Which baked goods you can sell at the market
Cottage food lists sort baked goods by one question: does it need refrigeration to stay safe? A dry cookie doesn't, a cream pie does. Here is how six states draw the line:
| State | Allowed as cottage food | Left out |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | Breads, muffins, cakes, pastries, scones, cookies, bars, donuts and pies, with the exceptions below | Custard style pies, unbaked fresh fruit pies, pies that need refrigeration after baking |
| California | Baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings; frostings without raw eggs, cream or cream cheese | Pumpkin and sweet potato pie, custards |
| Ohio | Cookies, breads and the other shelf-stable foods on the state list | Cheesecake, pumpkin pie, custard and cream pies |
| Michigan | Baked goods that stay safe at room temperature | Cream, custard and meringue pies, cheesecake, cream cheese frosting |
| New Jersey | Baked goods the Department confirms are not TCS, product by product | Buttercream, cream cheese, meringue, whipped cream and ganache frostings |
| Texas | Shelf-stable baked goods, plus refrigerated ones like cheesecake after you register with DSHS | Bakes made with meat, poultry or seafood, and ice cream products |
Frostings and fillings: the fine print
A plain cupcake is easy. The frosting decides whether it stays a cottage food, and states write very different rules for it:
- Washington: a frosting or glaze needs a cook step, or enough sugar and similar ingredients to be stable at room temperature.
- Michigan: only two buttercreams pass, each made exactly as written: the Simple Buttercream from K-State Extension, and the American Buttercream in Come and Bake It: Original Edition.
- New Jersey: buttercream of any style is out, along with cream cheese, meringue, whipped cream and ganache.
- California: frostings and icings are fine without raw eggs, cream or cream cheese.
Do you need a permit to sell baked goods at a farmers market?
For shelf-stable bakes, often not. The answer swings from nothing at all to a paid permit with an inspection:
- Florida: cottage food operations under $250,000 in yearly sales are exempt from the state food permit.
- Michigan: no license, registration or fee for cottage food.
- Nebraska: a baker selling nothing but shelf-stable goods, and only at farmers markets, needs neither the registration nor the food safety course.
- Texas: no permit for shelf-stable baked goods. Register with DSHS before you sell refrigerated ones.
- Ohio: no license for cottage food. Cheesecakes, cream pies and other refrigerated bakes take a home bakery license, with a kitchen inspection and a label review by ODA.
- Washington: a WSDA cottage food permit, $355 for two years, with a kitchen inspection before you get it.
On top of the state rules, the market can set its own conditions for food vendors. Read its vendor application before you bake for opening day.
Farmers Market Permit →Cheesecake and cream pies at the market
Texas law counts "baked goods that require refrigeration, including cream or custard pies or cakes" as time and temperature control for safety (TCS) foods. Where a state allows them, the market brings extra work:
- Texas: register with DSHS, store and deliver the food cold enough to stop bacteria from growing, and put the date it was made on the label.
- Nebraska: the trip to the market can take two hours at most for refrigerated food, and NDA wants a market cheesecake held at 41°F or below.
That statement goes on the label, or on an invoice or receipt handed over with the food, in at least 12-point type. A cooler with a thermometer on your table is the simple way to show customers, and an inspector, that you take it seriously.
How to package baked goods for the market
Cottage food rules expect finished packages, not a tray of loose cookies. Practical choices that hold up at an outdoor market:
- Cookies and bars: clear bags in fixed counts, like eight per bag, so the net quantity stays the same
- Bread: a bread bag with a twist tie or a sealed sleeve, with the label on the flat side
- Pies: a lidded pie box, with the label on the lid
- Cupcakes: clamshells, labeled on the base so the lid still opens
- Every package sealed before it leaves your kitchen
In Washington, WSDA may allow large cakes and containers of bulk products to be handled and labeled another way, set out in its labeling rule. If you sell whole celebration cakes, read that part before you bake.
An example label for a bag of cookies
Here is a market label for a bag of eight peanut butter cookies, made with our tool from a home recipe. Each cookie weighs 30 g, FDA's reference amount for cookies (21 CFR 101.12, Table 2).
| Label part | What it says |
|---|---|
| Product name | Peanut Butter Cookies |
| Net quantity | 8 cookies, 8.5 oz in total |
| Ingredients | Peanut butter (peanuts), enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), brown sugar, butter (cream), sugar, eggs, baking soda, salt |
| Allergens | Contains: Milk, Egg, Peanuts, Wheat. |
| Your name and address | As your state asks for it |
| State statement | Your state's exact words, like Washington's below |
The peanut butter weighs more than the flour in this dough, which puts it first. On the Contains line, peanuts stand on their own: federal law lists them apart from tree nuts. If you ever need a Nutrition Facts panel, the same recipe gives 140 calories per cookie.
Cottage Bakery Label →Start your label free →Letting someone else sell your bakes at the market
Can't stand at the market every Saturday? Texas has a route for that. A cottage food vendor buys from your operation at wholesale and sells to consumers at a farmers' market, a farm stand, a food service establishment or a retail store. The vendor can't take refrigerated items, so cheesecake stays with you.
Many states don't allow this. In Michigan and Washington, for example, the baker sells to the customer directly, with no one in between.