Are you looking for a super quick, filling, and nutritious snack?! One that doesn’t take hours to make or cost a billion dollars? Yeah, me too.
Enter, Trail Mix!
I’ll be totally honest here, sometimes I just buy trail mix already made. But, you pay for convenience, right?
Homemade Trail Mix is better, but sometimes you just buy the mix and then remember why you don’t prefer to do that.
“Mom, I don’t like this nut!”
“Ew! What is this shriveled up thing in my trail mix!?”
“Mom, the ratio of raisins to nuts isn’t satisfactory to me today like it was yesterday.”
When you make your own, you control what goes into the batch. This is a benefit if you:
A. Have allergies.
B. Have children.
C. Want a good excuse to eat more chocolate (who doesn’t?)
I make huge batches of Trail Mix and I’m going to give you my general formula below and a video at the end where I actually make a batch for you.
You can store your Trail Mix in a plastic Rubbermaid type of container or in a Ziploc bag.
A general Trail Mix Formula:
- One part nuts (any variety; we like a mix of peanuts and cashews, but I also like to use mixed nuts)
- One part dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries, or any other fruit, banana chips, etc.)
- One part chocolate (chips or chunks)
- One part add-ins
Add-ins can be any of the following: candy corn, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, etc), coconut, pretzels, basic plain cereal (Chex, Cheerios, etc.), or any other type of fun seasonal candy.
I like to buy most of my ingredients in bulk at Sam’s Club, but sometimes get items at Aldi or at the grocery store. You can buy end-of-season candy clearance to use in Trail Mix to save a buck or two.
Make up a big batch and keep it in the cabinet for quick snacks! It’s good to take to work with you or in the car when you get the mommy munchies.
NOTE: chocolate melts in hot cars. Just sayin’. It’s still good, but rather messy and sometimes gets on your behind.
What’s your favorite Trail Mix add-in?
I am so excited that I can make this with DF chocolate chunks!
Yes! Those Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks are the best!
— Julie, HH Team
YUM! One idea is to fruit leathers for the “dried fruit”. My boys would actually eat this 🙂
That’s a good idea. I wonder if they would stick to the other stuff? Or not. Hmmmmmm.
Hey Stacy, I love your blog and also that you’re a fellow introvert!! I’ve found that mixing one part almond slices, one part coconut flakes with 1/2 part chocolate chips to be our quick go to snack and oh so yummy, too! God bless!!
I’m so glad to see that you didn’t leave the chocolate out. 🙂
I like using m&m’s. They don’t melt as easily as the chocolate chips.
Absolutely! We love those too!
When I was very little my mom made this with shredded coconut, raisins, chocolate chips and NO peanuts served in little Dixie cups to limit portions, she called it Heavenly Hash. All those sweet bits in litle cup are heavenly. Years later Dad learned about outdoor life and mixed up peanuts, raisins and M&Ms and told us it was called GORP for good old raisins and peanuts. Apparently the chocolate got added to trail mix even in the crunchy 70s. The excuse I was given back then from the man who shared his recipe saiid you had to have a fast acting sugar for blood sugar lows on the trail, but I have found that raisins are fairly quick. I think chocolate lovers just want chocolate with their nuts.
Some of my family members call it GORP! 🙂
I had to laugh at your comment about the Bush Bean recipe–we toured their facility in Tennesse recently and ate lunch at the Cafe. It’s a really nice, familly-friendly place.
Well, that sounds delicious! Was there a dog?
How do you get your kids to not pick out the chocolate chips and leave the rest behind “for you mama”?
I give them little cups of it. They don’t get to pick it out of the container. 🙂
Yum, I like the ability to add extra chocolate. Lol. Just wanted to warn you about pistachios, which I love. A few weeks ago I was on a pistachio kick and at one point I was ducking on a shell and when I went to throw it away I noticed a dried up maggot larvae inside. EEEEWWW. Then I did some research online and come to find out is a fairly common occurrence with pistachios. Now don’t get me wrong maggot larvae are natural, but it totally turned me off from pistachios. Just wanted to share so you would be aware!
I’m with you – Ew! These are shelled though.