Sarasota resident creates bean-based dessert mixes

Jordan Wenck wants people to eat their chickpeas.

She says when they try her Beanie Bites mix and products, which will debut at the Sarasota Farmers Market on Oct. 4 after coming to the Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch in March, they will be eager to eat them too. 

In fact, she says the baking mixes, which are made with beans and are gluten free, dairy free, and have no added sugar, have been a hit with even some of the pickiest kid eaters.

“Most people don't wake up and crave a bowl of minestrone,” said Wenck, who lives in Sarasota. “But people will crave waffles and muffins and pancakes, and so we're just sneaking a really, really healthy food, and beans, they’re so simple, but they’re so powerful.”

Beans for

Wenck has been baking healthy items for years and had long been interested in creating a product centered on chickpeas, which are actually a type of bean known as garbanzo beans.

She said once she realized she could sell Beanie Bites, which she originally created for friends and family members, as a mix, and perfect it using the feedback of customers, she hasn’t looked back.

"I would say the majority of people that try it say that you can't tell a difference,” she said. “You would never know that there's beans in Beanie Bites. It would be probably closer to baking with a whole wheat flour."

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As of Sept. 26, Wenck offers two mixes: the original created from chickpeas, which can be used to make waffles, pancakes, muffins, breads and cookies, and a denser black bean-based chocolate mix for brownies. 

She is in the process of reformulating the chocolate mix to also use chickpeas, which she says are more versatile, and hopes this version will replace the current mix. 

Visitors to her booths can also purchase already-baked items made with Beanie Bites. 

Wenck says part of what has driven her health journey is a history of chronic disease on both sides of her family. 

That includes her biological grandmothers on both sides; her mother, who died of multiple sclerosis when Wenck was 20; and her sister, who has an autoimmune disease. 

“I always just have been very called toward health and wellness, partly because I don't want to get sick myself, but there’s just something about it that I feel very drawn to,” she said.

While obtaining her master's degree in human nutrition from the University of Alabama, she was employed in roles involving the brands of small businesses which sold online, and says as a result she fell in love with what those businesses offered the community.

She calls Beanie Bites, which she began working on in November 2024, the perfect intersection of business, social media and e-commerce, and with the expansion to the Sarasota Farmers Market, it has now become a full-time endeavor.

In addition to the farmers markets, Beanie Bites can also be purchased on Wenck’s website and shipped anywhere in the country.

"It's been a very exciting year for me, building my dream business," she said.

What Wenck loves about beans is their numerous health benefits. 

“Beans have been studied to add, on average, four years to your life, and there's so many studies that say beans help with inflammation, they help reduce your cholesterol, they help with detoxing,” she said. 

Wenck uses only sprouted beans, which are considered more nutritious than unsprouted ones, and which are also more difficult to source. 

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"It's not like I just order from a catalog in Sysco, which is what most restaurants and food vendors do," she said. "Every ingredient is very specifically sourced, and it really makes a difference in the taste, for sure."

She said the process of sourcing involves lots of searching online, phone calls and testing samples she receives. 

"As I grow, I really would like to purchase directly from the farm," she said. 

Nutritional scientists say that when a bean is sprouted, it becomes easier to digest, as well as to absorb its nutritional profile. 

“I'm sure you've heard a lot of people say beans upset my stomach, or they give me gas, or I can't digest it, or whatever," Wenck said. "Sprouted beans are easier to digest, so I've had a lot of people already tell me that, normally I can't eat beans, but I can eat Beanie Bites."

Wenck spends about three days a week in a commercial kitchen, one day of which involves making the mix, which is about 120 bags per day, and the other days baking, while her boyfriend, Tyler Oakley, helps her seal all of the packages. 

While her nutritional background informs the recipes, she's attempting to build her skills on the baking side.

That includes taking a course with Alina Eisenhauer, a gluten-free celebrity baker who who has competed on the Food Network.

Wenck says her efforts have been well-received in Lakewood Ranch and thinks that will continue to be the case as she expands to the Sarasota Farmers Market. 

"I hope to inspire people that it is possible to eat really delicious food and feel really good afterwards," she said. "You can have it all."