was just as goopy and soft. The flavors were as good, if not better. I think these are champion freezables.
“Freezables” is a word now. Deal with it, spellcheck!
Dramatic Conclusion
I liked the rich, savory flavors of this pinwheel, and the flakey pastry was phenomenal! I did not relish the cheese filling. In fact, I’m not sure I would purchase these a second time. Probably not. Alas.
The End.
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