Lately I think everyone in our home is going through a growth spurt. All I hear each and every day are the words, “I’m hungry”. Well except for the resident three year old whom says, “I’m hungwy Mama, I’m hungwy!”. After spending more and more time in the kitchen looking for quick snacks after they’ve already had an apple, pear, and carrot each I finally decided to make some trail mix. It’s a great easy trail mix with a touch a cocoa, a bit of sweetness, and using a healthier coconut oil. It’s not the healthiest trail mix out there (by far!) but it’s a great snack to store in the pantry and can easily be made gluten free.
Ingredients;
3 cups popcorn
3 cups Cheerios (can subsitute with corn chex for gluten free)
3 cups Rice Chex
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon butter (can substitute for coconut oil for health)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking cocoa
1 tablespoon sugar (I used raw sugar)
To begin mix the popcorn, Cheerios, Chex, and sunflower seeds together in a lined pan.
Preheat the oven to 300.
Melt the coconut oil and butter, stir together.
Use a pastry brush to lightly spread the oil mixture over the dry mixture. Mix the entire mixture with a spoon to make sure the surface is evenly coated. You do not have to use all the oil/ butter mixture. Just make sure everything is coated and you will be fine.
Mix together the spices and sugar and sprinkle over popcorn/ cereal mixture. Stir well to once again assure that everything has been well coated.
Put the pan of trail mix in the oven for 15 minutes. Pull it out and let it cool for at least 5-10 minutes.
After it is cool, add the chocolate chips and stir well.
Now it is ready to eat!
My kids devoured this. It’s just a little sweet but really filling. A great snack to grab on a busy day of playing and learning.
This is a great recipe for your younger kids to help you prepare. If you want to add a little bit more of a healthy kick to it you could also add some banana chips.
Enjoy!
