With very few exceptions – notably the s’mores, banana boats, and maybe the banana wraps – these snacks fall into the latter category. You’ll get them ready before your trip, pack them, and break them out along your hike, while sitting by the lake, or if you get the midnight munchies in your tent. A few of these take a little longer to cook, but for the most part, they’re all quick and easy recipes. Many of them don’t even require actual cooking! So if you’re looking for a few good ideas on what to pack for your little one’s scouting trip or to bring on your next outdoor adventure, this list has you covered. Let’s get to it!
1. Granola Bars
When you’re camping, hiking, and doing all those other exciting but strenuous outdoor activities, you’ll need snacks that will provide you with plenty of energy but not weigh you down. These five-ingredient granola bars are ideal for that. Unless you add the optional extras (chocolate, vanilla, dried fruit, nuts, etc.), they contain only dates, maple syrup, natural peanut (or almond) butter, roasted almonds, and rolled oats. They’re fresh, raw, and healthy, and you can make 10 of them in 15 minutes. Best of all, they’re salty and nutty enough that the whole family will love them.
2. Trail Mix
Trail mix is a staple of most hiking and camping adventures, and you can pick up a dozen different varieties from any grocery or convenience store. However, making your own saves you money and allows you to make a mix that perfectly suits your specific tastes. Here are three great places to start if you’re unsure of what you should add. Feel free to use these recipes as they’re written, combine them into one mega-mix, or pick and choose random ingredients to make an entirely unique mix.
3. Apple Chips
Dried apple chips are a sweet, tasty, and energy-packed way to rouse your flagging stamina on a long hike. If you have an air fryer, making them has never been easier. Slice your apples and add your salt and cinnamon. You’ll enjoy thin, crunchy slices in 30 minutes or less.
4. Alabama Fire Crackers
If you like things that are spicy, garlic-y, and well-seasoned, you’ll love Alabama fire crackers. All you’ll need is a sleeve of saltine crackers, some olive oil, and lots of simple spices. Let the crackers sit in the oil and spice mixture overnight, and then bake them the next day. Each bite delivers a wallop of flavor and a fair amount of heat.
5. Cowboy Cookies
This recipe is for anyone who loves sweet, crispy-edged cookies with tender, chewy middles. In addition to standard cookie ingredients – flour, sugar, etc. – you’ll also add rolled oats to these. The oats crisp up nicely around the edges, but the center of each cookie remains soft, buttery, and full of gooey chocolate chips.
6. Potato Chips
Homemade potato chips are the best potato chips in the world. If anyone disagrees, they’ve never had them, or they don’t know how to make them correctly. The trick is in how you slice and season them. The slices need to be super thin and relatively uniform for each chip. As for seasoning, you can experiment to find something that suits your tastes, but for me, it’s salt, garlic powder, and a hint of cayenne pepper. These chips are thin, garlicky, and just a bit spicy. They’re potato chip perfection.
7. Texas Trash
Texas trash may sound like the name of a hardcore, all-female pop-punk band, but in reality, it’s more like homemade Chex Mix. It has all of your favorite Chex Mix components – pretzels, nuts, Chex, and more – plus Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces, cayenne pepper, butter, and three salts: regular, garlic, and celery. This mix is salty, herby, and supremely zesty. If I had to compare, I’d say it’s most like Chex Mix Bold Party Blend.
8. Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’ve never stayed in a DoubleTree Hotel and had the pleasure of biting into a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie after checking in, my heart goes out to you. Luckily, with this copycat recipe, you can experience that sweet deliciousness as often as you like without ever leaving your home. Aside from the chopped walnuts, which add a delightful bit of crunch and nuttiness, everything about these cookies is soft and sweet.
9. Banana Wraps
You can pre-make these hearty, healthy banana wraps before you ever leave the house. They’re also an excellent snack to make while camping because they require only three ingredients and no cooking. Simply spread your chosen nut butter (peanut, almond, Nutella, etc.) over your tortilla, then add your banana, roll it up, and slice it in two.
