I discovered the most delicious trail mix a few weeks ago at World Market but I realized the cost per ounce was insane so I decided to make it myself after my son and I downed the whole bag in a few days. A week later, I had already ordered and received each ingredient in bulk from Amazon Prime and got ready to mix it up. After filling a few of the giant-sized baggies with all the mail order yumminess, I realized I had a big problem…I have a tendency to eat trail mix like it’s popcorn…could I handle this much trail mix? Could my thighs? No. Probably not.
The dry ingredients all mixed up in a large bowl.
I popped online and found a recipe for trail mix bars that used a honey mixture as a binder and thought having bars around would be better for my self-control than the loose mix, so I set to work. This is less of a recipe and more of a suggestion, because honestly you could put anything in these bars as long as you use just enough of the binder to hold them together.
After adding the honey binder, the mix is still pretty loose. You just want to coat each dry bit in the tiniest amount of the liquid.
Most of my nuts and dried berries came in 8oz. or 16oz. bags, so I’ll post with those measurements, but keep in mind that you really could make these with any amount of stuff as long as you increase or decrease the honey mixture as needed. To keep the sugar low, use enough of the binder to JUST hold the mixture together…you’re making trail mix bars…not trail mix brittle! 😉
Trail Mix Bars
Makes a lot…
- 1 cup honey (or brown rice syrup)
- 4 tablespoons almond butter (or any nut or seed butter)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 8 oz. dried golden berries (dried Physalis)
- 8 oz. dried white mulberries
- 8 oz. dried Goji berries
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1 cup salted cashews
- 16 oz. toasted (or raw) pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 2 cups toasted (or raw) Brazil nuts, very roughly chopped
- 1 cup jumbo raisins
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, allowing some paper to go over the edges of the pan and spray lightly with cooking spray. Heat and stir honey, almond butter, and coconut oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat until everything is melted together and just starting to bubble. Allow the mix to bubble for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Set the pan aside to cool slightly. Mix together golden berries, mulberries, goji berries, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts and raisins in a large bowl. Pour half of the slightly cooled honey mixture over the trail mix and stir until each bit is covered with the honey. Add more liquid a little at a time until everything is coated, but not overly wet. Dump the mixture into the prepared sheet pan and using oiled hands, press down until evenly spread out. I also used an oiled piece of parchment paper on top of the mixture to smooth it all out and press it down. It kept sticking to my hands, even when they were oiled, so the paper helped a lot. Pop in the fridge or freezer until firm. Use the paper that goes over the edges to pull it out of the pan. Cut into bars with a sharp knife. Store in an air tight container, layered with parchment or plastic wrap in the fridge or freezer for 2 weeks for the best results or at room temperature for 1 week.
A combo of oiled hands and oiled parchment work best in pressing the mix into a firm block ready for chilling.
Using a sharp knife, cut these into whatever size bar you like after chilling them.
delia-hauser.com 