Trail Cookie Round-Up

Some folks hike for the stellar views. Some folks hike to stay fit. And some folks, well, they hike for the cookies.

The WTA team has our fair share of cookie-fanatics — so we wanted to share a few of our favorite cookie (or cookie-adjacent) recipes for you to try out as your next on trail treat. 

Photo courtesy Anna Brones and Brendan Leonard.

For the meal-prepper:

Coming from none-other than the WTA CEO herself, Jill Simmons, this trail cookie recipe is jam-packed with the protein, nutrients and vitamins you'll need to jump start a day of hiking.

Breakfast Cookies

• 4 bananas
• 2 cups oats
• 1/4 cup chia seeds or hemp seeds
• 1 cup dried fruit, roughly chopped
• Handful of nuts, chocolate chips, or M&Ms for topping

At home: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and mash the ripe bananas in a medium mixing bowl. Mix in rolled oats. Add in some chia seeds or hemp seeds, dried fruit like raisins, currants, or chopped larger fruit like apricots or peaches. Top with walnuts, pecans, or something sweet like chocolate chips or M&Ms. Bake for 20 minutes.

Makes enough for about 8 to 10 small cookies.

For the car-camper:

Anna Brones and Brendan Leonard, the masterminds behind the adventure cookbook, "Best Served Wild", have mastered the classic choco-chip for an on-trail treat.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

• 1 cup almond meal or almond flour (you can also make your own by finely grinding almonds in a food processor)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

At home: In a bowl, mix together the almond meal, chocolate, salt and baking soda.

In a saucepan, melt the coconut oil. Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Let cool for a few minutes. Pour the slightly cooled coconut oil into the almond meal mixture. Mix together, then form into a log. If it’s too sticky to form into a log, place in the refrigerator until it cools down a little and stiffens. Place the log in a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator.

At camp: Eat the cookie dough on its own, or if you’ve managed to save some of it, place a frying pan on your stove. Slice the dough into rounds, and mold each one into a cookie shape. If the dough is cold and extra hard, sometimes it can get a little crumbly and just needs to be molded back together. Fry the cookies on a pan over your camp stove for a couple of minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Makes enough for about 8 to 10 small cookies.

Photo by Shannon Leader.

For the backcountry hiker:

Washington Trails magazine contributor, Shannon Leader, has a ton of sweet idea for trail snacks. This decadent 3-ingredient treat is worth a little extra weight in your pack.

Open-face Pecan Pie

• ½ cup pecans
• 5 caramels (about ¼ cup)
• 3 cookies, such as vanilla wafers or graham crackers

Chop the pecans and caramels into small pieces at home and put in a bag. At camp, melt the caramels and pecans together in your pot, then spoon onto the cookies. Makes three servings.

Have a recipe to share?

We'd love to hear your best trail cookie recipe! Head over to our backcountry kitchen and let us know how you fulfill your sweet-tooth on trail.