Along with presents and family time, the winter holiday season brings an abundance of holiday treats of various sizes and shapes. Unfortunately, many of these treats that are safe for us humans to eat are incredibly toxic for our fur-babies. One solution to this is to prepare your own homemade treats for your pup. This will give you control over what goes into your fur-baby’s mouth and gives them a yummy holiday treat to enjoy.

Here are 4 healthy and wholesome recipes to make the holidays extra special for your furry friend this year:

Peppermint Holidog Christmas Dog Treats

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of molasses
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, molasses, peanut butter, water, olive oil and peppermint extract until smooth.
3. Knead flour on a floured surface and roll out to ¼ inch thickness. Cut with festive cookie cutters and place on non-stick cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store treats in a sealed container and refrigerate or freeze.

Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup of rice flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of coconut cooking oil
• 1 tablespoons of honey
• 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• Few drops of food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, coconut oil, honey, peppermint extract, and your food coloring.  
3. Mix together until blended well. Now slowly add in your rice flour. You can start mixing with a spoon, but will eventually want to go to your hands.
4. Form a nice firm dough, add more water if it’s to dry, and more flour if it’s to wet.  
5. Once you have a nice dough, roll it out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into your preferred shapes.
6. Place cookies on a baking pan, and bake for 10 – 15 minutes.  
7. Then turn you oven off and leave them inside for about an hour to make sure they are nice and crunchy. You can now decorate them if you want to.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Treats

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of oats (if your dog is on a grain free diet, substitute with an extra 1/4 cup grain-free flour)
• 3 cups of whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, or gluten free flour
• 3 tablespoons of all natural peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In small bowl, stir together the flour, oats, and cinnamon.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin and peanut butter until combined. Stir wet ingredients into dry.
4. Pour onto a floured surface and roll dough out to 1/2 thick. Cut out using cookie cutter.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.
6. Place on cooling racks and let cool thoroughly. They will harden as they cool.

Snickerdoodles Dog Biscuit

Ingredients:

• 1½ cup of oat flour
• 1½ cup of brown rice flour
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup of honey
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• ½ cup of water

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, brown rice flour and cinnamon.
2. Add the honey, egg and vanilla extract and stir until well blended.
3. Add ¼ cup water and mix with a fork. Continue to add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the ingredients start to come together. Lightly knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a ball.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in center position.
5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough until it’s between ¼” and ⅛” thick.
6. Cut out biscuits with a cutter. Place the cutouts on a baking sheet. Press together scraps and repeat.
7. Bake biscuits until they are golden and lightly brown around the edges, about 12 minutes (longer for larger biscuits). Allow biscuits to cool on the baking sheet; they will harden as they cool.
8. Store the biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature.

When feeding your puppy holiday treats, make sure to give your puppy lots of hugs and kisses. They will definitely love it!

Want to know how you can protect your puppy this holiday season? Check out our blog, Holiday Hazards For Your Pets for some helpful tips!