In a lot of states, "home bakery license" means one of two things. For cookies, breads, brownies and fruit pies, the shelf-stable kind, the cottage food law covers you, often with no license, only a label. For baked goods that need refrigeration, cream pies, cheesecakes, custards, cream cheese frosting, cottage food stops, and a few states offer a home bakery license or registration with a kitchen inspection instead of sending you to a commercial kitchen. Ohio, the example's state, has both: a cottage food production operation needs no license for foods that aren't potentially hazardous, labeled "This product is home produced"; and a home bakery registration from the Department of Agriculture covers potentially hazardous baked goods made in one home oven, for $10 a year, registered October 1 to September 30, after an inspection that checks for no pets in the home, no carpet in the kitchen and a recent water test on a private well. A commercial bakery pays $200 a year. In the example below, a Worthington cook adds pumpkin rolls. Below are the layers, Ohio's rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Shelf-stable baked goods fall under cottage food, often with no license.
- Baked goods that need refrigeration need more: a home bakery license where your state has one, or a commercial kitchen.
- A home bakery license means a kitchen inspection.
- Ohio: cottage food needs no license; the label says "This product is home produced".
- Ohio: a home bakery registration for potentially hazardous baked goods, $10 a year, one home oven.
- Ohio's inspection checks for no pets in the home, no carpet in the kitchen, a water test on private water.
- Ohio's registration runs October 1 to September 30; a commercial bakery pays $200.
- TaroStack keeps each bake's lot and date. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Cottage food | State | Shelf-stable baked goods, label, where you can sell |
| Home bakery license or registration | State agriculture or health department | Baked goods that need refrigeration, with an inspection |
| Kitchen conditions | State | Pets, flooring, water source |
| Labels | State and FDA | The home statement, or the full food label |
| Sales tax | State revenue department | Which baked goods are taxable |
| Local rules | City and county | Home business and zoning |
Bakers in states without a home bakery license move refrigerated items into a licensed kitchen, as in bakery license; the shelf-stable side is in license to sell baked goods. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Ohio's rules
| Rule | Ohio law and the Department of Agriculture |
|---|---|
| Cottage food | No license; no potentially hazardous, acidified or low-acid canned foods (ORC 3715.025) |
| Cottage food label | Name and address, product name, ingredients by weight, net weight and volume, "This product is home produced." in 10-point type (3715.023) |
| Home bakery | Potentially hazardous baked goods made at home with one oven in an ordinary home kitchen stove |
| Home bakery fee | $10 a year, paid at the inspection (ORC 911.02) |
| Period | October 1 to September 30, renewed by September 30 |
| Inspection | Requested by form; no pets in the home, no carpet in the kitchen, a recent water test if not on public water |
| Commercial bakery | $200 a year (911.02) |
The fees are in ORC 911.02, and the requirements on the department's Home Bakery Registration page. Ohio's cottage food rules are in Ohio cottage food laws.
An example: a Worthington cook
Olentangy Oven, the made-up cottage food producer in Worthington, Ohio, I use in these examples, sells buckeye candies and roasted coffee at a farmers market and to two cafés, and was turning down pumpkin rolls and cream-filled donuts:
| Product | Path | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Buckeye candies, roasted coffee | Cottage food | Labeled "This product is home produced." |
| Pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling | Home bakery registration | Added October 2026, kept cold |
| Cream-filled donuts | Home bakery registration | Added October 2026, kept cold |
| Chocolate-covered strawberries | Neither | Fresh fruit, not a baked good |
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Home bakery inspection | September 22, 2026: no pets, vinyl kitchen floor, city water |
| Home bakery registration | $10, October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 |
| Cafés | To check: whether the home bakery items can go to them |
| Product liability insurance | Renews May 1, 2027 |
The registration cost $10 and an inspection; the pumpkin rolls sell for more at the November market than anything else on the table.
Get the checklist
Download the home bakery license checklist. One sheet: each layer, who issues it, what it is, whether you need it, the cost, the date done and the renewal date; the status and the total cost fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Two sets of rules in one kitchen, pumpkin rolls that keep a few days in the fridge, and cafés that want dates: a checklist doesn't know which bake is which.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each bake's lot and date.
Each bake a lot. A bake of pumpkin rolls gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Oldest first. First-expired-first-out is the default, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold.
Where it went. Each café's order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows every customer a bake reached.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a pumpkin roll | Written by hand | From the bake's lot |
| Which rolls go out first | Remembered | First-expired-first-out |
| Which customers got a bake | Invoices | One recall report |
Lots, expiry, 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.