We have seen a growing trend in micro bakeries all over the country. Whether it is moms wanting a creative outlet, or passionate young bakers who want to start a low-risk business, micro bakeries and home bakeries allow bakers to fulfill their passions while giving the community access to quality baked goods. But at the end of the day if a business wants to keep running, improving, and maybe even growing, it must be profitable. I have compiled a list of items that can be made under most cottage food laws, have good profit margins, and have done well at my micro bakery, the Flour Barn. For more information on a business plan, a marketing plan, and other micro bakery tips, check out some of our favorite articles.
How to Make Money from Your Micro Bakery at Home
How to start your own Successful Micro Bakery from Home
What is a Micro Bakery- The Rise in Small Bakeries
Tools Every Baker Needs – From a Bakery Owner
What you should look for in an item for your Home Bakery?
Finding profitable items for your home bakery is about more than just the profit margins. Unlike a typical baking business, we do not have a full staff prepping or unlimited oven and fridge space. Each item must be manageable to prep, store, and bake promptly. Remember to think about the fact that your time is precious and should be added to the expenses of a product.
Sourdough Bread
I include this one with excitement and caution. Excitement because Sourdough is a niche of its own. So many people are seeking out good sourdough bread and products. You will fit right in at any farmer’s market and will have to do little digital marketing to obtain a client base. However, the process of making sourdough in bulk in a home-based bakery is no small task. It involves a way to mix large amounts of dough and a refrigerated place to store that dough. You also need plenty of boules to hold the dough after it is shaped, and then more space to store the boules in the fridge. Finally, but perhaps the most difficult, you need time, time to bake a few loaves at a time on repeat in your home oven.
Given all these steps, it is no small feat to get into sourdough and be sure to price accordingly. Although the supplies for sourdough are fairly inexpensive, the amount of labor is costly. There are also many paths you can take with sourdough. You can decide to only make 8 loaves a week for a select client base. Maybe along with your sourdough, you sell less labor-intensive items, like cookies. You can do a bread subscription where customers pay for a month’s worth of bread and you only take as much as you can handle. Just make sure it fits into your schedule and your goals. Here is our recipe:)
Cinnamon Rolls
I am partial to Cinnamon Rolls, as this was the first item we sold in bulk at my bakery, the Flour Barn. There are many reasons I love cinnamon rolls; they are flexible in the preparation process, they are straightforward to bake, and they are easy to package.
We start by making a bulk amount of brioche dough and let it take its first rise in the fridge. Then we take about three recipes worth of dough and roll it out into a long rectangle. Out of this rollout, we cut about 24 rolls. We then put these on a sheet pan and let them take their second rise in the fridge. Once we are ready to bake them, we let them proof at room temperature and then we bake them. We use cream cheese icing, as it’s allowed under our bakery license. However, some cottage food laws don’t allow it so you may have to adjust to a different icing, possibly a glaze, or a basic shelf stable buttercream.
How to sell your Cinnamon Rolls in Bulk
At our bakery, we sell them in 4 and 6-packs. In the beginning, we sold by preorder only and it was just a great way to get our business started. Cinnamon Rolls are very easy to bake in a home kitchen and do not require a special oven. They are great products to start with a home bakery business. If you start making a lot of rolls you can also add a commercial sheeter to your home-based bakery. This machine rolls out your dough for you and also is key if you want to start making any laminated items, like croissants of danishes. It is a piece of equipment that takes up a good amount of space and costs a pretty penny, but unlike an oven, it is not heavily regulated by the local government.
Cookie Sandwiches
My first experience selling baked goods was out of my college apartment. I had to try a lot of different baked goods to find what people wanted. Eventually, I primarily sold brioche bread; but what I found was that when people would buy my bread, they would also buy a dessert along with it. This increased my price per customer, so each day I would make sure to bake bread and then one dessert item that I felt people would be tempted to add to their bread order. I found that cookies sold okay, but cookie sandwiches sold even better. This was great because cookies were easy to make in my home oven and I would simply add buttercream in between and have a delicious treat.
Why a cookie sandwich over a cookie?
A cookie sandwich is a decadent dessert that people have a hard time resisting. If you are running a business based on bulk orders for catered events, then people often will order large amounts of singular cookies. If a person is at home or work, they are more likely to spend their money on a specialty item like a cookie sandwich.
Scones
Scones are such an underrated baked item. Made correctly they can be delicious breakfast items. They are also very easy to make in bulk. Here is my recipe for our Cranberry Orange Scones and our Lemon Blueberry. You can see how it can be easy to make a large quantity at one time. The best part is that you can prepare them ahead of time and then stick them in the freezer. When you are ready to bake they can go directly from the freezer to the oven. They are also easy to package because they can be put in a box or a bag. Just be sure to use a water or fresh juice-based glaze instead of milk-based to abide by local cottage food laws. They are just the perfect item for home-based bakeries.
