No Bake Trail Mix Cookies

These cookies are SO good!!! They are easy to make, albeit a little time consuming. But worth it! I usually make a big batch and then store them in the fridge or freezer, and they keep very well.

 I assembled the ingredients that I usually use here. Unsweetened, shredded coconut (the best price I have found for this is in the bulk section. Most health food stores carry it- I buy mine at Whole Foods and it is a great price. Just make sure you get the unsweetened kind) walnuts, almonds, pecans, dates, goji berries, oats. You can use whatever you like- just like making your own homemade trail mix. The one essential ingredients for me is the dates. When chopped finely or pulsed in a food processor, they form a chunky, sweet paste that acts as the binding agent to hold the cookies together.

 After making these cookies several times, I have added a few things to make them even better. Sometimes I add a few tablespoons of coconut oil if the mixture is too dry. But I always use it when forming the cookies, to keep the mixture from sticking to my hands too much. I like to put cinnamon in half the batch of cookies, and lemon zest in the other half. I also add a few shakes of salt- the one in this picture is pink himalayan salt. You can find it at TJ Max in the kitchen section! Or in a fancy grocery store. ;-)

 I use our food processor to chop and mash up the dates. I have to do it in small batches, I add a little of the coconut or oats so that they don't get super sticky. You can chop them finely on a cutting board too- works just as good but takes a little longer.

 I forget where I heard about goji berries- but I really like them in these cookies. They are supposed to be a "superfood". You can find them in the bulk section of a health food store, but they are pretty expensive. I bought these from a web-site that I like called Drbenkim.com. I think I stumbled upon it when looking up healthy recipes. They sell a small amount of healthy items and I bought some of their green food powder, some lotion, and a bag of goji berries. They're a really good price and last forever if you keep them in the freezer. Here is the link for the berries. Oh, another thing. They come very dry. A great trick is to put them in a bowl with a tablespoon or two of water, mix it around, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. This softens them up, then you can chop them up smaller to add to your mixture.

 Lizzie has developed a love for helping me in the kitchen this year while being homeschooled. While I was assembling the ingredients, she took a walnut and placed it in a pitted date, sprinkled some coconut on top, and said, "Mom, wouldn't this be a good recipe?" She had 3 of them. That girl has a sweet tooth!!! And I have no idea where she got it from......

 Here are the main ingredients in a large mixing bowl after I put everything through the food processor. Again, you can chop stuff up with a knife. But the smaller the chunks, the easier it all sticks together.

 Just dig right in and mix it all up!! I put coconut oil on my hands to keep it all from sticking too much. When you start mixing it up you will be able to tell if you need to add more wet ingredients if it's not sticking together well (you can add more dates, or a few teaspoons of water, or coconut oil or honey or maple syrup. You get the idea.) Or you might need to add more dry ingredients if it's too wet! (almond flour, oats, dried coconut, or something I tried for the first time is psyllium husks and/or whole grain crisped rice cereal)

 Before you start forming your cookies (or balls, or bars) make sure to taste your mixture. Is it not sweet enough? You want it to taste great, the ingredients are expensive so you might as well REALLY enjoy these!! The picture above shows some additional ideas for ingredients that you could add to make them sweeter.

 This batch came out too wet at the beginning so I added some of both of these. I bought the psyllium husks for myself as a fiber supplement. You're supposed to add it to water and drink it. Woah!!! Nasty!!! Horrible!!! But.... it is flavorless and you can add it to any baked goods recipe or to hamburgers or meatloaf....it worked perfectly in these cookies.

Here are the finished cookies!!!! I made some of them into balls too. I put half the batch in the freezer and half in the fridge. Everybody enjoys them, and I feel like it's a very healthy treat to give to the kids.