In this post, you’ll learn how to make dog treats that are healthy and all-natural.
I’m known around these parts as “the crazy Schnauzer lady”, but in truth, I’m crazy about ALL dogs… and think they deserve some tasty, homemade treats every now and then! This simple, two-ingredient recipe can be customized like nobody’s business, so get creative and have a little fun (while pampering your pooch) with this easy dog treat recipe!
I originally made these treats for Wrigley’s first birthday (yes, I celebrated it. Re: crazy dog lady; see above), and have made a ton of variations since. The basic recipe is as follows:
Ingredients for DIY Dog Treats:
- 2 cups 100% organic whole wheat flour (or wheat germ, or spelt, or rolled oats, or a mixture of these, etc.)
- 2 (4oz) jars of pureed baby food – beef, blueberry, sweet potato, chicken – whatever. Just make sure there are no onions/onion powder in it*. Avoid any with artificial preservatives (should be easy, most are just pureed veggies and water).
Note: if you’d like to make these dog treats fully organic, just make sure you buy organic versions of the two ingredients listed above (and any additions you make to the recipe)
How to make dog treats:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Mix together to form a stiff dough. If necessary, add extra flour or water as needed.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about a 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shape or a pizza cutter to make cubes.
4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, place treats about 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before storing in a paper bag (storing in an air-tight container will make them soft, but they’re still edible).
Easy, right? Now this is where you can get creative! Consider including grated carrots or sweet potatoes, a little bit of parsley (which supposedly helps with bad breath), blueberries, or some of that homemade peanut butter!
How will you customize these treats for your pooch? Do you have any other homemade dog treat recipes? Share them in the comments!
*Onions are toxic to dogs! If you’re unsure about what you can/cannot include, check out this list of possibly toxic foods from the ASPCA. Not everything on that list is toxic, but each one links to an explanation of why you may want to avoid it.
I tried these with butternut lasagna baby food but came out abit hard. I also added an egg to bind the dough. Is that the way it should be.
Robbie
Thanks for the recipe! We made them last weekend with sweet potato in one batch and chicken in a second batch. Guinness LOVED them. We used a strawberry corer as a treat punch. Perfectly sized scooby snack for our terrier. Any idea how long they last? Do the snacks “go bad” sitting on the counter?
I absolutely love these treats for my pup – and I love the fact that this recipe is so versatile and cheap! I usually use sweet potato baby food, but I have mixed it up recently. I also have been experimenting with what to add. My most favorite things to add to a half recipe (1 cup flour with one jar) is 1/4 cup of oats, 2 tbsp melted coconut oil, 1 tsp honey and 1 tbsp parsley, minced. If done with sweet potato, your hitting shiny coat all around, plus fresh(er) breath (parsley) and added fiber (oats). Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
Pam – I keep Daegan’s treats in a brown paper lunch bag in the pantry and they haven’t gone bad even after 2 months…if they last that long! He loves his treats. lol I have yet to ever see mold on them but as stated before I make them thin (about 1/4 inch thick or a bit over) and bake them so that they become real crunchy. Not so hard he could break a tooth lol, but crunchy enough that they help remove tartar. (like milkbones) I think you’re safe keeping them on the counter.
why has the biscuits turned soft & chewy (yes, i tasted them) after i store them in the container?
@Jody I was confused as to why one would add fleas..! LOL
Thanks sooo much for this recipe! My daughter had a ton of leftover baby food once the little one started on solids, so now I can put them to good use. @Rowdy D – one of my dogs has wheat allergies, so I usually use a combination of oat flour and brown rice flour. I also have buckwheat flour in case I run out of one of the others. I’m experimenting with other kinds, too.
Our lovie has allergies to meat so it’s hard to find treats he can eat. These sound great & will be perfect for our Beaux Jackson!
How many treats does this make approximately? My church is doing a “Blessing of the Animals” in two weeks and I’d love to be able to give the puppies and dogs a little something. I’m also looking into cat treats. I just need to know how much extra baby food and flour to buy!
Sara – that all depends on the size of the cookie cutter you use, or if you cut them in squares with a knife before baking. I used a 2 inch heart shaped cookie cutter and got approx. 30 + treats. That was one single batch.
