Addictive Energy Trail Mix is made with a crunchy, chewy combo of nuts, dried fruit, and just a touch of chocolate to help you snack your way through any slump.
We’ve talked about food holidays before, and since I talk about food pretty much all the time, I’m sure we’ll talk about them again. Like, right now, for starters. See, August 31 is National Trail Mix Day, and the lovely Brittany from Eating Bird Food and Nuts.com are partnering to hold a recipe contest to celebrate. Since I’ve grown up on trail mix and it’s one of my favorite things ever, I couldn’t not participate.
I’m even using double negatives. That’s a grammar no-no. That’s how much I love trail mix: I’ll throw away grammar rules.
Anyway, trail mix and I go way back. My grandparents always had a Tupperware full of trail mix to offer for pre- and post-dinner (and anytime) snacking. My grandpa would shake the container at me and I’d go all in on the sweet-and-salty perfection. And sometimes, yes, I’d totally just pick out the M&Ms. Still do on occasion.
Don’t lie. You do it, too.
Also, trail mix was my sole source of raisins for several years of my life. I pretended not to like raisins, but I could still discreetly enjoy them out of the trail mix container. Now, I just accept that I like raisins and eat them whenever I please. That said, I still think they’re best covered in trail mix salt.
These days, I snack on my own little trail mix creations pretty regularly. I toss nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and usually a little chocolate together and go to town. It’s the perfect customizable, nutrition-dense, not-too-messy option to give me fuel, whether I’m working at my desk or on-the-go.
And not only are the components of trail mix totally customizable, but you can do a lot with a given mix itself. Sound crazy? Let’s discuss. You can:
mix it in a muffin
Take about 2/3 c. trail mix and use it in place of the raisins and chocolate chips in this recipe for hearty vegan trail mix muffins.
blend it as a butter
We all know I love nut butter. Making your own nut butter really couldn’t be easier, and you can even use trail mix to do it! Throw your favorite trail mix into a food processor and blend with a little neutral oil (like in this recipe) to yield a sweet-and-salty spread.
bake it in a bar
Use about 1-3/4 c. trail mix in place of the nuts and dried fruit in this recipe to make a simple trail mix snack more compact and extra portable.
use it as a topping
So many foods (oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, smoothie bowls, etc.) are better with toppings. Obviously, you can pick all the toppings individually every time you eat… but you can simplify your life by just tossing on some trail mix. All the flavors and textures in trail mix make it the ideal one-and-done topping.
snack on it straight
This is the most common way I eat trail mix. I love playing with my food and crafting the perfect bite, and a bowl of trail mix lets you do just that over and over again.
I’ve been showing you pictures of it the whole post, so now I want to share my favorite mix with you! It’s made with tons of salty pistachios, chopped hazelnuts, sweet dried cherries and apples, crunchy freeze-dried blueberries, crisp coconut, and rich chocolate chips. It’s texture- and flavor-rich, and it’s crazy-addictive. Hence the name: Addictive Energy Trail Mix.
I hope you make it and love it as much as I do!
- 1/4 c. dried, unsweetened cherries
- 1/4 c. dried, unsweetened apples
- 1/4 t. cinnamon
- Pinch salt, nutmeg, black pepper
- 2 c. roasted, salted pistachios (no shells)
- 1/2 c. chopped hazelnuts
- 1/2 c. flaked, unsweetened coconut
- 1 oz. freeze-dried blueberries
- 1/4 c. mini dark chocolate chips
- Toss dried cherries and apples with cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper. This makes them much less sticky! If your cherries and apples aren't already about the size of raisins, I'd recommend chopping them up before adding the spices.
- Combine spiced dried fruit with pistachios, hazelnuts, coconut, freeze-dried blueberries, and chocolate chips.
- Enjoy! I divided the trail mix into 1/4 c. servings, but you can definitely store it all in a big ziploc bag.
Click to view nutrition facts for Addictive Energy Trail Mix
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Need a snack? Munch on this Addictive Energy Trail Mix from @EllenSlater! #nuttytrailmix #fitfluential Share on X
Your turn:
Are you a grammar freak? I am.
What do you put in your trail mix?
Guilty as charged – Grammar Police!
Growing up my mom would hand us the local newspaper and have us highlight errors we found (they must not have the best editor!).
I love trail mix combo’s so I can’t wait to try this one for our next snack mix.
LOL I hate reading typos/grammar issues, but it happens all the time. I kind of wish most people cared enough about it to hire me as a freelance editor because I’d gladly do it 😉
I’d love to know if you try it!
I wish that my life was made out of trail mix. I seriously have no power around it. That is why you won’t find any TJ’s mix in my house…. both because I won’t buy it and because it lasts about 2 seconds!
A life made of trail mix is one I’d be happy to live ;D
Trail mix and granola are my life savers…I could probably survive just on those and smoothie bowls! LOVE Nuts.com too – my go-to place for celiac safe nuts and other goodies!
I could eat trail mix and smoothie bowls for every meal. No shame 😀
Trail mix butter!! Now that sounds pretty snazzy 😉
I concur! I’m excited to try that one out!
This looks amazeballs, and I’ve never thought about putting my trail mix in a blender for butter. 🙂 I need to do that. I totally pick out the M’n’m’s too. Guilty as charged. 😀 And this looks so good. I love the buttery smooth taste of hazelnuts and pairing them with salty pistachios just equals deliciousness in my mind.
My favorite trail mix blend would probably be raisins, peanuts, some sort of DARK chocolate, and maybe some granola in there!
Thanks, Emily! It’s delicious – definitely just demolished a little bowl of it 😀
That sounds so good! That reminds me of the classic one my grandparents keep around!
Yum this looks excellent! I love chocolate chips, peanut butter chips,mixed nuts and granola!
Thanks, Heather! Yours faves sounds perfect, too 😀 Hard to go wrong with a good trail mix!
using it as a topping is such a great idea! I bet it would be great on yog or cottage cheese. Trail mix is the besttt snack!
I had it on top of some coconut Greek yogurt just now – such a good idea!
I’m so bad at portion control with trail mix that it’s not even funny! But it’s so dang good. Yours looks wonderful, Ellen!
Hahaha I always portion it out into “individual” servings. Aaaand sometimes I still have more than one. 🙂
Ooh, I am totally intrigued by your black pepper addition!
Whenever I make trail mix I always have to have a balance of salty sweet flavours with crunchy and chewy textures so it’s always nuts + dried fruit + chocolate 😛
I love using just a tiny bit of black pepper whenever I use cinnamon. It adds a little extra complexity 😀
That sounds like the perfect trail mix formula to me!
Gosh I love trail mix but cant put away quite a few handfuls and feel icky. This looks so tasty- love the addition of dried blueberries and cherries!
Hahaha I’ve certainly been known to overdo it on the trail mix, too! Thanks, Kerri 🙂
LOL I can’t do the trail mix with M&M’s anymore. I totally just eat the M&M’s and the peanuts just stay in the bag forever. I love your version because it has REAL nuts (not just those measly cocktail peanuts). Totally trying in bar form. NOM!
Thanks, Chrissa – I definitely enjoy some variety in my trail mix 🙂 I’d love to know if you try the bars!