About Us
– creating great snack foods for over 10 years
Where it all began…
Leslie Kielson, Founder
In the summer of 2010, my wife and I scheduled a 10-day bicycle trip through Northern Vermont. We knew from past experience that there were very few – if any – good snacks available to pack for these trips that would provide long-lasting energy without a ton of refined sugar.
So, in the days before we left, I began experimenting with different ingredients, including healthier, natural sweeteners like maple syrup, to create a healthier alternative for our trip. While making our way through Vermont’s beautiful roads, we saw for ourselves just how much better we performed and felt eating these homemade energy bars and were amazed at how just a small amount powered us up the many Vermont hills!
After testing my creation on friends and family, Battenkill Brittle was born.
Since then, we have added other nutritious products, all gluten-free tested, all low-sugar and all delicious!
In 2018, we adopted a new name, Battenkill Wholesome Foods, to encompass all our products.
“These seeded bars, crumble, and cereal will give you a boost.”
Delicately crisp and lightly sweetened sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seed brittle and crumble make for a delicious and healthful munching. Leslie Kielson’s original purpose for making the brittle was to have a protein-packed, low-sugar, energy food…
Baked on Premises
Our “facility” is a small commercial kitchen in the basement of our solar-powered log house. All our products are made and packaged almost entirely by hand by me and Donna, my one employee! We crank out about 250 pounds of Brittle and Crumble a week and then Donna packages almost all of it.
My wife, Liz, and I live on 10 acres with our dog, Tillie and our cat, Jack. We have a huge vegetable garden where we grow all our own vegetables, canning and freezing lots to eat all winter long. For 9 years, we also had 3 sheep who were our beloved girls. 2 have since passed on and since you can’t have just one sheep, we found a wonderful new home for the third, Faleece, where she is now very happily part of a flock of 20 sheep.
“Through the package I could see the ingredients – sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup and brown rice syrup – and I knew that’s what I wanted to fuel my ride. And it tasted really good! On my ride it was exactly what I needed. I keep one in my backpack for when I don’t have time to eat a meal and feel hungry, Battenkill Bars hold me over. I tell my clients when choosing a bar, look at the ingredients. Can you identify what they are? I would absolutely recommend them to everyone.”
– Mironda Meyer, Fitness Coach
