Michele Tsucalas, the owner and founder of Michele's Granola, had early reservations about her decision to start her business. "Was this a good life decision?" she asked herself after a commercial oven was delivered to her bakery, but was too large to fit through the doors.
Years later, Michele's Granola produces over 12,000 pounds of granola a week and distributes the carefully packaged hand-made products to food meccas like Whole Foods, Wegman's, The Fresh Market, MOM's Organic Market, and several other coffee shops and food markets across the country.
In a time where people are increasingly caring about what they are eating and demanding to know where their food is coming from, Michele's Granola has attracted a great following.
Variety of Recipes
The ingredients are simple: organic rolled oats, coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, dried fruit, and other natural products that workers bake by hand (and in small batches).
Michele's Granola sells a variety of blends including Original, Ginger Hemp, Cinnamon Raisin, Pumpkin Spice, Cherry Chocolate, Toasted Muesli, and a seasonal special, which is Lemon Pistachio this spring.
The Best Seller
The Original, which is my personal favorite and the company's bestselling product, is a blend of coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds, and Madagascar vanilla. It is crunchy, sweet, and makes the perfect cereal. I would also recommend topping it on your Greek yogurt and smoothie bowls for a healthy snack. Try not to single-handedly finish an entire bag in less than two days: I dare you.
My Other Personal Favorites
Pumpkin Spice and Cinnamon Raisin tie for my second favorites. I'll admit, I am sitting at my desk writing this article whilst switching back and forth between a handful of Pumpkin Spice and a handful of Cinnamon Raisin. The Pumpkin Spice has a buttery, sweet, and salty flavor that outdoes any other pumpkin spice product I have ever tried - hands down.
Onto the Cinnamon Raisin flavor. To be honest, I hate raisins. Absolutely despise them. But the Cinnamon Raisin granola surprised me. I was shocked when I finished the bag and realized I didn't even pick out the raisins. I ate them all, and enjoyed them.
And I can't leave out my obsession with the Toasted Muesli. It is the perfect yogurt or oatmeal topping, but also a great on-the-go snack or cereal. It is made with whole grain oats, seeds, nuts, dried fruit and Maryland maple syrup. Traditional muesli is sold raw, but Michele's is toasted so that it can be eaten dry. It doubles as my favorite healthy post-workout snack and dessert. So versatile, right?
Community Orientation
Not only are the people of Michele's Granola passionate about creating delicious, wholesome and hand-made products, but they also support local nonprofits by donated one percent of their sales.
They are committed to protecting the earth's resources by powering their bakery with 100% wind power, recycling and composting the majority of their waste, using local, GMO-free, organic ingredients, and packaging their products in 100% recyclable paper.
Check out my article "The 5 Best Healthy Granola Brands You Need To Try," which features Michele's Granola as my top pick! Also check out the Michele's Granola website to keep tabs on the seasonal blends and special offers.