This Holiday Trail Mix is an easy recipe that comes together in minutes. It’s a sweet and salty snack, with dried fruit, chocolate chips, and both sugared and salted nuts. Use it for a homemade Christmas gift idea, or serve it alongside fresh fruit, cheese, and crackers as an appetizer.
This trail mix is a subtle holiday snack. It’s not “hit-you-over-the-head” Christmasy, with green and red M&Ms or little bits of candy cane. It can be used for several different holidays, including Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and works well as part of a larger cheese plate.
How to Make Homemade Trail Mix
Step 1: Gather the ingredients
You’ll need the following 5 items.
A cup of salted nuts. This recipe uses Marcona almonds, but you can use regular salted almonds, salted cashews, or any other type of nut.
A cup of dried fruit. These are unsweetened dried cranberries, however another dried fruit like cherries or blueberries would also work.
A cup of chocolate chips. I like to use semi sweet chocolate chips as they’re not too bitter or sweet, but dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate would all be fine.
A cup of glazed nuts. A little crunch and a little sweetness together. These are glazed pecans, but you could also use walnuts or even honey roasted peanuts.
Half a cup of a fun extra. These pepitas are great because they provide a nice color, but you could use another type of seed (like sunflower seeds) or something completely different like shaved coconut.
Step 2: Combine everything in a bowl
Pour each ingredient into a large bowl and stir with a spoon until it’s well mixed. Serve it in a bowl, on an appetizer board, or store it in a container to take with you on a winter hike.
If you’re serving it for a holiday, you can add a couple garnishes on the edges or around the bowl of trail mix. Maybe something edible like rosemary and a couple cranberries. Or purely decorative like little pinecones or small pieces of evergreen tree branches. There are lots of options to make it festive.
You may have a couple of questions about trail mix – let’s get to those now.
What is trail mix?
Trail mix is a snack typically made up of nuts, dried fruit, granola, and sometimes chocolate. It was created to take along when on hikes, or on the trail (hence the name).
How do you store trail mix?
You should store it in an airtight container in a cool and dry place. It should keep for up to a month this way.
Is trail mix healthy?
It depends on your definition of healthy! This trail mix has chocolate and sweetened nuts so is not the healthiest version of trail mix. There are other trail mixes without both of those that are healthier options.
RECIPE TIPS
- Use whichever ingredients you have on hand or that you like best. Don’t like Marcona almonds? Use regular salted almonds. Really into dark chocolate? Put it in.
- You can easily halve the amount of all the ingredients to make a smaller portion, or double it to make a larger portion.
- This is a great snack for kids – both for them to help make, and for them to eat.
If you’re looking for more snackable holidays foods, try out these recipes:
- Cranberry Orange Dark Chocolate Bark
- Peppermint Bark
- Chocolate Covered Orange Slices
- No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Or check out these gluten free holiday desserts!
- Gluten Free Poppyseed Pound Cake
- Crustless Banana Cream Pie Cups
- Pear Crisp
- Chocolate Hazelnut Rum Truffles
If you try this Homemade Trail Mix recipe (or any other recipe) then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below. It totally makes my day to hear how a recipe worked out for you.
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more good to eat, gluten free and Whole30 foods
Pin this Holiday Trail Mix for Later!
Recipe for Gluten Free Trail Mix for the Holidays
Holiday Trail Mix (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup candied pecans
- 1 cup marcona almonds
- 1 cup chocolate chips semi-sweet
- ½ cup pepitas
Instructions
Items Needed:
- Measuring cups
- A medium-sized bowl
Directions:
- Measure out each ingredient with a measuring cup, then dump them into a medium-sized bowl.
- Mix the ingredients around (with your fingers is fine), then pour into a dish and serve.
Notes
- Use whichever ingredients you have on hand or that you like best. Don't like Marcona almonds? Use regular salted almonds. Really into dark chocolate? Put it in.
- You can easily halve the amount of all the ingredients to make a smaller portion, or double it to make a larger portion.
- Store in an airtight container in a dark and dry place for up to 1 month.
1 Comment