Brownies, blondies and bars are baked goods that keep at room temperature, so Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and California all allow them from a home kitchen. What changes the answer is what goes on top or swirls through: a cheesecake swirl, a cream cheese frosting or a whipped topping needs the fridge, which takes it out of cottage food, except frozen in North Dakota. Minnesota asks for a yearly registration and training, Michigan for a label with its home kitchen statement, and California for a registration or permit. In the example below, a Minnesota home baker settles its list.
The short version
- Brownies, blondies and bars: cottage foods in all four states here.
- Cheesecake swirls, cream cheese frosting, whipped toppings: need the fridge.
- North Dakota allows refrigerated items frozen and labeled.
- Minnesota: a yearly registration and approved training.
- Label each package as your state requires.
- Nuts and the usual wheat, milk and eggs go on the label.
- TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot. More below.
Brownies, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fudge brownie | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Salted caramel blondie | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Cheesecake swirl brownie | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
What a brownie should cost is in how to price homemade brownies, and wrapping them in how to package brownies for sale.
The rules
| State | Rule |
|---|---|
| Michigan | Food that isn't time/temperature control for safety, including jams, candy, dried fruit, granola, dry mixes, vinegar, dried herbs and baked goods; not meat or poultry, milk products, beverages, salsa, or canned foods other than standardized jams (MCL 289.1105(k)); prepackaged, labeled with the home kitchen statement, sold straight to the consumer (MCL 289.4102) |
| Minnesota | Food that isn't potentially hazardous, and home-canned pickles, vegetables or fruits at pH 4.6 or lower or water activity 0.85 or less; registration every year and approved food safety training (Minn. Stat. 28A.152) |
| North Dakota | No state license for cottage food sold directly to an informed end consumer; foods that need refrigeration labeled with safe handling instructions and as transported and maintained frozen; no uninspected meat, poultry only from the seller's own birds (N.D.C.C. 23-09.5-02) |
| California | Cottage foods are nonpotentially hazardous foods on the approved list, among them baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings, candy, chocolate-covered nonperishables, dried fruit, dried pasta, granola, herb blends, honey, standardized jams, nut butters, popcorn, vinegar and mustard, roasted coffee and dried tea (HSC 114365.5); Class A sells directly, Class B also through shops and restaurants (HSC 113758) |
This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a Minnesota order list
Prairie Lake Bakes, a made-up home baker in St. Cloud, Minnesota, registered as a cottage food producer after a school bake sale turned into weekly orders. Fudge brownies and salted caramel blondies are on the list, wrapped and labeled. The cheesecake swirl brownie its customers loved at the bake sale needs refrigeration, so it isn't a Minnesota cottage food. The business beyond home is in brownie business plan.
Get the checker
Download the home brownies checker. Two sheets: your products, whether each needs refrigeration, is meat or poultry, a milk product, a canned food other than jam, or a drink, and whether it's on California's list; how Michigan's, Minnesota's, North Dakota's and California's cottage food laws treat it fill in; and each state's rules as read for this article. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The rules decide what can be sold. Weekly orders, a few flavors and pickup on Fridays are where an order goes out short, or a batch can't be told from the one before.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot, and what each pan costs.
Orders. Each customer's order goes in for its pickup or market day, with a picking list.
Each batch a lot. A batch of pans is a batch from its recipe, with its date and lot, and the lot goes on each order it fills.
True cost. Each pan is costed from its recipe and the batch, at what the ingredients actually cost.
| The job | Paper | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets what on market day | Order sheets | Orders by day |
| Which batch went to which customer | Not recorded | Lots on each order |
| What a pan costs | A guess | True cost from the recipe and batch |
Orders, recipes and batches are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.