10. Caramel Corn
You’ve never really enjoyed caramel corn until you’ve had homemade caramel corn. It’s a crunchy, syrupy, sticky mess, but it’s phenomenal. Furthermore, for such a simple food, it has a really complex flavor profile. Between the vanilla, butter, cayenne pepper, corn syrup, salt, and other ingredients, there’s always something new to discover in each bite.
11. S’mores
Although this recipe provides you with indoor directions for making s’mores, these are best when you make them fresh and hot at the campsite. Since you’ll only need three ingredients – graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars – packing them doesn’t require a lot of extra space or weight, either. It doesn’t get much better than these melted, chocolatey treats.
12. Banana Chips
Although bananas taste perfectly fine when they’re freshly peeled and raw, you’ll run the risk of smashing them when you pack them. Avoid that danger by slicing them, soaking them in lemon juice, and baking them before you ever leave the house. That leaves you with delectable banana chips that are convenient and easy to eat. Plus, the lemon juice adds some tartness that makes them taste really amazing.
13. Rice Krispies
Rice Krispie treats are pretty much an all-occasion snack. You can make them in practically no time with only Rice Krispies, marshmallows, and butter. These crunchy, stretchy snacks are ideal for packing in school lunch boxes, taking to holiday gatherings, or chowing down on while sitting under the stars.
14. Beer Nuts
How do you turn ordinary peanuts into crunchy, sweet, delicious beer nuts? With some sugar, water, and sea salt, of course! These sweet and salty nuts are wonderful for camping trips because they’re easy to eat with your fingers. All the carbs will give you a quick energy boost if you’re feeling draggy.
15. Almond Flour Crackers
Not only do these crackers require only four ingredients, but they’re also low-carb. I know, right?! Low-carb crackers? HEAVENLY! All you’ll need to make them is almond flour, sea salt, water, and flaxseed. They’re crunchy, salty, and a bit herby from the flaxseed. There’s also a slight hint of nuttiness, but they’re perfect for making low-carb peanut butter and crackers.
16. Kale Chips
Kale chips may not look like potato chips, but they’re crunchy and have a ton of flavor, thanks to the salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. You’ll never hear me talking about how fantastic and addictive kale is — unless I’m talking about these chips. Believe it or not, these really are hard to put down once you start eating them.
17. Puppy Chow
I’ve always loved puppy chow, and the kids go absolutely nuts for it. For the longest time, though, it was tough for me to describe it in a way that made people understand how good it was. Then, one day, it hit me. Kellogg’s Krave cereal! This stuff tastes like Kellogg’s Krave cereal with peanut butter and powdered sugar added to it. It’s sweet, crunchy, and full of chocolate and peanut butter goodness.
18. Banana Boats
This is another great camping snack to make while you’re camping, and it won’t require you to pack a lot of extra stuff. Instead, all you’ll need are bananas, chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. They’re a bit like s’mores, only with a fruity banana base. If s’mores aren’t your thing, you can pack other fillings instead – dried fruit, nuts, shredded coconut, caramel sauce, etc. Either way, they’ll only take about 15 minutes to make.
19. Heath Bar Cookies
These are basically warm, rich chocolate chip cookies with a Heath toffee bonus. They’re soft, chewy, and taste exactly how you’d expect Heath chocolate chip cookies to taste – delicious.
20. Blueberry Muffins
When I’m camping, I like to start my mornings off with something natural and “of the earth.” I know that probably sounds silly to a lot of people, but it’s true. Whether it’s something with fruit, berries, or oats, it just needs to be something that makes me feel like I’m “living off the land” even when I’m not. These blueberry muffins fulfill that requirement for me. Granted, I make them at home before I leave for my trip, and they have plenty of ingredients besides the blueberries. Even so, the rich, vibrant taste of the berries makes me feel … earthy, I suppose. (And the decadent streusel topping with cinnamon doesn’t hurt, either!) Click on a star to rate it!
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