My kids aren’t fans of hiking (yet), but if I tell them they can make their own trail mix, suddenly the prospect of trekking through the woods becomes a lot more exciting. There are limitless ingredients and combinations that you can put in your homemade trail mix, but I’ll give a fairly extensive list to get your combinatorial juices flowing.

But first, here are some general requirements for good trail mix ingredients:

• They don’t melt or fall apart
• They are not too overpowering
• There’s a good variety (“Mom, can my trail mix just be a bag of marshmallows?” No, no it cannot.)

And here’s The List

Nuts and Seeds

• Peanuts
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Pistachios
• Macadamia nuts
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Brazil nuts (you know, it you really want to splurge…)
• Pepitas
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumkin seeds

Dried Fruits

• Apples
• Bananas
• Apricots
• Pears
• Pineapple
• Raisins
• Craisins (the hotter older sister of the raisin)
• Cherries
• Kiwi
• Mangoes
• Oranges
• Goji berries
• Blueberries
• Coconut

Freeze Dried Fruits

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Apples
• Bananas
• Pears
• Peaches
• Mangoes
• Raspberries

Freeze Dried Vegetables

• Chickpeas
• Sweet potatoes
• Wasabi Peas
• Corn
• Green Pea Snack Crisps

Cereals

You can use pretty much any cereal in your mix that can hold its own and not fall through your fingers (so, no Corn Flakes or Grape Nuts). The list of usable cereals could go on for days, but here are our favorites.

• Cheerios
• Fruit Loops
• Kix
• Cap’n Crunch
• Cocoa Puffs
• Life
• Oatmeal Squares
• Golden Grahams
• Chex
• Apple Jacks
• Krave
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• French Toast Crunch
• Lucky Charms
• Trix
• Corn Pops

Candy

Again, this list could go on forever, but here are some good ones.

• M&M’s
• Reeces Pieces
• Gummy candy
• Skittles
• Sugar Babies
• Starburst Minis
• Jelly beans
• Smarties
• Sweet Tarts
• Mike and Ike
• Red Hots
• Twizzlers Nibs
• Sour Patch Kids
• Candy corn
• Lemonheads

Other Sweet Stuff

• Mini marshmallows
• Apple Chips
• Coconut chips
• Mini Oreos
• Mini Chips Ahoy
• Animal Crackers
• Teddy Grahams
• Nilla Wafers
• Fruit Snacks

Savory Items

• Cheese balls
• Popcorn
• Beef jerky (try this Perky Jerky. It’s like heaven in your mouth)
• Pretzels
• Peanut butter filled pretzels
• Cheetos
• Fritos
• Ritz Bits
• Combos
• Corn Nuts
• Bugles
• Sesame sticks
• Cheez-its
• Pirate’s Booty
• Takis
• Goldfish crackers
• Veggie Straws
• Bagel chips

Spices

Now, inappropriate amounts of certain spices can verge on overpowering the whole mix, but when used responsibly they can take your creation to a whole new flavor dimension. Use the following with care.

• Salt
• Sea salt
• Cayenne Pepper
• Curry powder
• Garlic (in case you need an excuse not to kiss someone on the trail)
• Cajun seasoning
• Lemon pepper
• Ginger
• Cinammon
• Rosemary

Sauces

These are to be used if you are baking or roasting all or any part of your mix. Please do not pour honey directly into your trail mix bag unless you plan on packing a spoon.

• Maple syrup
• Honey
• Soy sauce
• Lemon juice
• Lime juice
• Vanilla
• Barbecue sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Sweet chili sauce

There you have it. Now you have an arsenal of potential ingredients for your home made trail mix. Which ingredients did I miss?

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