Trail Mix Cookies are a fun twist on Oatmeal Cookies—just add in your favorite trail mix and be prepared to have a new favorite cookie!
Trail Mix Cookies
A good trail mix is one of my all-time favorite snacks—you’ll nearly always find some in my pantry. One day, out of chocolate chips and craving an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie, I tossed in trail mix instead. That happy swap turned into a new favorite dessert!
These Trail Mix Cookies are loaded with chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit in every bite. The best part? You can use any trail mix you love!
Let’s Chat Trail Mix
I’ve tried just about every trail mix at my local store, but I usually make my own—it’s more budget-friendly and lets me use my favorite chocolate chips and nuts.
I tested a few mixes, and Indulgent Trail Mix (store-bought or homemade) was the clear winner, with Mountain Trail Mix as a close second.
Homemade Indulgent Trail Mix Ingredients
Here’s what I use to make my own trail mix:
- White chocolate chips—1/3 cup (55g)
- Milk chocolate chips—1/3 cup (55g)
- Peanut butter baking chips—1/3 cup (55g)
- Dried sweetened cranberries—1/2 cup (62g)
- Dry-roasted and lightly salted cashews—1 cup (126g)
- Dry-roasted and lightly salted peanuts—1/2 cup (70g)
How To Make Trail Mix Cookies
Here are some helpful tips! Full recipe below.
- Measure flour carefully: Spoon and level the flour to avoid dense, cakey cookies.
- Use a silicone liner: Cookies bake best on a silicone liner, but parchment paper works.
- Underbake slightly: This ensures a delicious chewy texture.
- Make ’em pretty: Press a few extra trail mix pieces into the tops right after baking for prettier, trail-mix-packed cookies!
Trail Mix Cookie Recipe Variations
- Peanut Butter: Use peanut butter trail mix or add 1¾ cups trail mix to these Peanut Butter Cookies (reduce flour by 1/3 cup).
- Bars: Swap chocolate chips for trail mix in my Cookie Bars.
- Monster: Use trail mix instead of M&M’s in Monster Cookies—naturally gluten-free!
- Oatmeal: Not into coconut? Use my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and use trail mix instead of chocolate chips.
Storage
- Room temp: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze baked cookies: Freeze on a baking sheet, then transfer to bags/containers with parchment paper between layers. Expect slight texture changes.
- Freeze dough balls: Freeze on a tray, then transfer to a container. Bake from frozen—just add a few extra minutes.
More Cookie Recipes
- Bakery-Style Chocolate Cookies with milk chocolate chips
- Maple Cookies with maple glaze
- Funfetti Cookies with sprinkles
- Crumbl® Oreo Cookies with cream cheese frosting
- Fudge Brownie Cookies using brownie mix
Trail Mix Cookies
Trail Mix Cookies are a fun spin on classic oatmeal cookies—just toss in your favorite trail mix for a sweet, salty, and chewy treat that’ll quickly become a favorite!
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- 2 Silicone baking mat or parchment paper
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup dark brown sugar or light brown sugar, see note 1
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda see note 2
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats see note 3
- 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes not desiccated coconut
- 1 cup trail mix see note 4
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a large bowl and a hand mixer), add room temperature butter (not melted, not softened) and brown sugar. Beat at medium speed until light in color, about 1–2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add baking soda and salt. Mix until just combined, about 20 seconds. Add oats, flour, and coconut. Mix until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Add trail mix and mix until ingredients are just combined. Do not overmix or overbeat. Overworking the dough will result in dense cookies. Cover the bowl of dough tightly and chill for 30 minutes.
- Shape cookie dough into balls—a packed 2 tablespoons in size (if you have a food scale, it’s 40 grams). Roll the balls taller rather than wider (see picture). Place them on a plate lined with parchment paper and cover gently with plastic wrap. Refrigerate another 30–45 minutes. Don’t refrigerate too long. If you’re in a rush, freeze dough balls for about 20–25 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 sheet pans with silicone liners (very important that the trays are lined so the cookies don’t burn on the bottom). Place 6 dough balls per pan (they can spread a good deal!), spacing them with plenty of room. Bake 9–14 minutes (mine take around 11–12 minutes), noting they’re best slightly underbaked. They should look ever-so-slightly gooey in the center (they harden a bit as they cool) and should be lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven (see note 5 for troubleshooting), and if they’re too puffy, bang the sheet pan a few times on the counter to get them to flatten more.
- Right out of the oven you can press a few more chocolate chips or pieces of trail mix in the tops of the cookies if desired. Let stand on the cookie sheet 5–10 minutes to firm up enough to remove to a wire cooling rack.
- Let cookies fully cool and set up before eating; they firm up a lot as they cool! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Cookies are best when eaten within 2–3 days.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: I like dark brown sugar best, but light brown works too. Make sure the sugar is very fresh and very soft! Hard brown sugar won’t cream properly.
Note 2: See if the baking soda is fresh by using this quick test! If baking soda is at all clumpy, press through a mesh sieve first.
Note 3: Quick or steel-cut oats won’t work. Only old-fashioned for this recipe!
Note 4: I’ve tested these trail mix cookies with a few different varieties of trail mix. “Indulgent Trail Mix” was hands down the favorite with “Mountain Trail Mix” in second place. Feel free to pick out the raisins before measuring out 1 cup if you don’t want them in the cookies! If the candy pieces are too large, pick those out as well.
Note 5: Trouble-shooting: If the cookies aren’t spreading at all, it’s likely there was too much flour, or the dough was overchilled. Remove from oven and press down the tops of the cookies with the back of a metal spatula, then return to the oven for 1–3 minutes or until cooked through. If cookies are spreading too much, there was likely too little flour, old baking agents, or dough was not properly chilled. Right out of the oven and working quickly, press the edges inwards with a metal spatula.
Storage: Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To freeze dough, place shaped dough balls on a baking sheet, then transfer to bags or containers. No need to thaw before baking; just add a few minutes to baking time. To freeze baked cookies, freeze on a sheet pan, then transfer to bags or containers with parchment paper between layers. Expect slight texture change.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.2g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10.5g | Cholesterol: 17.9mg | Sodium: 5.3mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 9.6g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are a huge hit at our house!! LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe.
So thrilled to hear this! Thanks Ozzie! 🙂
As your brother in law, I’d vote for these cookies to be given an award. I mean WOW.
Thanks Bryan!