I think it’s safe to say you will only need one bag of flour (5lbs) and you’ll have plenty of flour left over.
Use your imagination with grated veggies or fruit, but please do check first which ones should not be given to dogs. (stay clear of onion, chives, garlic for sure!)
Trying these for the first time today! I used about 2/3 cup of rolled oats and 1 1/3 cups of the whole wheat flour. Sweet potato and carrot flavor! I’ve given my doggie sweet potato and oats treats before, but never made them myself so I can’t wait to see how they turn out! Hope she loves them!
Can you still store these on the counter if you make them with meat?
I made these treats with peanut butter and water instead of baby food. I used a quarter cup measure to make them circle, and pressed in mini pawprints. I got 25, and my dog loves them.
I have got to tell you. I used your original recipe, and they were fantastic, so the next time I felt confident to change it up a bit, as per your suggestions. The second times some oats, peanut butter and sweet potatoes were substituted for wheat germ. (I used that instead of whole wheat flour.)
When I searched again for the recipe, i couldn’t find it anywhere! (I’d forgotten about the baby food,) I tried a different recipe, but I didn’t like it as much. And I’m so happy, I stumbled upon it again. Will surely save!!
My Cav Molly loves them… all the neighbors’ dogs love them! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Sorry, I should have said wheat germ and baby food.
I have a diabetic dog and need to find a healthier treat to giver her. Is the recipe for the two ingredients okay to give her?
Thank you for sharing. I had bought some dog style cookie cutters last year for my older dog but never got around to using them until now. She has since passed so I’m making them in memory of my baby dog Ashley, for our new puppy Trixie. They turned out great and she loves them. I think I’ll be giving these away as gifts for Christmas as well. Thanks again.
Instead of baby food I used food ground up in a blender
I used two bananas instead of baby food as I didn’t have any also about a table spoon of butter. My pups love them. I used a pooh bear shaped cookie cutter which made them extra special..thanks for the recipe..
You are very creative!! Thank you for this recipe I will try it. Sounds human yummy. My dogs will love it.
What a great recipe, I started making these for my great dane that has serious food allergy issues. I used chickpea flour, squash baby food, added shredded carrots and a mashed banana, some cinnamon, and drizzled some honey in. I didn’t bother to roll out the dough, I spooned it onto the cookie sheet in about quarter sized blobs, then flattened slightly with a wet fork, like the old-fashioned peanut butter cookies. My dog LOVES these treats, he has actually started to drool for them as he waits for me to get them out of the fridge!!
I’m making them now for my poodles (3). I used chicken baby food and a little no sodium chicken broth. I hope Jenny Maddie and Zsazsa love them!
Can I use all purpose flour?
Yes, you can use any kind of flour.
going to make these for my dogs. i have brought apple baby food aqnd the chicken and apple casserole with no onions! im sure they will enjoy them!
Thankyou a tonne for this recipe… My dogs are howling and jumping every time I get them out! I added some chopped parsley to help one of my dogs breath, and 1/3 of a sweet potato, aswell a 1/2 cup of mashed banana, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of honey for sweetness…. And lastly I added an extra 6 tablespoons of water because the mixture became quite dry. Also I found that the mixture is yummy for a lunch snack for a personaswell, and made a seperate batch without the veg for the family!! I made them each into mini gnomes and leaves and was able to make loads of doggy biscuits 🙂 When I took them out though they were quite dry and elasticy, do you know why that would be ?
Thankyou xoxo
Is regular peanut butter such as Skippy’s ok for dogs??
I have Shih Tzu’s! I used 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 tablespoon honey and I grated 2 hot dogs. Mixed together and added water until creamy. My dogs went nuts for it!!!! They love it!!! Thank you for the receipie!!!
I made these a week ago but they molded…how long are they supposed to last and why would they have done that?
I keep them in the fridge for up to a week, but i usually put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. There are no preservatives whatsoever in them so I think that is why they don’t keep well out of the freezer or fridge, (just guessing). When my dog sees me go to the freezer, he just can’t contain his excitement.
