Trail Mix for Kids: Scroggin

by Annie
(New Zealand)

Trail Mix for Kids

I’m from New Zealand, and we call Trail Mix – Scroggin. I have no idea where the name comes from, but I have been making it for over 40 years. I first learned how when I was a girl guide, and we had to make our own Scroggin for camping trips.

Our basic Scroggin or Trail Mix Recipe always contains these ingredients as a base:

2 cups raw peanuts
1 cup Almonds
2 cups sultanas or small raisins
½ cup Coconut flakes
1 cup of sunflower seeds
1 roughly chopped block of good quality dark chocolate

Chocolate is actually a really good energy food, if you buy a good quality one that has less sugar, and at least a 50% cocoa content. You can buy chocolate now that has Acai berries or Goji berries in it which makes it even more nutritious.

To the basic Scroggin mix you can add a variety of additions, roughly by the cupful.

Some suggestions for additions:

Chopped Dates
Chopped Apricots
Chopped Prunes
Chopped Dried Banana (this is different to Banana chips, and by far our preference)
Dried Apple
Dried tropical fruits, such as Papaya, Pineapple or mango

Seeds:
Sunflower
Pumpkin
Chia (very nutritious, but they are a bit gritty)

Granola:
We sometimes use the smaller seeds like Chia and Sesame in the granola mix, and the honey and oil helps to stick them to the oats, so they don’t end up in the bottom of the bag. Oats are a great source of long lasting energy.

Puffed Wheat or Corn:
Chinese peanut, seaweed and rice cracker mix – usually found in packets of small chunks. These are very light, but I am not sure the energy content is nearly as high as granola. Sometimes you have to trade off weight, so these can be a useful filler.


Nuts:
Brazil nuts – we cut these into about 3 pieces
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Macadamia
Walnut or Pecan nuts
Pistachio – use the hulled ones.

We try to avoid sweets or artificial colourings as they add nothing to the nutrition content.

At Home:

Mix all your ingredients together and then bag up into small Ziploc bags. Only put enough for a serve into each bag, or it is easy to eat double the ration in one sitting!
Make sure you gently press out any air left in the bags before sealing.

In Camp:

Each day hand out the Scroggin ration for the day. We’ve found it better for each child to have their own bag each day so they can choose when to eat it, and everyone gets a fair amount, with no whining about wanting Scroggin!

I mostly have some of this on hand all the time, even if we are not planning on going camping. You never know when you might decide to head off for a bushwalk, and being able to grab a couple of bags of Trail Mix for kids (Scroggin) at any time is always useful.

One thing to note - if you are making up this mix for a class you may have to leave out anything that contains peanuts, as some children are allergic to them.

Of course you would use greater quantities for a big group.

Come on down and visit New Zealand, there are some wonderful outdoor activities and the native bush is beautiful.

Enjoy your Scroggin!