Post 1 on this topic: Figuring Out the Proportion of Ingredients in Archer Farms Monster Trail Mix
Post 2 on this topic: Figuring Out the Proportion of Ingredients in Archer Farms Monster Trail Mix: DO-OVER!
You may wonder why, in the title, I make a point about M&M size. It is because, when I was for some now-forgotten reason reading the reviews on Target for this trail mix, I saw a LOT of comments complaining about the switch from full-size to mini M&M’s, along with a number of comments praising the change. I just want to make it clear I take NO STANCE on this obviously very controversial issue, and am currently using the regular-size M&M’s because my grocery store is not stocking the mini ones.
In case you are here for the recipe and not for the post (I have heard all the arguments FOR and AGAINST lonnnnnnnnnnnng posts before you get to the recipe, but if it’s on a blog I don’t usually follow, I generally scroll rapidly down to the actual recipe), the recipe is:
7.9 ounces unsalted roasted peanuts
4.2 ounces milk chocolate chips
7.2 ounces raisins
4.0 ounces peanut butter chips
4.9 ounces of either regular-size or mini M&M’s.
(I’ve linked to the ones I’ve been buying, except in the case of the M&M’s: they have not been available for shipping lately so I’ve been buying those at my grocery store. Also, I usually buy Party-size bag rather than Family-size, but assumed most people wouldn’t want to commit to that big of a bag of them.)
Anyway, here is how I make it. First, all set up on the counter: my kitchen scale, which I have tared to include the measuring bowl; my big mixing bowl; the empty container of trail mix we keep reusing; and the recipe.
And, on a nearby kitchen stool: the box of ingredients, boxed in the hope that it will keep the children from snorfing up all the ingredients before I can use them; also, one cat (optional) (not recommended).
Here is how it looks after I’ve weighed all the ingredients but right before I put my (freshly-washed) hands into the bowl to mix it all together:
After I mix it, I tip it all to one side of the bowl and use the container to scoop a good deal of it up. Then I pour the rest into the container, using my hands to coax the mix into a narrower pour than it would by nature be inclined.
And here it is tucked tidily into its container, ready for the children to consume the contents and leave the empty container on the counter to be refilled:
The thought may be crossing your mind that I could have the children make the recipe and refill the container themselves. It will not, I hope, surprise you to hear that that idea has already occurred to me: it’s not a difficult recipe or idea; I don’t love seeing the empty container waiting for me; and I don’t eat the trail mix, so it doesn’t make sense for me to be the one to make it. But within seconds of thinking of that idea, I thought of a serious flaw, based on remembering being a child: as a child, given this recipe to assemble, it is absolutely certain that I would have gone wayyyyyyy light on the peanuts and raisins and wayyyyyyy heavy on everything else. Also, I would have eaten many, many M&M’s and chocolate/PB chips as I worked—possibly just as many as I used in the mix. And one of the main reasons I don’t mind the children eating a trail mix full of M&M’s and chocolate/PB chips is that they are ALSO eating peanuts and raisins (unless they are discreetly dumping those into the trash, in which case I am happier not knowing about it). Therefore I am in charge of the mix. Plus, it’s relatively fun to make, once I nudge aside the resentful feelings.
Now! For the cost comparison. The container of trail mix is selling at my Target for $7.99 right now. I used to wait for it to go on sale before buying it, but that was In The Beforetimes, so $7.99 is the price we will be comparing the home-assembled mix to. Here, once again, are the ingredients I use:
7.9 ounces unsalted roasted peanuts
4.2 ounces milk chocolate chips
7.2 ounces raisins
4.0 ounces peanut butter chips
4.9 ounces of either regular-size or mini M&M’s, or what I’ve been buying, which is the Party-size bag of the regular-size M&M’s.
Using today’s prices (U.S. dollars) on Target.com (because I have not been in a Target store since March):
• The peanuts are $2.79 for 16 ounces, which is $.17/ounce. I use 7.9 ounces, which is $1.38.
• The milk chocolate chips are $1.99 for 11.5 ounces, which is $.17/ounce. I use 4.2 ounces, which is $.73.
• The raisins are $2.99 for 20 ounces, which is $.15/ounce. I use 7.2 ounces, which is $1.08.
• The peanut butter chips are $2.39 for 10 ounces, which is $.24/ounce. I use 4 ounces, which is $.96.
• The Party-size bag of regular-size M&M’s is $9.59 for 38 ounces, which is $.25/ounce; I use 4.9 ounces, which is $1.24. The Family-size bag of regular-size M&M’s is $4.99 for 19.2 ounces, which is $.26/ounce; 4.9 ounces is $1.27. The Family-size bag of mini M&M’s is $4.99 for 18 ounces, which is $.28/ounce; 4.9 ounces is $1.36.
So TODAY’S trail mix cost:
$1.38 peanuts
$0.73 chocolate chips
$1.08 raisins
$0.96 PB chips
$1.24 M&M’s
A total of $5.39.
But we can’t compare that to the $7.99, because my mixture weighs less: the Archer Farms container holds 36 ounces, and I made only 28.2 ounces. The Archer Farms mix is $.22/ounce, and mine is $.19/ounce. If I’d made the same amount as the Archer Farms container held, mine would cost $6.88 for 36 ounces, assuming all those many maths check out.
So! Mine is cheaper! Which is gratifying! But! When I used to buy it on sale, it used to be about $6.99. So mine is not enough cheaper to justify making it at home in Normal Times, UNLESS I had specific reasons for wanting to do it, like wanting to adjust proportions.