Frosty Morning Trail Mix
Walnuts, dried cherries, and espresso beans. Breakfast and caffeine in one handful.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 177
- protein
- 10 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Breakfast
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Day hike
- Winter / snow
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Walnut halves | 1 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Dried cherries | 1 cup | tart ones cut the richness better than sweetened |
| Chocolate covered espresso beans | 1/4 cup | |
| Dark chocolate bar | 1 bar, broken into pieces | 70% or higher holds its shape in a warm pack |
Method
- Break the chocolate bar into thumbnail pieces at home.
- Combine everything in a zip bag and shake.
- Eat by the handful. Two servings if you have any restraint.
This is a cold-weather mix, and the ratio reflects that. Walnuts are close to 70% fat, which is where nearly all the calories live. The cherries are there for sugar that hits fast when your hands are too cold to work a stove, and the acid keeps a fatty mix from going flat after the third handful.
The espresso beans are a dose, not a garnish. A quarter cup spread over two servings lands somewhere near a weak cup of coffee each, which is enough to get you moving on a frozen morning without brewing anything. Dark chocolate is the binder in cold weather and the problem in warm weather, so this one belongs in shoulder season and winter.
Packing
One quart bag per two days. In heat, keep the bag in the middle of the pack rather than a lid pocket, or the chocolate welds the cherries together.
Variations
- Swap pecans for walnuts if walnut tannins bother you.
- Salted almonds in place of half the walnuts add sodium you will want.
- Skip the espresso beans for an evening version that will not keep you up.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/frosty-morning-trail-mix