Shopping at Cottage Baker
Shopping at Cottage Baker
Our Motto: “From our Kitchen to your Heart”
It seems everyone has a friend or relative with a passion for baking that is extremely gifted. Remember coming home to banana bread or Grandma’s special chocolate chunk cookies fresh from the oven? Once you’ve tasted freshly baked treats store-bought brands simply don’t stack up. At Cottage Baker we believe the difference is in the love put into local fresh goods made with pride specifically for you. That’s something a chain-store simply cannot deliver.
What is quite amazing is that there are many gifted, passionate local bakers who would love to bake for you. In fact, the American Bakers Association (ABA) estimates that there are 150 million home bakers in the United States. That’s about half of the entire US population! You can be certain that there is someone in your local community ready to bake for you. That’s why Cottage Baker’s mission is:
“To connect everyday people with talented, passionate local bakers and artisans by making it quick and easy to find bakers skilled in the products buyers desire, and to provide tools for local bakers to better manage their time and business in order to spend more time exploring their passion for baking.”
Unique Personal Touch
Have you ever seen a cake at a birthday party that you loved so much that you just had to ask where you can you order one of your own? At Cottage Baker you can find a baker to custom make any cake to your specifications. From professional local bakeries to a small home bakers, you will surely find one that fits your budget.
Homemade with only the finest ingredient
There’s no question that home baked goods are a much better and healthier option than mass-produced versions with ingredients you can’t even pronounce. Locally baked goods are made from the finest and freshest ingredients without all the preservatives and additives.
Baked Goods With a Story to Tell
Many bakers began baking when they were very young and quickly became a passion. As adults, some are even willing to give up highly regarded professional careers to fulfill their baker’s dream. Former doctors, lawyers and engineers apply their unique knowledge to make better, healthier snacks. Many still follow a family secret recipe that has been passed down for many generations. Others are inspired to create their own special recipes for a family member who has special dietary needs. Some started selling at a local farmer’s market, eventually opening a shop of their own. There are interesting stories behind each of these bakers that will make you appreciate a little piece of baker’s heaven.
Baked to Order
Are you looking for freshly baked home made cookies that meets your special dietary needs, or personalized treats for an upcoming event? Yes, it’s all possible! Whether it’s for your personal enjoyment, gift or party, our bakers want to do everything possible to make you happy inside and out.
Support Small Businesses in your local community
The name “Cottage Baker” was derived from the “Cottage Food Law”, which allows people to prepare and sell certain non-potentially hazardous food made in their home kitchen without a commercial license. These are food products that do not require refrigeration to keep them safe from bacterial growth that could make people sick. Most of the vendors on Cottage Baker are Cottage Food Operators (CFOs). Besides producing only food on an approved food list, CFOs are not allowed to ship their products. Theirs orders can only be delivered or picked up in person and in so doing build their businesses locally. By supporting Cottage Baker, you are also helping your local licensed home bakers fulfill their dream.
Great for Gifts, Parties and Celebrations
Not sure what gift to give to someone special who already has everything? Why not a subscription to a weekly Breakfast in a Bag Club and have it delivered to your college kids? or send a box of handmade chocolate to your out of town sweetheart. Everyone appreciates healthy homemade food that are made with love. You may also ask your bakers to add a gift note or attach an balloon just to make it extra special.
Authentic treats you can’t find anywhere else.
Looking for an authentic treats to celebrate your special holidays? Finding those unique baked goods can be a challenge when you are away from home.. At Cottage Baker, you may find a baker who knows how to make that special item just for you.
Easy to find products
We understand how frustrating it can be to find exactly what you are looking for on large, anything goes sites. At Cottage Baker, we specialize on locally prepared food so your search for Cookies won’t display cookie jars, cookie cutters, or Cookie’s Garage Shop in 3rd street. In addition, we have three methods for helping you find the perfect product quickly and easily; Tiles and Categories, Location-based Map, and Product Filtering.
Tiles and Categories
On our front page you’ll see a collection of tiles that once clicked will send you directly to our shopping page filtered for products near you limited to those that meet the criteria of the tile you clicked.
Location-based Map
Our location-based map allows you to shop locally, wherever you are. Whether you are sitting in the car waiting to pick up the kids, or checking your email from bed, Cottage Baker is there for you, showing you the products in your vicinity.
You can also use the distance slider to select how far away from your current location you want to view products.
Don’t worry, you can also select the location of your college student, see the vendors near them, select their favorite cake pops, and have them delivered directly to their dorm room!
Simplified Product Filtering
To make it even easier to find the perfect product Cottage Baker supports an easy to use product filter on our shopping page. It’s pretty much self explanatory. Just click one or more properties and all of the available options will be there for you to select.
The example on the right shows a search for gluten free cake pops with a Christmas theme within 160 miles. Now, how easy is that?
And, for the diehard keyword search enthusiasts, we also support that using the latest machine learning techniques. Not sure what that means either, but it sounds cool!
Multiple delivery options
Placing an order on Cottage Baker is quick and simple. As shown below, there are often three options for getting the product to you; Local Pickup, Local Delivery and Shipping. It is the seller that determines whether these options are available to you and their price. Delivery charge is automatically calculated based on your distance from the seller.
Once you’ve selected your delivery method you’re ready to check out using PayPal or any major credit or debit card, and you’ll be enjoying your fresh baked goods soon!