Irene
I have a diabetic Schnauzer who has high fat content in the blood. His cookies are made with his wet dog food, pumpkin purée, egg, ground chicken, a little coconut flour, and ground up diabetic cookies. He has so many pills to take, they need to be moist enough for me to “hide the pill” 😉
Which DIY dog treats don’t need to be refridgerated? I’m a dog trainer and want to offer them to groomers, vets, etc. that I hope to network with. So I need to make sure they’ll last without going bad or getting moldy. Thank you very much.
My grandson (who is 2) and I made these for my Coton.
So easy!! We substituted 1/2 cup oatmeal for part of the flour, used baby food sweet potatoes and then used Trader Joe’s natural peanut butter which we added about 2 tablespoons of organic apple juice to equal the 4 oz. Bailey just finished the last of these so I will be making more treats. Thank you!
Made a bunch of these last night for my 2 fur – nephews I am sitting for this week. I made 5 batches, pear, banana, sweet potato, squash and beef. They loved me all. Now I say treat and they run to the kitchen. Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to try variations
I am training my dog to shake and I needed treats for motivation these work perfectly not like any other treat
Oh my gosh!! I wanted to make doggie biscuits for our church bazaar. Unfortunately, cooking & I simply do not mix! I looked all over the Internet for a recipe and they all appeared MORE than daunting. This recipe seems so easy & fun because I can mix things up! I can’t wait!! Thanks!!
I started with this recipe and I loved the ease and my dogs loved the biscuits. But, I got to thinking and decided to try something else. I bought canned soup and mixed it with the wheat flour. (Watch the ingredients if you are worried about onions, etc.) The dogs love it. Sometimes I mix some cheese or bacon bits into the mix. Thanks for the idea.
It is very upsetting to know that people are using baby food….Baby food contains garlic and onion which is bad for dogs it breaks down the blood cells that fight off infections and is very bad for dogs….My dog was diagnosed with cancer and my Vet a vet with a degree from John Hopkins School of Vetrinary told me to immediately stop administering baby food to my dog who was diagnosed with cancer and would not eat. Please do not ever feed your dogs anything containing garlic or onion in any form and BABY FOOD contains these items….USE fresh or canned vegetables and puree them if needed.
I’m afraid to add new foods to my dog’s diet. He doesn’t eat much people food. He gets Popsicles, peanut butter, yogurt, and sometimes a few small bits of chicken. I don’t want to upset his digestive process. I’d love to add pumpkin, but am not sure about it.
I used rolled oats and pureed baby food (chicken & veggies) which did not make a dough. I did try to grind the rolled oats a little bit in the food processor to make more of a flour consistency so to speak. These turned out dry but my doggie did like them. Just curious what else you can put in the recipe to make it more flavorful. I did not want to use whole wheat flour, wheat germ or spelt. Thank you.
My very spoiled very big black Labrador absolutely loves these. So far I have only made them with puréed beef baby food and wheat flour but I’m going to add in some rolled oats next time I used cookie cutters and cut them out in letters to spell his name …SPY… of course he had to eat them in threes then so he got his full name each time 🙂
Can u use regular flour I have a mail-shi
Maltese and shih Tzu mix
My dogs love this recipe. Is there any reason this wouldn’t be safe made into small cat treats?
Thank you for the recipe! They were so easy to make and my pup LOVES them. I used beef and sweet potato and added shredded carrots and blueberries. I used a variety of sized paw print cookie cutters small to large and they look adorable. Will definitely be making these again. I do think that next time I may try cooking them just a little longer to get a really hard crunchy treat from them.
I have checked several baby food labels none list onion. It was suggested I feed my dog oats mixed with baby food for grain (grain free kibble) as he is allergic to wheat.
My min pin is on heart medicine and heart food and she is STARVING by the time she eats. We have already put her dinner time up an hour. I needed something other than fruits or vets., which she loves, but don’t “stay with her”.
Snacks need to be no-sodium so this was a perfect recipe to try. It helps “hold” her until dinner. Even some of the comments gave variations which are healthy.
Love to hear it, Sandy! Hope you little min pin loves the treats!