Struesli grain-free granola was invented years ago in the home kitchen of personal chef Adrienne Lufkin. She was looking for delicious and nutritious foods to break her fast each morning, as well as foods that wouldn’t trigger her chronic migraines. Every other granola out there either had high processed ingredients or were reloaded with sugar and sweeteners. Since she couldn’t find what she was looking for in stores, Adrienne went to the kitchen and – after several variations – created what has become Struesli Granola Redefined. 

Naming A New Product

For many founders, naming a product is just as hard as naming a new baby. Adrienne had been serving (what would become) Struesli out of her home kitchen to her own family and friends for many months before it became a product you could buy on shelves. And before it was sold on shelves, it had to have a name.

Adrienne asked her close friends and husband their thoughts and ideas about what her tasty invention should be called. And then one day, when she was out on a walk with her dogs, it came to her. 

Struesli = Streusel + Muesli 

The name Struesli is a mash-up of two words: streusel and muesli. The grain-free granola is light, crispy, and not loaded down with sugary sticky coatings, like most other granolas are. In that way, the texture is a bit more like muesli, a raw, uncooked mix of oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit that is popular in European countries. 

And since the best application for Struesli is as a topper (for yogurt, toast, cottage cheese, baked goods, and so much more) it’s a lot like streusel, a crumbly topping used to add texture and flavor to cakes, cupcakes, and other pastries. 

“I mashed those two words together and came up with the word Struesli while I was on a walk one day with my dogs,” explains Adrienne. “It sort of popped in my head and I thought, that's it! That's what it's called. It's called Struesli!"

How To Pronounce It 

Struesli rhymes with the words muesli and the name “Bruce Lee”, and it is pronounced like “Strooos-Lee.” 

Right on the package, Struesli declares that it is Granola Redefined. “I was purposeful in choosing the word Redefined,” says Adrienne. “Redefined means a transformation or a different way of looking at things, so I'm disrupting granola as we know it, and returning it to the nourishing food it was always meant to be."

Back To The Roots 

Many people think of granola as a health food. And granola really should be a good-for-you food — at face value — since it’s typically made of whole-grain oats, dried fruit, and nuts. But the unfortunate truth is that modern-day granola has become more of a dessert than a healthy breakfast. Unfortunately, most of the granolas you can buy are a source of added sugars, low-cost grains and oils, and/or artificial sweeteners and flavors.  

Being a personal chef with high standards for ingredient quality, Adrienne knew she couldn’t cut corners when bringing Struesli to life and making it available for everyone. She wanted to offer something new, getting back to the roots of what granola truly should be. So she created a grain-free granola based entirely on whole foods — like nutritious tiger nuts (a root vegetable) plus nuts, coconut, and seeds  — and without the addition of any added sugars or sweeteners at all, not even a drop of maple syrup!  

“It was important to me,” explains Adrienne, “that people now have a choice in a granola with truly no added sugars or sweeteners of any kind." 

Try Struesli Yourself

Written by Jessie Shafer, RD
August 16, 2025