An easy and simple homemade grain-free peanut butter pumpkin dog treats recipe, made with 3 ingredients for dogs with sensitivities to grains. A special treat this time of year for our furry sidekicks!
Table of Contents
Like humans, dogs also come in all shapes and sizes and have unique traits and characteristics. Some dogs can eat pretty much anything and not have a worry in the world, while other dogs have sensitivities to ingredients or are incapable of digesting certain foods - with this thought in mind along with an email I received asking if my other 6-ingredients homemade dog treat recipe dog treats could be substituted with grain-free products, I decided to create a grain-free dog treat recipe that was simple (3 ingredients) with no binders (like eggs) and no added sugars as an alternative for the pups out there with the special diets. 🙂
To keep this recipe simple, there are no eggs in this recipe. You actually don't need it as a binder because pumpkin is a wonderful binder on its own. I also decided to use pumpkin as the main ingredient because it's good for dogs (especially dogs with diarrhea and upset stomachs) and it has the ability to draw moisture out of things, which is a great way to dry out the treats! Double duty with no negatives. 😉
Grain-Free Dog Treats Ingredients
- Peanut Butter - When you are buying peanut butter for this recipe, make sure to read the ingredient label to make sure there are no added sugars, xylitol, salts or additives in it. I like to use natural peanut butter (the kind where the oil separates from the peanut butter).
- Pumpkin puree - You can find canned pumpkin puree at the supermarket. Please make sure you are buying 100% pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, read the ingredient label, it should only contain pumpkin and it shouldn't contain any sugars or spices.
- Chick Pea Flour - To keep these treats grain-free, I used chickpea flour. It is also known as besan or gram flour if you buy it from the Indian grocery store.
How to Make Grain-Free Dog Treats
Dough Consistency
When you are kneading the dough, it might get a bit sticky, if it does, add 1 tablespoon of chickpea flour at a time and keep kneading. The consistency of the dough should be like play-doh. Once you have added enough chickpea flour and the dough is not sticky, you can put it in the fridge for an hour to harden it a little. This will make it easier to cut shapes out of the dough.
How to Make Dog Treats Without Cookie Cutters
I'm pretty sure our pups don't care what shape their treats come in, so if you don't have cookie cutters, it's really not a big deal. It will actually make the recipe even easier and quicker to complete because instead of using cookie cutters to make cuts into the dough and then re-rolling the leftover dough to re-cut them with the cookie-cutter again, you can use a knife and cut them into little squares or rectangles. 🙂 If you do use a cookie cutter, I found it a lot easier to dip the cookie cutter in the chickpea flour in between cuts so that the dough doesn't stick to the cutter as much.
Drying Out Dog Grain-Free Dog Treats in the Oven
I found that baking these treats was not enough to dry them out, and baking them for too long burned the bottoms. To work around that, I baked these in the oven for 30 minutes only and then turned off the heat but left the treats in the oven for an additional 30 minutes to let the residual heat dry it out without burning it.
How to Store Grain-Free Dog Treats
These grain-free dog treats need to stay dry to be stored well. Do not store these in the fridge or in a well-sealed container since that might cause condensation and trap moisture in with the treats. The more airflow you have for storage the better. I like to store these in metal tins or ziplock bags (90% zipped). They can be stored for 1-2 months.
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Homemade Grain Free Dog Treats (3 Ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups chickpea flour (165g)
- ½ cup peanut butter - natural (90g, no sugar or salt added, see notes)
- ½ cup pumpkin puree (145g)
Instructions
Making the Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the chickpea flour, puree pumpkin, and peanut butter with your hand and knead it until it forms a dough ball. If the dough feels very sticky, keep adding chickpea flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and not sticky. It should be the consistency of play-doh.
- Once the dough has come together, cover it in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for 1 hour. This will make the dough stiffer and easier to cut shapes out of.
- Once the dough has been chilled in the fridge for an hour, take it out of the fridge and plastic wrap.
- Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper and set it close by.
- Sprinkle chickpea flour liberally on the counter you are rolling out the dough on. Dust the rolling pin as well.
- Sprinkle a bit of chickpea flour on the dough and rub it gently on until there is a light coating on it, then roll out the dough to about ¼ inch to ½ inch thickness.
- (Note: If the dough is still sticky, it might stick to the counter - to address that, dust the dough frequently on both sides and flip it often while you are rolling it out)
- Use a cookie cutter and cut out shapes in the dough. It is crucial to dip the cookie cutter in the chickpea flour in between each cooking cutting to prevent the dough from sticking to it. If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can cut them into squares or rectangles with a knife.
- Place the cut out shapes on the parchment paper with about ½ inch between each dog treat.
Baking & Drying it Out
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (177C).
- Bake the dog treats for 20-30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes have passed, if you have an electric oven turn off the oven and open the oven door ajar for another 20-30 minutes. (Electric ovens usually run hotter than gas ovens)If you have a gas stove, keep the oven door closed instead. We want to use indirect heat to dry out the dog treats so we don't burn the bottoms.
- Check the bottoms every 10 minutes to make sure they don't burn.
- Once they are done drying out in the oven, let them cool in room temperature for at least 5 hours. They harden and dry out more if you leave them out for a few days. I like to usually leave them on a large plate for a few days before storing them in a metal container.
