How to Make a Great Trail Mix (Hiking not necessary)
Trail mix is one of those things that I thought would have no place in my life. The words “trail mix” conjured up images of pleated khaki shorts, puffy socks, ugly hiking boots and lots and lots of dirt.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being in nature. But I’m not one to go hiking… um… ever, and I’ll never understand the appeal of sleeping outdoors. Walking uphill for a long time? Seriously, why?
I was never a fan of trail mix anyway, and I realized recently it was because I’m not a fan of peanuts or raisins. Those two things make up the majority of commercial trail mixes I see in stores. (Probably because peanuts and raisins are cheap!)
It wasn’t until we started having dried fruit and nuts around our house on a regular basis that I grew to like the combination, once peanuts and raisins were out of the mix.
Trail mix has become one of my favorite snacks. It’s filling, full of healthy fats, lots of nutrients, and has a bit of sweetness. Making your own is so easy, too! Like any recipe, flavors and textures need to be balanced, so I’m going to share with you some secrets of making a great trail mix.
Dried fruit I had in my pantry: pineapple, cherries, coconut, mangoes, and golden raisins. (I find the golden ones more likeable than the dark ones.)
Secrets to making a great trail mix (according to Natalie)
1. Balance the flavors
Make sure you have something sweet, something salty, and something sour-ish. Dried fruit offers a perfect amount of sweetness, but watch the preservatives and sugar content in those. Sometimes it’s not really dried fruit, but candied fruit they’re selling. Dried cherries or cranberries are fairly tart… just the right amount for me.
Nuts are a perfect bite of savory or salty. Usually I buy raw, unsalted nuts, but I like to throw in one type that’s salted to add some extra saltiness to the mixture. If you have a nut allergy, go for seeds! Sunflower seeds, pepitas, and pinenuts are great.
And here we have sunflower seeds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, sliced almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, and cashews.
Clearly, I need to clean out my pantry. I wasn’t aware I had that many nuts.
2. Balance the texture and ratio
An all-fruit or an all-nut trail mix wouldn’t be at all interesting. Make sure you’ve got a chewy element (dried fruit) as well as something crunchy (nuts!). I prefer my mixture to be half chewy, half crunchy. Also, if the fruit or nuts are large, chop them so everything is roughly the same size.
3. Add some chocolate.
No, seriously. Do it. Even if you just add a little, chocolate offers so much richness and makes the whole mixture better, no matter what you put in it. I like to throw in a giant handful little bit of semi-sweet mini chips.
I literally threw everything I had in those other photos into one bowl. And it still turned out great. My favorite mixture is equal amounts of dried mango, dried pineapple, dried coconut, salted macadamia nuts, raw cashews, raw almonds, and, of course, chocolate chips.
And there you go. The perfect 3PM sweet tooth snack. The perfect road trip snack. The perfect park day snack.
Oh ya. I suppose it would be good to take hiking, too. (Not that I would ever know…)
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The Life of Clare — September 26, 2012 @ 5:42 am
Im actually heading off on a 4 days hike tomorrow. We mixed up our own trail mix, 100g per day, and added red frogs cut in half, macadamia, cashews and home dried fruit. I’m looking forward to both the hike and the snack!
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Natalie replied: — September 26th, 2012 @ 7:42 am
Um, Clare… what are red frogs?!
The Life of Clare replied: — September 26th, 2012 @ 1:06 pm
Red frogs are red Shey lollies in the shape of a frog. I think I must send you some!!!
The Life of Clare replied: — September 26th, 2012 @ 1:06 pm
Oh my god! They’re chewy lollies!
Natalie replied: — September 26th, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
So… like a gummy candy? Gotcha :)
Danielle — September 26, 2012 @ 6:58 am
Ahh, the homemade trail mix – don’t forget that pine nuts (a.k.a. Piñon) are a treenut. I have a dried cherry, peanut, dried apple (chopped) , with coconut trail mix that I love, since I can’t eat treenuts, I have to stick to peanuts only. The coconut adds a bit of crunch as well.
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Natalie replied: — September 26th, 2012 @ 7:41 am
Oh, I love dried apples in trail mix, too!
Actually pine nuts aren’t tree nuts, but seeds. Those with tree nut allergies may have a reaction to them as well, but pine nuts are distantly related to tree nuts.
Naomi — September 26, 2012 @ 11:33 am
I am absolutely the same about peanuts and raisins…. although I have issues with most dried fruit, cranberries and pineapple are my go to options for everything that calls for it usually.
I know what you mean about watching out for sugar content though, trying to get dried cranberries that aren’t sweetened beyond belief is really hard in the UK, or so I’ve found!
Your fave mix sounds awesome though :) x
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Bree — September 26, 2012 @ 12:02 pm
Looks like amazing granola!
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Julia {The Roasted Root} — September 26, 2012 @ 3:01 pm
YUM! Hiking may not be necessary for this trail mix, but this trail mix is necessary for hiking! Your guide is great and your choice of fruit and nuts looks awesome – I especially LOVE mango and coconut. I’d probably throw the texture and flavor ratio waaaaay off by adding a high ratio of chocolate but since I’m taking it hiking with me, I have a nice little excuse ;) Fun post!
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Aggie — September 30, 2012 @ 2:45 pm
I haven’t been by here in so long & I’m sorry!! Hope you and your beautiful fam are doing well.
I’m a sucker for trail mix. And hiking. Though there’s no much hiking in Fl unfortunately :( I was just telling my kids we need to put together a blend this week – yum!
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