Mightylicious Founder Carolyn Haeler Built a Gluten-Free Cookie Empire From a Celiac Diagnosis

Carolyn Haeler was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012, and the diagnosis meant giving up nearly every cookie she loved. A former Department of Defense consultant turned stockbroker, Haeler spent years buying gluten-free cookies off the shelf and finding the same problem every time: dry, chalky, crumbling apart before the first bite was finished.

Rather than accept it, Haeler taught herself to bake her way out of the problem. Working out of a small New York apartment, she went directly to a mill to source rice flour fine enough for baking, then spent months developing a proprietary gluten-free flour blend engineered to behave like wheat flour. The company that emerged from that kitchen experiment, Mightylicious, is now a nationwide brand sold in more than 40 states.

The brand’s best-selling cookie has a family history of its own. Haeler adapted her own grandmother’s century-old oatmeal coconut recipe to her gluten-free flour blend, and the result became Mightylicious’s signature flavor, the Gluten Free Oatmeal Coconut Cookie.

Haeler’s path to retail followed the same directness. She brought three sample bags of cookies into a Whole Foods, asked an employee to try one, and within days the store had asked Mightylicious to become a supplier. A crowdfunding campaign to fund production followed, and Haeler has said she raised $ 5 million in 48 hours after cold-emailing 10,000 potential investors.

The Gluten Free Oatmeal Coconut Cookie has since been named a Good Housekeeping Best Snack Award winner in both 2025 and 2026. Every Mightylicious cookie is certified vegan, kosher, gluten-free, and non-GMO, and the company now sells seven cookie flavors along with a line of gluten-free flour blends.

A Back to School Pick

Each 6.4-ounce bag of Mightylicious cookies carries an MSRP of $7.99, with the cookies individually wrapped inside to preserve freshness for lunchboxes, travel, and classroom sharing. The cookies are sold online at Mightylicious.com and Amazon, along with retailers including Kroger, Kings, Giant Food, Harris Teeter and Gristedes.

Shoppers can save 20% on online orders through the promo code SCHOOLBUS20, an offer Mightylicious is running to help families stock up before the school year begins.