Trail Mix Cookies

These buckwheat cookies are adapted from a couple of other recipes I’ve shared – these date sweetened oatmeal breakfast cookies and an oldie, hazelnut oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I wanted them to be a bit like chocolate chip cookies but something you could take on a hiking trip too.

The neat thing is here that the cookies aren’t really crumbly at all. Oat and buckwheat flour are great for gluten free baking, easily my favourites, and chia, nut or seed butter, and coconut oil hold everything together here really well.

I chose coconut sugar to do most of the sweetening here. It makes them a bit more dessert like rather than breakfast, but with all those seeds it works either way. We are not averse to chocolate for breakfast.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

These are true trail mix cookies, with lots of energy-boosting ingredients like whole grain flours and plenty of seeds. If you love to walk or hike, or often need a nutritious midday snack, these are just right for you.

• No beating needed: the ingredients are first whisked and then you switch to a spatula or spoon, but there’s no need to bring out the electric mixer.
• It’s ultra flexible: these are like build-your-own cookies, with the add-ins changing to whatever you like most. Use different fruit, seeds, and chocolate if you want to.
• It’s a big batch: the recipe makes two dozen cookies so you can freeze plenty for later. (Use the slider in the recipe card to reduce it if preferred.)

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Flour: I don’t recommend changing the flours used. There can be some variation in how much liquid is absorbed between types of oat flour and buckwheat flour, so if you feel that the dough seems dry, go ahead and add an extra splash of milk. This might be the case if your nut butter is on the dry side as well.
• Seeds: You can use any seeds or nuts you like instead, barring extra chia or flax. As long as it’s not a seed that sucks up a pile of moisture you’re good. If you have grain free granola kicking around you could toss a cup of that in instead of the seeds too.
• Nut or seed butter: any type can be used, as long as it’s fairly soft/runny and not dry. Try the mixed nut/seed butter from my cookbook, sunflower seed butter, peanut, almond, or hazelnut butter.
• Add-ins: other dried fruit can be used in place of cranberries, and of course you don’t have to add chocolate (but I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t).

Step by Step

1. Mix: whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl to combine.
2. Add-ins: stir in the add-ins (seeds, chocolate, etc.) to incorporate.

3. Mix wet ingredients: in a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until combined.
4. Mix the dough: add the nut butter mixture and stir well to combine. Don’t worry about over mixing.
5. Scoop cookies: place onto a prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly.
6. Bake: if possible, two trays can be baked at once. Otherwise go in two batches.

Recipe Notes

These cookies are really quite sturdy. Part of the reason they’re called trail mix cookies is because they work well to bring on a hike and don’t fall apart so easily. They do get a bit softer when the weather is very warm, so keep that in mind if it’s 30 degrees when you’re out.

The cookie mixture will seem too wet when you first stir it up, so you let it sit for a few minutes to let the chia do its magic. That’s why the recipe is a bit different than usual and you mix up the dough before heating up the oven. It rests and firms up while the oven heats.

I haven’t tried these cookies with 100% either oat or buckwheat flour, just the mix. And if you’re not sure, despite the misleading name, buckwheat is totally gluten free!

How to Store

Storage: place in a sealed container and refrigerate or store at room temperature. In the summer months I suggest refrigerating, and in winter they can be on the counter for 3-4 days.

Freezing: to freeze before baking, freeze the scooped and flattened cookies on a sheet before moving to containers. Bake at the same temperature but add a couple minutes to bake from frozen. For baked cookies, simply freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.

About Buckwheat

Buckwheat, I think, can take a bit of getting used to. As a flour, it’s very neutral and slightly nutty, but the seeds have a texture that can be a bit strange as you chew. If you’re not sure if you like buckwheat seeds then I’d use something else in the mixed seed bit.

If you have to buy more buckwheat flour than this recipe calls for, it also makes great gluten free banana pancakes, and several readers have had success using buckwheat to make my tahini banana bread gluten free too. As far as gluten free flours go it’s a solid all-purpose one to have around and has a good flavour.

Expert Tips

• Make your own flour: If you don’t have the flours on hand, but you have buckwheat groats and rolled oats, you can make your own flour in a high-speed food processor. Just blend until a flour forms (it’s easiest to go by weights for this).
• Don’t forget to flatten: these cookies won’t spread much in the oven, so they should be flattened slightly before baking to ensure an even bake.
• Don’t preheat: not preheating the oven first isn’t a typo – the dough needs to sit for a few minutes to allow the chia to absorb some of the moisture and make it easier to handle. Once it’s rested slightly, you should be able to roll the dough into balls. If you have a cookie scoop that can be used instead.

More Gluten Free Cookies

Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Double Chocolate Chickpea Flour Cookies
Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ultimate Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

If you make these Trail Mix Cookies or any other cookie recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

This post was originally published in November 2018. It has been updated with new photos and improvements to the text and recipe as of August 2020.