These homemade dog treats are not only soooo simple to whip together, they are so great because you can customize exactly what goes into them!
The best part about this versatile recipe is that you can really customize the ingredients! I made peanut butter dog treats because my dog looooves peanut butter, but you can also substitute mashed sweet potato to hold the dough together instead of peanut butter if you prefer or have allergies in the family.
You can also add optional additional ingredients to the dough before you bake it, like a mashed banana for energy and potassium, a beaten egg for some protein, a handful of cooked crumbled bacon if your dog is a bacon lover, or even some chopped or grated carrot, cucumber, zucchini or apple to pack in the vitamins and nutrients add different flavors to the treats, depending on your dogs preference and diet.
I had my special guest, Amber, help me out with this recipe and do a taste test to make sure these treats are pooch approved!
The recipe comes together in a bout 2 minutes! Just stir everything together in a large bowl and give it a good kneading to make sure all of the ingredients are nicely incorporated.
Then roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface or on a silicone mat like I did below. Even roll it out between two pieces of parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking.
Then take a cookie cutter and cut out your shapes. You can sue any shape you like. If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can use the rim of a glass to make circles, or even shape your treats by hand.
Then bake on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees F for either 10-12 minutes for soft treats or 18-20 minutes for crunchy treats.
I baked Amber's soft treats in the toaster oven so I didn't have to wait long for the oven to preheat, which meant these little treats were made from start to finish in like 20 minutes!
Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Treats
- 1 cup flour (whole wheat flour, coconut flour, brown rice flour)
- 1/3 cup oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup liquid* (chicken, beef, or vegetable broth, water, etc.)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (may sub mashed sweet potato)
- optional additional ingredients: a mashed banana, a beaten egg, a handful of cooked crumbled bacon, about half of a grated carrot, cucumber, zucchini or apple
*I use low sodium chicken broth, but you can really use any type of liquid to bind the ingredients together depending on your dogs diet or preference.
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Stir together the flour, oats and baking powder in a bowl. Mix in liquid, peanut butter and any additional ingredients, until combined. Roll out dough and use a cookie cutter (or your hands) to create shapes. Place on a baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes for soft treats or 18-20 minutes for crunchy treats.