Homemade Tropical Trail Mix
19 comments » 
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a champion grazer when it comes to my eating habits. I am horrible when it comes to sitting down and eating a meal, especially for breakfast and lunch, and often times grab a few crackers here, a cookie there, a handful of something else a half hour later. I started a couple of weeks ago with a conscious effort to eat something healthy and somewhat substantial for breakfast and have done well making a habit of it over the last 10 days or so. Next up, I am tackling lunch and healthy snacks. If I actually plan what I’m going to eat and have it on hand, there is a much, much higher chance that I’ll eat it instead of just grabbing something that’s not very good for me. Enter trail mix.
When my mom, sister and I drove to New York back at the end of April, I picked up some snacks for car and found a big jug of tropical trail mix at Target. I fell in love with it and probably ate my weight in it. When I started thinking about the different types of healthy snacks I could throw together, I remembered that trail mix and decided to recreate it with some changes to suit my tastes.
The trail mix was delicious, but there were definitely some things I knew I would change up for my homemade version. For one thing, there were way too many raisins for my taste. I love raisins in my bagels, oatmeal, and cookies, but I don’t particularly enjoy eating them by the handful. I basically took a mix of my favorite dried fruits – papaya, mango, pineapple, dates and bananas – and added healthy nuts and some scoops of unsweetened coconut. The key to keeping this as healthy as possible is to use dried fruit that doesn’t have any sugar added and nuts that are raw (unsalted).
I’m excited and motivated to have secured at least one healthy snack to keep on hand, plus it will come in handy as a complement to our favorite granola when my Chief Culinary Consultant and I make our next road trip! It’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty, soft and crunchy, and has so many amazing flavors. Best of all, this is an incredibly forgiving “recipe”, so feel free to substitute your favorite dried fruit, nuts and seeds for a completely customized version.
What are some of your favorite healthy snacks?
One year ago: Buttermilk Doughnuts
Two years ago: Homemade Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
Three years ago: Spumoni Ice Cream Terrine
Four years ago: Strawberry Mirror Cake
Homemade Tropical Trail Mix
Yield: 6 cups (about 24 ¼-cup servings)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1½ cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup almonds
1 cup pistachios
1 cup dried banana chips (broken in half or quarters if large)
½ cup chopped dried dates
½ cup chopped dried mango
½ cup chopped dried papaya
½ cup chopped dried pineappleDirections:
1. Toss all ingredients together until evenly combined.
2. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Note: You can usually find unsweetened coconut in the organic/health food section of your local grocery store, or in the bulk bins if your store has them (you can also order from King Arthur Flour). I would ideally use the large flakes of coconut vs. the shredded that you see here, but I was all out!
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Oh I’m totally making this for my next mountain hike!
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Love the tropical flavours!
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The wonderful thing about making trail mix at home is being able to add the ingredients you want. I’m a daily grazer like you, but not a big fan of almonds, so when I make my tropical mix, I can just skip that part.
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I am on a “chopped olive mixed in low fat cream cheese spread on celery” kick.
I guess it’s healthier by comparison to what I might otherwise eat.
This Trail Mix will be great to use up my assortment of dried fruits leftover from a biscotti recipe.
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I just ran out of trail mix from Costco and this looks like a great alternative (although there are no M&M’s!)
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Tropical Trail Mix is my favorite!!
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I love trail mix and I love the combination of fruit and nuts that you used!
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I love making my own granola mixes, especially for when we’ll be traveling! My husband and I always seem to need something to munch on!
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oh this one looks good, I can totally use it on my 12 hours flight next week!
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All of my favorite dried fruits and nuts in one easy, portable trail mix. I made a granola last month with all of these flavors! But I’m thinking I might nix the oats and go for pure fruit n nuts next time. Bet it would be fab with toasted coconut!
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My mouth was watering as I was reading this. I’m definitely going to pin this recipe. I’m like you, as far as granola having too many raisins, so your recipe is PERFECT!!! Your granola has EVERYTHING I love. Almonds &
pistachios (especially pistachios) are two of my favorite nuts. LOVE LOVE THIS recipe!! Thanks for sharing!
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Oh my goodness, this gave me a flashback to the kind of trailmix my mom always bought when we were young! I had totally forgotten about that until now.
Crazy!
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We love trial mix! I am all over this tropical version – YUM!
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This would be a huge trigger food for me. Indulging moderately would be a challenge. That being said, I would love to have some.
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looks good
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I think I have to go now and buy a similar mix…! I would perhaps add some walnuts, dried goji berries and figs.
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Trail mix is the perfect portable snack!
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I’ve nominated you for “Very Inspiring Blogger Award”!
Come check it out at http://www.twogirlscookingblog.com/2012/08/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Thanks for the awesome posts! I’ve used many of yours!!
Patricia
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What a great idea to incorporate all of those tropical flavors into a trail mix! Must make soon!
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