Selling baked goods from home falls under your state's cottage food rules, and what they ask for ranges from nothing but a label to a registration with an inspection of your kitchen. The foods are much the same everywhere: bread, cookies, cakes, fruit pies and brownies that keep at room temperature qualify, while cream and custard fillings, cream cheese frosting and anything else that needs refrigeration don't. Some states ask for lab tests on moist cakes and fillings to prove they're shelf-stable. Then come the limits on where you sell: markets, your home, online, sometimes stores, often not cafés or restaurants. Pennsylvania, the example's state, registers home bakers as limited food establishments with the Department of Agriculture: a review of your plans 60 days before you start, an inspection, and $35 a year, with internet sales included, a separate retail food facility license that may be needed at a market stand, and a different license for wholesale. In the example below, a Lititz baker sorts its licenses. Below are the layers, Pennsylvania's rules, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Baked goods from home fall under your state's cottage food rules.
- Some states ask for nothing but a label; others a registration and an inspection.
- Shelf-stable breads, cookies, cakes and fruit pies qualify; cream fillings and cream cheese frosting don't.
- Some states want lab tests on moist cakes and fillings.
- Pennsylvania: a limited food establishment registration, $35 a year, with an inspection.
- Pennsylvania: apply 60 days ahead; internet sales are included; wholesale needs a different license.
- A market stand can need its own retail food license.
- TaroStack keeps each bake's lot, date and test results. More below.
The layers
| Layer | Who issues it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | State | A fictitious name if you sell under another name |
| Cottage food | State agriculture or health department | Label only, registration, or permit and inspection |
| Lab tests | State rules | pH and water activity for moist cakes and fillings |
| Label | State | Name, ingredients, net weight, allergens, your name and address |
| Market stand | State or county | A retail or temporary food license at markets and events |
| Sales tax | State revenue department | Which baked goods are taxable |
How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business, and moving into a licensed kitchen in bakery license. Every state differs; this is general information, not legal advice.
Pennsylvania's rules
| Rule | Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture |
|---|---|
| Limited food establishment | A residential-style kitchen making non-hazardous foods that don't need refrigeration after preparation |
| Foods | Baked goods without cream fillings, jams, jellies, candies, some snack mixes |
| Applying | Everything in at least 60 days before operating; a decision within 15 business days |
| Inspection | On site, after approval; the inspector collects the fee |
| Fees | $35 to register, $35 each year to renew |
| Selling | Farmers markets, community events, roadside stands, directly to consumers, and online |
| Market stands | A Retail Food Facility License may also be required at an event or farmers market |
| Wholesale | Not allowed: wholesale or distribution to food businesses needs a different license |
| Across state lines | FDA registration may also apply |
The department's page is Apply for or Renew a Limited Food Establishment Registration; its FAQ also says some retail stores may carry products that meet the label rules, so ask before supplying one. More in Pennsylvania cottage food laws.
An example: a Lititz baker
Conestoga Kitchen, the made-up home baker in Lititz, Pennsylvania, I use in these examples, sells whoopie pies, apple butter, soft pretzels and hot pepper sauce at a farmers market and online:
| Layer | Status |
|---|---|
| Lab tests | Whoopie pies and pepper sauce tested for pH and water activity, March 2025 |
| Limited food establishment registration | Inspected May 2025; renewed May 12, 2026, $35; renews May 2027 |
| Label | Product name, ingredients by weight, net weight, name and address, allergens |
| Farmers market stand | To check: whether the market needs a Retail Food Facility License |
| Online sales | Included in the registration; shipped within Pennsylvania |
| A café's order for whoopie pies | Declined: wholesale needs a different license |
| Sales tax | To check: which items are taxable |
| Product liability insurance | Renews April 1, 2027 |
The café's request is the line the registration draws: direct sales are in, supplying a food business is out. What whoopie pies cost to make is in how to price baked goods.
Get the checklist
Download the license to sell baked goods 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
Lab results for each recipe, a date on every package, and market and online orders from the same bake: a checklist doesn't keep which bake went where.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each bake's lot, date and test results.
Each bake a batch. A bake takes the flour, butter and sugar off stock by lot and gets a lot of its own, with its best-by date, and lot labels print for the packages.
Test results on the record. Fields of your own on the batch record hold a pH or water activity reading, with a sign-off, so the recipe's lab result and each batch's check sit together.
Where it went. Online orders record the lots they got, so a question about one package leads to its bake.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a package | Written by hand | From the bake's lot |
| A batch's pH reading | A clipboard | A field on the batch record |
| Which customers got a bake | Order emails | One recall report |
Batches, lots, batch records with fields of your own, and recalls 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.