What your state allows
Updated
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Why it usually qualifies
Cottage food lists are built around shelf-stable products whose safety does not depend on a controlled process. Hard candy, brittle, toffee and most fudge fit that description: low water activity, nothing growing, no process somebody has to supervise. Candy appears by name on many lists.
Where it can stop qualifying
A filled chocolate with a soft center, a product containing dairy or fresh fruit, or anything that needs refrigeration moves the conversation. The moment water activity rises enough for something to grow, the product stops being the thing cottage food law was written for.
Caramel sauce and fudge sauce are the edge case
They are poured, they often contain dairy, and they are a much wetter product than a caramel you can hold. Some states treat them as a different category from candy entirely, and it is worth asking about them by name rather than assuming they travel with the solid confections.
Describe the product properly
What it is, what is in it, whether it contains dairy or fruit, whether it needs refrigeration and where it will be sold. A partial description gets a confident answer to a question you did not ask, and the dairy content is the detail that changes answers here.
Ask about the venue as well
A farmers market, a retail shelf, a gift shop and mail order across a state line can each sit differently. Confectionery is heavily mail-ordered at holidays, so that part of the plan deserves its own question.
Record who told you what
Name, date, what you described and what they said. Guidance gets restated and staff change, and a specific conversation you can point at is a different position from a recollection.