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Trail mix cookies on a white board.
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Trail Mix Cookies

These Trail Mix Cookies are soft and chewy, sweetened with brown sugar and honey, and filled with trail mix and oats. Use your favorite combination of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips to create your perfect cookie!
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 228kcal

Ingredients

  • ¾ cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • ¾ cups all purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt see note
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened but still cool
  • cup light brown sugar, packed make sure it's fresh and soft
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ½ cups roughly chopped trail mix divided (see note)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar and honey for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined. Stir in 1¼ cup of trail mix.
  • Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon balls and place a couple inches apart on the baking sheets (the dough will be sticky). If the dough is too sticky you can chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Use the remaining ¼ cup trail mix to press some pieces onto the top of each dough ball (this makes the trail mix more visible and makes for a prettier cookie). For thinner cookies (pictured) lightly press down on the dough balls to flatten just slightly. Or leave the dough balls in a mound for thicker cookies.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the very center is still slightly underdone. Do not over bake, as they will finish cooking on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and allow the cookies to cool completely.

Notes

Trail mix: You can use already prepared trail mix or you can use your own blend of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. Roughly chop any large nuts and avoid savory flavored trail mix.
If all of your trail mix is salted you can omit the salt in the recipe. If some components are salted (for example, I only had roasted salted pepitas), you can reduce the added or salt or leave it based on your taste preferences. I like a noticeable salty-sweet balance.
Serving: Serve these cookies at room temperature, chilled, or slightly warm (not too warm or they'll fall apart).
Storage: Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days. Cookies may be frozen for up to 3 months (double wrapped).
Tips:
  • Butter should be softened to cool room temperature. It should be soft but still cool to the touch. If the butter is over-softened (or beginning to melt) the cookies will spread too much in the oven.
  • Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. This helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents them from spreading too much. Bonus: it also makes cleanup a breeze!
  • Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies. I like to make these cookies fairly large, about 2-tablespoons of dough per cookie.
  • For thicker cookies leave the dough balls in mounds. For thinner cookies (pictured), lightly press down on the dough mounds before baking.
  • Nestle a few extra “chips” or nuts on top of the dough balls before baking. This makes for a prettier cookie.
  • Under bake the cookies. You should remove these cookies from the oven when they are just starting to turn light golden brown around the edges but they are still undercooked in the center. They should be so soft that you cannot pick them up off the baking sheet without them falling apart. They will firm up as they cool on the baking sheet.
Nutrition facts will vary based on the mix-ins you use.

Nutrition

Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 176mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 261IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg