Happy GF 2025!
Happy New Year! We’re officially in 2025!
What sorts of resolutions have you set for yourself? I used to give myself giant resolutions— exercise more, be kinder, eat less sweets. Those are all good things, but they’re also very vague and not measurable. And, frankly, when you’re a baker, “eat less sweets” is pretty much unattainable. ;) This year, my resolutions are more basic. Read 10 books this year and floss at least 4 times a week. That’s it. I’m keeping it simple.
Anyways, in the end, it’s not about achieving goals… it’s about enjoying and being present on the journey to reach your goals. So, yeah, hitting 500 online sales would be huge, but the process of getting to that milestone is equally important. Each gluten-free kid’s birthday cake matters. Each batch of Salted Brownies matters. Each referred customer and word-of-mouth positive review matters. I plan to celebrate each and every one of these in 2025. Just as I’ll celebrate when I finish another chapter of a book. Stealing this from The Bear, but Every. Second. Counts.
What are the mundane, little actions in your life that matter? Is it choosing to take that phone call from your mom instead of texting that you’ll call her later? Is it putting the phone down to make eye contact with and say “thank you” to your barista? Is it actually sitting down to breakfast instead of grabbing an energy bar to eat on the way to work? Obviously, living in the moment is different for everyone, but if taking a minute for yourself with a sit-down breakfast is something that might matter to you, let me start by telling you about butter + sugar’s Toasted Granola.
I often describe butter + sugar’s Toasted Granola as “addictively snackable.” Is it a snack? Is it breakfast? It’s both! I first adapted this granola from an Eleven Madison Park recipe to round out my Christmas morning breakfast spread many years ago. I placed the granola on the table with some greek yogurt and fresh berries and watched as family members built their own yogurt parfaits. We ate most of the jar at breakfast, but some remained and throughout the rest of the day, I noticed as family members wandered past the jar, pouring out and eating handfuls as a crunchy snack. The next year, by popular demand, I had to put a jar of granola in each person’s stocking!
So, what makes it so tasty? I believe it’s the perfect blend of salty and sweet. There is a good amount of kosher salt in each batch, but it’s very well balanced with a combination of maple syrup and brown sugar. Toasted up with olive oil, the granola is the only product we make that is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. I think the other thing that makes our Toasted Granola so delicious is the basic-ness of the ingredients… and I mean “basic” in the most positive sense of the word. Certified Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats, raw almonds, raw pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, and cherry-juice infused dried cranberries. That’s it. No pumpkin spice. No cinnamon. No cocoa. No peanut butter. No honey. No nutmeg. No vanilla. It’s basic-ally delicious!
Whenever I bring our Toasted Granola to pop-up markets, people tell me it is “the best” granola they’ve ever had. The bag is unassuming, but the taste is not. Customers will buy one bag and come back the next week to buy three more. I will never say that butter + sugar treats are healthy. That’s not the point of a treat, after all. But, if you’re over cookies and cakes after the holidays, butter + sugar’s Toasted Granola is definitely a healthy-ish treat. And, if it helps you take that half-second to sit down and eat breakfast, it’s even healthy-ish-er.
In honor of all our new year’s resolutions, Mix ‘n Match and Shipping Orders of Toasted Granola are 20% off with discount code CRUNCHY20 throughout the month of January. So, try a bag for yourself. Sit and enjoy breakfast again. Or send it to someone you know who would love the excuse to sit and enjoy breakfast. Or, just buy it and eat it straight from the bag! Life is short after all. Treat yourself.