Trail Mix Cookies
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Trail Mix Cookies are delicious, moist, chewy oatmeal cookies with good-for-you ingredients like oats, coconut, and toasted almonds. It’s so good that they may, in fact, be a sub for breakfast!
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Why I Love These Trail Mix Cookies
Cookies are a staple in our house, especially in the pre-college days before our son enrolled in an out-of-state university. In finals, I asked him what treat I could send. His answer? “Healthy-ish cookies.”
“Like breakfast cookies?” I asked.
With a resounding yes and a request for lots of fruit, I went to work on these Trail Mix Cookies. I knew they would ship well, be filled with the trail mix goodies he loves, and have enough cookie flavor to keep him and his roommates happy.
And they did– and his finals were spectacular!
What are Trail Mix Cookies?
They are everything you love in your favorite trail mix, just in cookie form. This is a variation of everyone’s favorite oatmeal cookie. Make it your own by adding dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips (or M&Ms, if you prefer), and seeds of choice.
Perfect for school lunches, picnics, 3:00 p.m. afternoon pick-me-ups, or even… college finals!
Ingredients for Trail Mix Cookies
You will find a complete list of ingredients in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here are the ingredients I like to use when making these health-ish cookies:
- Baking Ingredients: All-purpose flour, rolled oats (or quick oats), baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract.
- Sweetener: Brown sugar delivers the most flavor, but you can use granulated sugar, date sugar, or your preference
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, but salted butter works well too.
- Egg: for stability and texture
- Spices: Ground cinnamon is the perfect complement to oats
- Dried Fruit: I’m using raisins and dried cherries, but use your favorite dried fruit like cranberries, etc.
- Chocolate Chips: My family can’t imagine a trail mix without chocolate chips, so I’m using dark chocolate chips, but if you prefer, M&M’s also work!
- Other add-ins: These cookies are delicious with a combination of nuts and seeds. Pepitas or pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, and toasted almonds or pecans are nice additions.
Tips and Variations
One of the things I love about these trail mix cookies is that you can make endless variations and adaptations to this basic recipe. Here are a few tips and variations:
- Add-ins: You can use a prepared trail mix instead of the dried fruit, add-ins, and chocolate chips. If the trail mix is salted, you may want to eliminate the salt in the recipe.
- Baking: After removing the cookies from the oven, allow them to cool on the baking sheet to harden slightly before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Storage: Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They can also be refrigerated for longer storage (4-5 days) or frozen for up to 3 months.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
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Trail Mix Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or sugar of choice
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup old fashioned oats or quick oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup raisins and/or dried fruit of choice
- 1 cup nuts and seeds (like pumpkin seeds, coconut, and toasted almonds or pecans)
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix well. Stir in the oats, dried fruit, add-ins (if using) and chocolate chips.
- Drop by scoops onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cool on the sheet for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Add-ins: You can use a prepared trail mix, instead of the dried fruit, add-ins, and chocolate chips. If the trail mix is salted, you may want to eliminate the salt in the recipe.
- Baking: After removing the cookies from the oven, allow them to cool on the baking sheet to harden slightly before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can refrigerate them for longer storage (4-5 days) or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.