Focaccia
I have just started to see a resurgence of focaccia in the baked goods business area. And for good reason! Focaccia is delicious, versatile, and easy to make in large amounts. You can bake them in 9 by 9 aluminum pans and sell them in the pan, or you can fill a sheet pan and cut the focaccia to sell to your potential customers.
We started making focaccia for our Breakfast Sandwiches. Soon we fell in love with it and started selling it on its own. We also found that it was a great class to teach to our community. I will go into more detail about classes later, but this is one item that is great for teaching.
Muffins
Your business is based on the customers’ needs. If people in your area are looking for more decadent desserts like brownies and cookies, you will see that in your sales. You may also see that people are wanting breakfast items for the week. In this case, you will see people gravitating towards muffins and scones. Sometimes it depends on the community, sometimes it depends on the week. Muffins are extra exciting when made in the jumbo size. You may be a home baker, but there are some tricks to making your baked goods look like they are straight out of a bakery case. Making home-baked goods jumbo is one of those tricks:)
Jumbo Cookies
As I said, making items jumbo can sometimes make all the difference. People sometimes have a hard time justifying spending their money on baked goods. They might feel they can make them themselves, but when you make an item extra special it makes your customers feel more at ease about giving you their business.
Babka Bread
Babka is a beautiful bread that can be made in a bread tin. I find this to be great because you can fit many bread tins into the oven at one time. With sourdough, you do not have this same luxury. This was an item I learned to make when I sold baked goods in college. It sold great and people were always excited to try new flavors. I do recommend buying a thermopen if you are planning to bake bread in your home kitchen. This ensures that you know your baked goods are done and you never have to worry that they are undercooked. No more being tempted to cut into a loaf!
Bee Sting Bars
Caramel is included as a cottage food in many areas. That means you can have fun with different dessert bars. At our bakery, we have sold Bee Sting bars, which are a delicious bar with a shortbread crust and a caramel almond top. Another similar bar is a Millionaire Bar. Both can be made in bulk on a sheet pan and then cut into an appropriate size. They can be kept in the fridge, freezer, or at room temperature. This is also a great item to take to coffee shops if you can sell your items there.
Special Occasions Baking
This category of micro bakeries includes bakers who make wedding cakes, cater birthday parties or do event catering. These items look different because your clientele is different. Your clients are looking for bulk-ordering items like cookies, cupcakes, and cakes. This is a great space for people who are talented at decorating, like bulk baking, and are okay with working on the weekends. Event baking also can be more high-pressure. For special occasion baking you are constantly looking for new customers, instead of relying on a repeat group of people week after week. This means that you may benefit more from business cards, custom order forms, and a bakery website.
Bonus:
Teach Classes
In most areas, it requires no licensing to teach a cooking class. You can teach classes in your private home or you can rent out a space in your community. In our area, you can rent out a commercial kitchen at our local community center. We have taught classes on Sourdough bread, Focaccia Bread, Brioche Bread, Soup and Bread Bowls, Artisan Pizza, and even Charcuterie. They are a lot of fun and a great way to share your knowledge with the community while also making some money.
If I teach my skills, will I still have customers?
In my experience, yes. People love the fun of learning a skill. However many are not likely to make their weekly loaf of sourdough. Or spend the three hours it takes to make brioche cinnamon rolls.
Sell mixes
Your home bakery business is a great place to sell mixes. I have made cookie mixes where the customer just needs a stick of butter and an egg to make their cookies. You can also do this with other food items like cakes, brownies, muffins, and quick breads.
Sell Products
You can also sell physical items. An example would be if you taught a couple of sourdough classes or sold sourdough starter, you could then sell sourdough kits. You can search websites like Faire for products and buy them at a slightly discounted wholesale price. Then you can sell them to your customers for a profit.
Create Content
A social media presence is a great step to a thriving business. But if you are tech-savvy, then entering the world of digital marketing may be perfect for you. Many people have been able to make a great income simply from posting a YouTube video weekly, Instagram reels, and TikTok. This is a great way to supplement your baking income. It is no small feat and requires time and consistency. But just like baking, if you enjoy it, it is worth it.
How to Abide by the Local Health Department?
My advice is to call them or go talk to them in person. They are not the bad guys and are the best people to find out info about food products. The health inspector may seem like a scary person, but in my case, they are very friendly and just want to help you.
Quality and Kindess at Your Home Bakery
I hope this article was helpful in spawning some creative thinking. But remember, do what you do best. You want your product to be something you are really proud of. The other important key to being a good baker, is being kind to your customers. Remember that they are choosing to support you and your business, a little kindness goes a long way.
Check us Out on The Farmhouse on Boone Podcast
