Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix

Name: Do-It-Yourself Trail Mix
Prep time: 5 minutes
Yield: 6 cups

Fun and easy recipe to make with kids - homemade trail mix that can be easily changed to include your favorite ingredients.

Cooking for a Crowd

Use these recipe sheets to prepare for larger groups:

Wooden bowl with a mixture of nuts, twist pretzels and cereal.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Makes: 6 cups
Nutrition Facts: View label

Ingredients

1 cup square-type whole grain cereal

1 cup o-type whole grain cereal

1 cup puff-type whole grain cereal

1 cup dried fruit of your choice

1 cup small pretzels

½ cup small nuts (see Notes)

Directions

Wash hands with soap and water.
In a large bowl, mix together ingredients. Store in a large airtight container or in snack-sized containers.
For a group, set out a bowl of each ingredient with a serving spoon. Let guests add a spoon of each ingredient to a bag or other container. Shake to mix. Enjoy!

Notes

Peanuts and other small foods that are round are easy for your preschooler to choke on when swallowing them. Have your child eat at the table, or at least while sitting down. Always watch your child while he or she eats.
Try adding popcorn, plain or seasoned, as another whole grain ingredient.
If you are over age 60, look at Nutrition Facts labels to find cereals with added vitamin B12. See Food Hero For Older Adults: Focus on vitamin B12 to learn more.

Featured in a Food Hero Monthly

Comments

Submitted by Abbie on Fri, 01/26/2024 - 10:00

This is great for a community resource fair or back to school event when you don't know how many people you'll have or what allergies to accommodate for. People make it themselves which means they stay and talk at the table for a minute. They also choose if they don't want nuts. We used raisins and dry chopped dates for the fruit. Dates were new to many people which was fun to try.

Submitted by igussgon on Thu, 08/04/2022 - 12:04

This is such an easy recipe to do with younger kiddos! It is a great way to teach handwashing and measuring skills with very minimal clean up.

Submitted by molbenj on Thu, 08/04/2022 - 12:00

Kids love this recipe! I made it with multiple groups of kindies and set up each ingredient buffet style, allowing them all to take one or two scoops of each. They loved the freedom of picking what would be in their personal mix.

Submitted by ckbrown on Sat, 03/18/2017 - 09:37

I have made this several times with kids: once in a library setting and once in our 4-H cooking club. Kids measure out all the ingredients into the bowls, then put their own portions in ziplock bags. Great practice for measuring skills. We also talk about what groups are represented in My Plate: whole grains, fruit and protein (nuts). Combined with a fruit smoothie or pumpkin smoothie in a cup and you can cover all the aspects of My Plate in 2 kid-friendly recipes

Submitted by LavenderLady on Tue, 02/18/2014 - 08:39

This is a great snack. Mix up a batch, then divided into small zipper plastic bags. It's always ready to grab for a snack or for lunches on the go.

Submitted by FoodFanatic on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 13:56

I take this to work as a snack all the time! simple and so delicious!