Storing the Treats
- These can be stored in room temperature for 1-2 months, as long as there is good airflow to them. You don't want to put them in the fridge or an airtight container since it can create and trap moisture and cause them to go bad faster.
Notes
- When buying pumpkin puree, make sure it contains no sugar, xylitol or spices in it. It should be list 100% pumpkin puree on the ingredients label. We don't want to use pumpkin pie filling.
- Make sure to use 100% natural peanut butter (the kind where the oil and the peanut butter separate). The ingredient list should only contain peanuts, with no sugar, xylitol, salt, fillers or preservatives.
Nutrition
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Madge Williamson says
Can I Use coconut flours and a real pumpkin scooped out for this recipe
Joyce says
Hi Madge,
I have not tried using coconut flour for this recipe. Whenever I use coconut flour in my own baking I find the end result quite wet/moist which is the opposite of a crunchy dog biscuit, so I have never tried using it 🙂
If you decide to test it out with coconut flour, let me know how it turns out! I'm curious to see if it will turn out!
I have also never tried using fresh pumpkin on this recipe. If you do use fresh pumpkin, I would definitely blend it until it is smooth so you don't have chunks of it in the batter - the chunks of pumpkin might give you issues with drying the treats evenly. The canned pumpkin is also quite 'dry' and I find fresh pumpkin quite wet.
If you do decide to try using fresh pumpkin, you may need to adjust the cooking time to be a bit longer at a lower temperature so it doesn't burn and so it can dry out as well. Sorry I couldn't be any more help!
V says
always make sure the peanut butter you use (or anything really) doesn't contain "xylitol" which is toxic to pets!
Joyce says
Yes! Great advice! I had no idea they even made peanut butter with xylitol! Yikes. Thanks for pointing this out V!
Irene says
I give my two dogs Plato Pumpkin and Cranberry treats. They are very expensive but I need one that is softer for my older dog who is missing some teeth. Can you vary this recipe don’t they don’t become crunchy? I would love to start making them instead of buying them.
Joyce says
Hi Irene!
I find dog treats, in general, are very expensive at the stores so I know what you mean - that and I like making treats where we know exactly what ingredients are in it for our little fur ones - especially the ones with special dietary needs.
I have never seen Plato treats before so I am not sure how soft they are and I have not tried making soft treats as well but I'll try my best to help out the way I would do this for my pups. 🙂
Hmm... but if I were to try to make a softer treat I would probably bake these for less time than required. Try baking this for 15-20 minutes instead of 30, and skip the following step about drying it out the oven for additional 30 minutes.
The longer you bake them, the more dried out they get, the harder the treats are. The good thing about drier treats is they can be stored for a longer period of time than soft treats since there is no moisture in it for bacteria to grow.
If you do decide to bake them for less (so they don't dry out) which might make the treats slightly softer - I would make a smaller batch. That way you can use them up within 2 weeks. There would be a bit of moisture in the treats so try not to keep them around for longer than 2 weeks to be on the safe side.
Don't worry, I know exactly how you feel. My 2 pups are actually quite old as well and are missing a lot of teeth as well! So far, it seems like they can eat it fine, especially when it is made fresh the first day, when the treat is less dry and slightly chewier. 🙂
Hope this helps! and give your pup a hug for me! 🙂
Ashley says
I had the oven at 350 and baked for 30 min turned oven off and left them in for 30 min and they burned. For the second batch I'm trying 12 min and hopefully they won't burn.
Joyce says
Hi Ashley!
Oh no! 🙁 Every oven is different in temperature. I have a gas stove, so when I turn off my oven it turns the heat off completely and will only contain the residual heat which dries out the treats. If you have an oven with elements, the metal stays hot for a bit longer so the oven might stay longer which may have burned your bottoms. I'll make notes of this on the recipe card for the future for the different types of ovens. Thanks for sharing this with me! Hope your second batch turned out better?
Cher says
Isn't garlic poisonous to dogs?
Joyce says
Hi Cher,
It is only toxic in high dosages.
Sarah says
I give my 2 dogs a garlic supplement every morning with a fish oil. They know the sound of their vitamins and come running. Garlic is a lot safer than the vet prescribed medications for fleas and ticks. PS They are actively playing 892 days in....
Stephanie says
Have you tried using almond flour? What about adding brewers yeast and garlic to help keep away fleas?
Stephanie
Joyce says
Hi Stephanie!
I have not tried using almond flour in any of the dog treats recipes I have made, but in the past - I have tried using almond flour to make cookies for myself and I found that I could never get them to hold together properly without a binder (an egg).
I haven't tried adding brewers yeast and garlic, but I don't see why it wouldn't work! 🙂 Let me know if you decide to add them and how they work out for you!
Joyce
Abby says
Ugh... my little girl is allergic to wheat, dairy and peanut!!! I’m gonna try this with almond butter and see if she'll go for it. She loves pumpkin.
Looks like the dough could make good pill pockets - wonder how that could work.
Joyce says
Hi Abby!
I know how you feel, there's so much going on with our little guys diet - it's insane right?
I hope she likes it! Almond butter would work great in this!
You're right the dough feels like playdoh consistency so it would make great pill pockets! haha but I'm not sure how long it would keep for in that consistency before bacteria would grow from the moisture.
I have also heard that some flours have bacteria in when it is raw as well, so you would need to bake the flour on its own on very low heat to kill the bacteria before using it, if you don't plan to bake the treats.
Give your girl a hug from us!