This healthy fall trail mix is beautiful with an amazing variation of fall colors! It’s so tasty and simple, I find myself reaching for it often whenever I need a quick bite. Every time I make this recipe, it only lasts a few days in my house because everyone loves it and the convenience of taking it on-the-go! Recipe by Bananas About Life.
It’s easy to make a big batch of this trail mix in advance so you can have it ready anytime you need a nourishing snack. I’ve found that having snacks ready for when you’re hungry is an important key to choosing healthier options consistently! Trail mix is the best example of a staple, healthy snack that’s easy to make ahead of time. So, if you love a simple trail mix with lots of dried fruit and variation, this recipe is the one for you! Try it out and let me know how you like it!
Healthy Fall Trail Mix
This trail mix is not only delicious, heathy and easy to prepare. It’s also vegan, paleo, gluten free, dairy free, oil free and refined sugar free.
Want to Roast Nuts at Home?
This recipe specifies to use raw nuts with no roasting required. But, if you prefer roasted nuts and want to use roasted nuts in this trail mix, here’s how to easily to do that at home without any added ingredients.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add nuts to a baking sheet and place in the oven to bake turning every 5 minutes. Roast until fragrant and lightly golden but careful to not burn them. This will take nuts 5-15 minutes and smaller seeds 5-10 minutes.
- Allow them to cool before adding to trail mix.
Fall Trail Mix Ingredients:
Walnuts: I specified raw walnuts because they don’t have any added oils or extra ingredients on them. If you prefer, you can use roasted walnuts or roast them yourself! You can also replace the walnuts with any other nut you enjoy such as cashews, pistachios or pecans.
Almonds: Again, you can replace raw almonds with almonds roasted at home or pre-roasted. Feel free to substitute another nut if you don’t have almonds on hand. Some great options of nuts to use instead are: pecans, cashews or pistachios.
Dried apricots: This dried fruit is sweet and perfect for a fall trail mix. I always look for dried fruit without any added sugar as well as preservatives.
Pumpkin seeds: This seed tastes delicious and adds a really beautiful variety of color for the mix. If you like, you can use sunflower seeds in it’s place.
Dried cranberries: I love dried cranberries and the flavor they provide! If you prefer, you can always substitute raisins or another dried fruit such as banana, apples or pineapple.
Golden raisins: I picked golden raisins for the fruity flavor as well as the gold color for this trail mix. Of course, you can use regular brown raisins, if you prefer them.
Medijool dates: This fruit is super sweet with a delicious flavor similar to caramel. If you don’t want to include the dates, you can leave them out.
Sea salt: Of course a little sea salt brings so much to a simple trail mix. Of course, you can adjust the amount or leave the salt out completely, if you prefer.
Trail Mix Easy Instructions:
- First, prepare your dates by removing the pit and cutting each one into smaller chunks.
- Add the chopped dates and all other ingredients except sea salt to a large bowl or container and stir to mix everything evenly.
- Sprinkle sea salt over the top and stir again to distribute well throughout.
- Store prepared trail mix in a sealed container with a lid. If you want it to last even longer or avoid the nuts from going stale, keep in the fridge.
Common Questions
Can I Make a Large Batch of this Recipe?
Yes, you can double or even triple this recipe if you want extra snacks ready and on hand! I recommend keeping your trail mix in the fridge if you choose to make more and that will keep the nuts good for even longer.
Is Trail Mix Healthy?
Many trail mix recipes contain extra oils, added refined sugar among other things. This homemade trail mix is healthier made from simple, whole food ingredients like nuts, seeds and dried fruit with no added sugar.
Can I Make Ingredient Substitutions?
Yes, of course! You can switch out any nut for the almonds or walnuts and any seed in place of the pumpkin seeds.
Do I Have to Use Every Ingredient?
This trail mix recipe is very customizable to whatever you need and prefer. If you want to leave out any ingredient, you can do so even if you aren’t replacing it.
For Storing this Fall Trail Mix
For things like meal prep, I always like to store in glass containers with snap on lids. This set is similar to the one I have and use to store everything I make, including trail mix.