February 18, 2022

A Short Story about Ginger Spiced Pat’s Granola

Have you tried Ginger Spiced Pat’s Granola? Upon tasting it, a stranger remarked “this tastes homemade like I remember my Grandma making food for our family during the holidays.”

Hug in a bowl

Ginger Spiced was conceived after eating hundreds (no exaggeration) of bowls of oatmeal over the years. Whenever it was served to me, I had to “doctor” it up with cinnamon, ginger, butter, maple syrup and dried fruit, like raisins, cherries, figs or apricots. It needed an oomph to make it taste palatable.

Pat’s Slow Cooked Oatmeal

Slow cooked oats with dried cranberries, grated orange peel and fresh nutmeg is a favorite breakfast.

As I considered new flavors, it seemed relatively simple to recreate this special taste for granola. Testing, testing, and more recipe testing. A little of little of this, more of that and then making production batches that could be scaled. That was the challenge. You cannot just double, triple or quadruple the recipe. I only wish it were that simple. And, I was my own harshest critic in evaluating what I considered to be a unique taste.

Montmorency cherries from Michigan

Montmorency dried cherries from Michigan are an essential ingredient in Ginger Spiced Pat’s Granola.

Once the magical blend was perfected, it was a jaw dropping moment for me to see the final production run before Ginger Spiced was bagged. I kept pinching myself that a new flavor was about to be put out in the market.

Ginger Spiced Pat’s Granola

And to this day, I still love the flavors, the look of the granola and most importantly how it tastes. A local chef recently ripped open a bag of Ginger Spiced and crammed a handful into his mouth. He promptly yelled over to another chef, “hey you really need to taste this NOW!” And just like that, I acquired a new retail customer--thanks Colin and Rasul. THIS is what I love about making granola!

Need a delicious recipe using Ginger Spiced Pat’s Granola? Pumpkin Mousse is perfect.

Pat Bennett is the founder and President of Pat's Granola, a Cleveland based food and collaborative lifestyle brand. Pat's Granola is sold online at www.patsgranola.com and is also available at select Northeast Ohio businesses including: