These Christmas Dog Treats are an easy, healthy dog treat recipe. Plus, it’s super simple to whip them up in less than 20 minutes, so you can treat your pet or a friend’s pet with lovely biscuits.
We don’t have a dog, but I love to bake everything, and as the Christmas season approaches, my daughter wanted a great gift for a dog-loving school teacher. We worked on creating a Christmas Dog Treats Recipe for her. The result is a success. Even the kids ate these biscuits and loved them. They are naturally:
- Sugar-free
- Dairy-free
- Packed with proteins
- Rich in fiber and good for your dog’s health, including oats and peanut butter.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make dog treats are:
- Egg – Dogs can eat eggs. It’s safe for them.
- Sweet Potato Puree or pumpkin puree. Both are dog-friendly food.
- Natural Peanut Butter – This is a peanut butter dog treat recipe using natural peanut butter with no added sugar and no added oil. Unsweetened peanut butter is dog-friendly, and dogs love to lick peanut butter spoons!
- All-Purpose Flour or white whole-wheat flour.
- Quick Oats or rolled oats for more texture.
- Cinnamon – It’s safe for dogs to eat small amounts of cinnamon in their food. This adds a touch of Christmas flavor to the treat without the sugar.
Here are some ideas to add flavors and texture to this homemade dog treats recipe. Your dog would love it if you stir 1/2 cup of:
- Grated Carrots
- Grated Zucchinis – squeeze out the liquid from the vegetable before adding.
- Blueberries – they make the treats softer, but dogs love them.
- Grated Apples
How To Make Christmas Dog Treats
Are you counting down the days to Christmas or any other holidays using my paper chain countdown? Then it’s time to bake cookies and treats for your dog-loving friends, starting with this easy healthy dog treat recipe!
- First, in a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, oats, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg, peanut butter, and sweet potato puree. The mixture should be smooth without lumps.
- Now, add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and start stirring with a spoon or spatula.
- The mixture becomes crumbly and looks dry. It’s time to knead by hand and squeeze ingredients together until a cookie dough forms. If too dry, this can occur if your egg is smaller than mine or your peanut butter is not as oily and fresh. In this case, add water one teaspoon at a time until the batter comes together into a dough. If you have Paw Patrol fans at home, you might have lovely dog cookie cutters in bone shapes. If you don’t, simply use any Christmas cookie cutter, like a candy cane or Christmas tree cookie cutter. Avoid shapes with sharp edges, like stars, as they are more difficult for dogs.
- Sprinkle some flour on the work surface, place the dough onto the flour, and sprinkle extra flour on top of the dough.
- Start rolling with a rolling pin until it reaches a thickness of about 1/2 inch. You can make the dog biscuits thinner, but then they will be crunchier.
- Then, use the dog cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Reuse the leftover cookie dough to reform a cookie dough ball, flatten it, roll it, and form more cookies from it.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with a cooking oil spray like olive oil.
- Place the cut cookies on the baking sheet and bake them on the center rack of the oven until golden brown and firm which takes 20 to 30 minutes.
Soft Dog Treats
If you prefer soft dog treats, under-bake the cookies and stop the oven after about 15 minutes. Or keep baking for crunchier cookies. The baking time depends on the texture you want to achieve for your dog’s teeth. Some dogs like soft treats as they get older.
Storage Instructions
These dog treats can be stored in an airtight metallic or glass container at room temperature or in the fridge. Some dogs don’t like food to be too cold, so if stored in the fridge, bring a few dog biscuits back to room temperature before offering them to your lovely furry friend.
Allergy Swaps
Dog food allergies are very common, especially protein allergies from wheat, eggs, or meat. Below I listed some options for you to adapt this recipe if your dog can’t have some of the ingredients listed here.
- Egg-Free – Some dogs are allergic to albumin, the egg protein. Therefore, the safest egg replacer for one egg in dog recipes is to use 3 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce or a flax egg. Flax eggs are safe for dogs and are made from one tablespoon of flaxseed meal diluted in 3 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Flax meal adds nutrients to dogs and is a great egg replacer for dogs with egg allergies.
- Wheat-Free – Some dogs are allergic to gluten like humans. You can replace wheat flour with all-purpose gluten-free flour with great success. You can replace the oats with gluten-free certified oats but if you can’t find this, add more gluten-free flour instead.
- Sweet Potatoes – If your dog doesn’t like sweet potato puree, try potato puree or pumpkin puree. Even canned pumpkin puree can be used as long as it’s natural without added sugar.
- Nut-Free – It’s rare that dogs have nut allergies, except for macadamia nuts which are toxic. Other nuts should be ok. But if your furry pet is sensitive to peanuts, try unsweetened sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter.
Toxic Food For Dogs Treats
I know it’s tempting to add flavors to your homemade Christmas dog treats, like sweet or savory food.
But some foods are toxic for dogs, don’t add some of the following to your dog treats are:
- Cheese and Yogurt – most dogs won’t digest lactose very well.
- Salt – too much salt is not good for them, so it’s better to avoid it.
- Sugar and candies
- Chocolate – toxic for dogs
- Avocado – toxic for dogs
- Macadamia
- Xylitol
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are my answers to your most common questions about this Christmas dog treat recipe.
Absolutely! Place the treats in a sealed bag or container and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw the dog treats at room temperature the day before.
Some spices like garlic, onion, or chili are toxic for dogs, so don’t add them to their treats. However, cinnamon is safe for dogs and adds a lovely Christmas note to their dog cookies.
No, any food containing sugar should be avoided for dogs. If you want to add some color to the cookies, add grated carrots or beetroots to the batter.
This recipe won’t work with coconut flour, almond flour, or rice flour. You can use all-purpose gluten-free flour, spelt flour, or white wholewheat flour. You can also use self-rising flour. It contains added baking powder that gives a little rise and puff to the treats, making them less hard to bite on.
More Dog Recipes
Since my kids love gifting dog recipes to friends and teachers, I have a few more dog recipes for your to try:
Christmas Dog Treats Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large Egg
- ¼ cup Sweet Potato Puree or pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons Peanut Butter
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Quick Oats
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
Optional – if batter too dry
- 1-2 teaspoons Water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat egg, sweet potato puree, and peanut butter.
- Stir in the flour, quick oat, and cinnamon. Start stirring with a wooden spoon, then use your hand to knead the dough. If too dry or crumbly to form a ball, add 1-2 teaspoons of water to bring the ingredients together.
- Roll the dough ball into a 1/2-inch thickness, and using a dog cookie cutter, cut out bone shapes.
- Place the bone-shaped cookies on the prepared cookie sheet. They won't expand while baking but leaving half a thumb of space between each of them makes it easier to remove from the tray later.
- Bake for 25 minutes for softer cookies or up to 35-40 minutes for ultra-crunchy treats. Bake until golden brown, not burnt or too dark.
- Cool on the rack for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Storage
- Store in a sealed jar at room temperature for up to 1 week or freeze and thaw the day before.
