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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Linda says
Some of my dogs love these but I have a super picky one that only likes bacon flavor treats. We have one that needs grain free and it is easier just to just keep it the same for all of them. Any ideas on what to add to give it a meaty flavor? (Without making them inedible)
Joyce Lee says
Hi Linda,
Hmmm that's a tough one. I don't really know a good way to add meat flavor to the treats...
I know there are some people that recommend using boullions but I definitely do not recommend that because they usually contain salt and other bad stuff.
I also don't recommend using any kind of fat as well (such as bacon fat) as this can cause pancreatitis in our little ones.
You can try making a concentrated beef/chicken broth with bones at home from scratch with just water and bones (no water, oil or vegetables) and put a few tablespoons of that into the batter but I don't know how much flavor that would actually add to the treats. If you do decide to do this, you should make sure that you skim off all the fat, because the fat can give them pancreatitis.
Sorry I couldn't be more help!
Sheri says
Hi there! My 15 year old pup is allergic to grains and I was finally able to make the 3 ingredient treats for her and she loved them. I also shared with her friends in the neighborhood. Thank you for such an easy and great recipe.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Sheri,
I'm happy I can share this with you and the pups. I know how it feels to have a pup with allergies, I have one myself. Give all the pups a hug and a pet for me!
Kim Hamilton says
I have lots of coconut flour and would like to incorporate it in to the recipe with the chickpea flour. Any suggestion?
Joyce Lee says
Hi Kim!
I have not tried to make this with coconut flour so I'm not really sure how it will turn out with it. If I were to sub it, I would keep the recipe the same, but make sure you end up with a cookie dough consistency that you can cut into shapes. You may need to adjust the pumpkin puree. I would also watch it carefully in the oven and check on it every 5-10 minutes to make sure the bottoms are not burning.
Kim says
I did try the coconut flour but didn't get the crunchiness I wanted so I'll just stick with the chickpea flour. Thanks for responding!
p.s. the dogs didn't complain though 🙂
Joyce Lee says
Hi Kim!
Thanks for coming back and updating me! It's good to know the coconut flour didn't work. I have only used coconut flour once to make cookies and I recalled it not firming up as well now that you mentioned it.
I'm glad the pups still enjoyed it though haha! Those awesome little ones always know how to put a smile on our faces haha. Give them a lot of pets and hugs for me.
Me says
Hi guys
Iv got a 2 year old cocakpoo and my girl has allergies gran free I want to make some homemade treats is flower a gran free one for treats or is this a bad one?
Many thanks
Joyce Lee says
Hi
Yes, this treat is grain-free. I use chickpea flour in this recipe, and chick peas are legumes. Hope this helps and give lots of pets to the little one for me!
Karen says
I’ve been making my own treats using pumpkin, almond butter and whole grain flour.
After finding out my one dog had food allergies my vet recommended I make chick pea flour from ground dry chick peas and he suggested almond butter instead of peanut butter.
My dough is chilling.
Thanks for the recipe
I’m sure Diego and Honey will ❤️ them
Joyce Lee says
Hi Karen!
I am very happy I can share this with Diego and Honey! Please give them a big hug and scratches for me!
Angeline Lim says
Hi Joyce,
Cool! So easy to make and so fast, around 30mins only. Delicious and Smell good too, doggy love these healthy treats .
Appreciated very much your share on above recipe 🙏👍.
Regards,
Angeline Lim
Joyce Lee says
Hi Angeline!
Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know the doggy loves them! I am very happy to share, and super happy that the pup is happy! Give the doggo lots of hugs from me!
Melissa says
Any ideas on what I could use in place of pumpkin. Poor pup is allergic to that too
Joyce Lee says
Hi Melissa,
Hmm...I assume that if the pup is allergic to pumpkin, they might be allergic to butternut squash since they are both squashes. Hmmm maybe try sweet potato instead. I would wrap a sweet potato in foil and bake it in the oven until it is soft enough that you can easily poke a fork through it. (Make sure to put it either in a tray or have something under incase it leaks syrup out of the foil. Once the sweet potatoe is soft, I'd scrape out the soft flesh and use that in place of the pumpkin! Sweet potato will be a bit drier though so you may need to add a bit of water if it doesn't form a dough easily. I hope this helps, and I hope the pup can enjoy them! Give them lots of hugs for me!
Victoria says
Just made these with my daughter and are actually in the process of baking them now… I’m just nervous that 30 mins in my oven is too long lol
(I hope I don’t burn them). This was such an easy recipe and I’m sooo excited. My best friends dog has a grain allergy, which is why I am trying these. I normally make our dog a wheat, honey and pb concoction. Thanks sooo much for sharing your recipe!!! Wish me luck
Joyce Lee says
Hi Victoria!
I hope they turn out for you! Every oven is different - if you think your oven runs on the hotter side then keep an eye on it at around the 15-20 mark and check the bottoms to make sure they haven't burned. To dry them out more, you can turn off the oven and use the residual heat with the door slightly ajar as well!
Give the pup a big hug for me!
GEORGE ORDONEZ says
See my Chocolate Lab is actually allergic to wheat that’s kind the main reason why we. Has to go with these anyways.
Sincerely,
GEORGE A
Joyce Lee says
Hi George,
I'm happy you can make a bit batch of treats for your little guy. Our little guys also has quite a few allergies so I know what you mean and it's why I also make a lot of their snacks for them as well. Give your pup ear scratches and a hug for me.