Christmas Dog Treats

5 from 14 votes

These homemade Christmas Dog Treats are an easy way to pamper your pet during the holidays. Made with 5 simple, healthy, wholesome ingredients, these cookies taste delicious and are the perfect puppy present.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 98kcal

Author: Jennifer Fishkind

Ingredients

¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
Red all-natural food coloring optional
Green all-natural food coloring optional
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cups rolled oats

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
Mix the applesauce, creamy peanut butter, and egg together in a medium sized bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Divide the mixture as evenly as possible into three medium sized mixing bowls (a little more than ⅓ cup per bowl).
Add all-natural red food coloring to one bowl, and all-natural green food coloring to another bowl, optional. Leave the last bowl uncolored.
Mix the food coloring into each wet mixture until completely combined. Keep in mind that the color will dilute when the flour mixture is added, so add a little more food coloring than you think it will need.
In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and rolled oats and stir until well mixed.
Divide the flour mixture into three (1 cup each) and add to each of the three bowls.
Use a hand or stand mixer to stir the flour into each wet mixture until just combined.
The mixture should create a slightly dry but malleable dough. If it is too dry, add more applesauce, ½ Tablespoon at a time. If it is too wet, add more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time. Mix these add-ins with your hands if possible in order to avoid overmixing the flour.
Roll the three different colored doughs (or single colored dough) onto a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin until the dough is ¼ inch in thickness.
Use Christmas shaped cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes--rerolling the dough until all the dough is used. Place the cookies on the sheet pan.
Bake in the oven for 13-18 minutes or until they turn golden brown. You can vary the bake times depending on preference. For a softer treat, cook for less time.
Let cool completely before serving as treats to your precious canines.

Notes

NOTE: You should always check with your vet to make sure the ingredients are good for your dogs diet. I also recommend giving your dog a small sample to try first to make sure they don't have a negative reaction or any allergies.

Storage:

To Store: You can leave these treats on the countertop for up to one day, but after that, keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight container or plastic bag. They will last for 1-2 weeks if properly packaged.
To Freeze: To freeze these cookies, place them in a freezer-safe airtight container for 3-4 months.

Tips:

Some peanut butter brands include xylitol to cut the sugar in their product. DO NOT USE any peanut butter containing xylitol because it is toxic for dogs. Check the ingredients prior to baking.
If you don’t want to make different colored cookies, you do not have to worry about dividing your dough.
It’s much easier to incorporate the food coloring into the wet ingredients as opposed to the dry ingredients. However, you can also add it into the recipe when both the wet and dry ingredients have been incorporated.
You will need to bake two batches of cookies in order to use up all your dough for this recipe. You can either use two large sheet pans (11x13) or one large sheet pan but used twice. Make sure to cook your batches separately to avoid uneven cooking.
If you don’t have any parchment paper, use cooking spray. It will work fine for these cookies since they don’t tend to stick to the sheet pan.
Because these cookies are on the drier side in order to make more biscuit-like treats for the doggies, they might dry out too much if you add too much flour to your surface. If your dough gets too dry, add little teaspoons of extra applesauce and knead it into the dough before you roll it out.

Nutrition