08/30/2026
Let’s talk about Maryland cottage food laws.
Since the home bakery market has become more saturated with those looking for extra income, I wanted to go over why I only offer certain items. So let’s talk about what Maryland allows and the labeling requirements. Spoiler alert, like most things in Maryland, they don’t make it easy!
Here is the scoop directly from the website-
Items allowed-
“ Bagels
• Biscuits
• Breads
• Brownies
• Cakes without perishable icing or fillings
• Cookies
• Cupcakes without perishable icing or fillings
• Granola bars
• Muffins
• Pastries
• Tortillas
• Buns without perishable icing
• Cookies, brownies, breads, muffins baked from a
commercially prepared mix (without perishable icings or fillings)
• Sourdough bread, rolls, etc.
Items NOT allowed-
“Baked goods with perishable icings and fillings (e.g.
buttercream, cream cheese, and royal icings)*
• Banana, pumpkin, and zucchini breads/cakes/muffins, etc. with water activity value greater than 0.85*
• Focaccia style breads with vegetables and/or cheeses*”.
*Icings and fillings made with perishable ingredients and moist quick breads such as these may be considered potentially hazardous and are not allowable under cottage foods without laboratory testing.
🧁Unfortunately for us cottage bakers, that eliminates almost all cream cheese and buttercream icings. They can be allowed with testing that requires the baker to send their icing or baked good into the state to be tested and ensure the water activity ≤ 0.85 and/ or pH ≤ 4.6.
Maryland is also strict about their labeling requirements for cottage food items, shocking right?🙄
Labeling requirements are as follows-🏷️🏷️🏷️
The name and address* of the cottage food business;
● The name of the cottage food product;
● The ingredients (and sub-ingredients) of the cottage food product in descending order of
the amount of each ingredient by weight;
● The net weight, count, or net volume of the cottage food product;
● Allergen information as specified by federal labeling requirements
● Printed in 10 point or larger type in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background of the label: “Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland’s food safety regulations.”
In lieu of your address, you can request a unique identification number, which is what I see most cottage bakers doing, and I have done as well.
I would love to be able to offer more items, but I am sticking to what I know is safe and allowed by the state of Maryland.
If you’re still here, thank you. Thank you for stopping to pick up a loaf of bread for your family dinner, or a bag of cookies simply because you deserve to eat the whole bag on the way home and not share, I won’t tell!
