In 2017, she quit her job to bake full time. Spending 15-hour days trying to perfect the recipe, it took three months to capture the taste and texture of a traditional cookie in a gluten-free variety. Ambitious to perfect such a cookie for all palates, Haeler spent months of trial-and-error learning how to best manufacture gluten-free cookies that remained flavorful throughout the entire commercialization process.

“A majority of gluten-free products on the market were created by a parent for a child with a severe food allergy,” Haeler said. “They haven’t been confined to the lifestyle of not eating gluten anymore. There’s a lot of sympathy in the products on the market, but there isn’t a lot of empathy, and that’s why Mightylicious stands out.”

For Haeler, rice flour was the winning gluten alternative. To produce a baked good that delivers texture, shape and taste, Mightylicious uses a proprietary flour blend of rice flour, corn starch, tapioca and potato starches, milk powder and xanthan gum. The rice flour serves two functions: It creates a homogeneous dough similar to one with gluten and helps the cookies maintain the desired moisture level.

“I realized I needed to use rice flour for the product to taste good, but it was the weakest,” Haeler said. “It doesn’t develop a strong dough or rise well in baked goods. I discovered it had to be milled to a super fine spec — practically silky in nature — and ground to feel like corn starch.”

As the company got its feet off the ground, Mightylicious operated out of a rented facility to self-manufacture for the first year and a half. In 2019, Haeler transitioned to a co-manufacturer in New Jersey.