Cinnamon rolls are a baked good, so the dough and the filling of butter, sugar and cinnamon fit cottage food laws in every state here: California's approved list covers baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings, Michigan covers baked goods that don't need temperature control, Minnesota covers food that isn't potentially hazardous, and North Dakota allows sales straight to the customer. The frosting decides it. A powdered sugar glaze keeps at room temperature; cream cheese frosting needs refrigeration. Rolls with cream cheese frosting are out in Michigan, Minnesota and California, and in North Dakota they'd have to be kept and delivered frozen. The workaround bakers use is a glaze on the rolls and the cream cheese frosting not included.
The short version
- Cinnamon rolls with a powdered sugar glaze fit cottage food laws here.
- Cream cheese frosting needs refrigeration.
- Those rolls are out in Michigan, Minnesota and California.
- North Dakota: refrigerated rolls only kept and delivered frozen.
- Bake and sell the same day, or freeze unbaked dough for your own use.
- Label each box as your state requires.
- TaroStack keeps each order and each bake's lot. More below.
Cinnamon rolls, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cinnamon rolls, powdered sugar glaze | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Pecan sticky buns | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Cinnamon rolls, cream cheese frosting | No: needs temperature control | No: potentially hazardous | Frozen, with labels | No: not on the list |
Pricing a pan is in how to price homemade cinnamon rolls, and the business year in cinnamon roll business plan.
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 California Sunday roll baker
Valley Oak Bakeshop, the made-up home baker in Fresno, California, I use in these examples, added cinnamon rolls for Sunday pickup. Under its cottage food registration the rolls go out with a vanilla glaze and pecan sticky buns beside them. Customers asked for cream cheese frosting; that needs refrigeration and isn't on California's list, so the baker kept the glaze and posted the recipe for a cream cheese frosting customers can make at home. Which foods need temperature control is in TCS foods list.
Get the checker
Download the home cinnamon roll 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
Sunday orders of six and twelve, glazed or sticky, for pickup between 8 and 10, is a page of names and a lot of dough. One order missed is a family with no breakfast.
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.