I swore up and down before I became a parent that I’d never be one of “those” people who has a baby and stops giving attention to their pets. My older siblings all warned me. They told me you just don’t have as much “dog patience” when you’re dealing with a screaming baby or tantrum-ing toddler. I scoffed. I’d be different! I’d still dote on my dogs and take them for long walks every single day and never, ever get frustrated with them!
Except…nope. Spoiler alert: the list of things I swore I’d never do before having a child and now do could fill a book. And this one would be on the first page. The truth is: I just don’t have nearly as much margin in my life to give my animals (particularly my dogs) the attention that I once did. Don’t get me wrong, they are nowhere near neglected with their premium dog food, regular vet visits, frequent snuggles, and fenced-in yard. They still lead lovely, happy, healthy lives—just with a little less of me in it.
I try not to feel too guilty about it (after all, I’m working hard to raise a kind, compassionate, empowered human here!), but there are times throughout the year that I feel like I need to give the puppers a little more love to make up for my absence. And this is one of those times.
This is one of the busiest times of year for me both personally and professionally, which means my already small amount of one-on-one time with the dogs has shrunk. The cure for my guilt? Regularly scheduled long walks with the dogs (it’s literally in my planner) and a totally over-the-top gift basket complete with all kinds of goodies from my local Meijer store!
The idea for this started when I was browsing the aisles of Meijer killing time before I had to pick up my daughter from school one day. I stumbled into their massive Pets section, and I found a particular toy and thought, “Hey, I bet Ivy would like this!” and it ended up in my cart. And then, because I’m all about fairness, I went to pick up something for our other dog, Rory. And the shopping spree continued until my cart was jam-packed with toys and treats for the girls, and an idea to surprise them with an “I’m sorry I spend so much time playing Legos and so little time taking you on hikes” gift basket.
I also needed to pick up a few cans of pumpkin puree (because hello: it’s fall), so I popped over to the baking aisle and knew immediately that I had to bake the puppers some homemade pumpkin dog biscuits to go in their basket.
I have a homemade dog treat recipe already on Wholefully, but it uses wheat flour. I created that recipe before our vet recommended both our dogs go on a grain-free diet. It was time to get back in the kitchen and start working on new, grain-free dog treats! I snagged a few more ingredients from the Meijer baking section (including a cute bone-shaped cookie cutter!) and headed home to get started.
What I ended up creating was a treat that not only made the puppies excited but also added a bit of a nutritional boost to their diet! The treats are packed with ingredients that can really help nourish your canine friends like:
- Eggs: an amazing simple source of protein, especially for pups who may have adverse reactions to other proteins. If you get high-quality eggs like the Meijer True Goodness Cage-Free eggs, you also are giving your dogs a nice dose of Omega-3s, which can help keep your puppy’s coat and skin healthy.
- Pumpkin: it’s full of fiber, which can help keep your dog’s gut balanced, and has beta-carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant.
- Coconut oil: helps get much-needed healthy fats to your puppy, and contains compounds that may help prevent cancer.
- Turmeric and cinnamon: both are natural anti-inflammatories, which is great for all dogs (and humans!), but in particular is a good nutritional supplement if your dog has joint issues like our dog Rory does.
A caveat here: there are tons of (many times conflicting) reports about what and what not to feed your dog. As with all decisions regarding the health of your loved ones, it’s probably best to check with a trained health care professional when introducing any kinds of new foods. A vet can give you a definitive “yes” or “no” on what should end up in your pup’s bowl.
That being said, the ingredients below avoid any products that are well-known doggie no-nos (like, say, chocolate!) and focus on ingredients that are generally accepted as good for doggie-dom. Just like with human food, it depends on the individual. So keep a close eye on your puppy any time you give them a new food or treat. Even though these grain-free dog treats are formulated to be as gentle on their systems and give them as many added nutritional benefits as possible, they still might not agree with some pooches.
In the recipe below, I include how to make the (adorable!) peanut butter glaze for on top of the treats, but it’s absolutely not necessary. I can tell you from experience that the dogs couldn’t care less if there is a cute drizzle on top of their treats or not. They scarfed both versions equally.
The dogs were very pumped about their gift basket. They ate a few of these homemade treats each, and then each of them grabbed one of the rawhide retriever rolls (their favorite) and happily chomped on them for a few hours. I don’t think they’re feeling so overlooked anymore. I hope your dogs enjoy these treats as much as mine did!
Grain-Free Pumpkin Coconut Dog Treats
IMPORTANT NOTE: Many people have had problems with this recipe. We have tested it in multiple kitchens and had great results. We continue to retest this recipe to replicate the problems (and fix them!), but in the meantime please read through the comments before embarking on this recipe. Thanks!
Show your pets some love with Grain-Free Pumpkin Coconut Dog Treats, made entirely from ingredients you already have in your kitchen!
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can Meijer 100% Pure Pumpkin
- 1/2 cup True Goodness Creamy Just Peanuts Peanut Butter
- 1/2 cup True Goodness Pure Coconut Oil, melted
- 4 True Goodness Organic Cage-Free Eggs
- 1 teaspoon True Goodness Organic Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon True Goodness Organic Cinnamon
- 1 2/3 cups coconut flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, peanut butter, coconut oil, and eggs until smooth.
- Add in the turmeric, cinnamon, and coconut flour. Mix until well combined. Let rest for about 5-10 minutes to thicken. Coconut flour NEEDS this time to absorb the moisture. If your dough is too moist, let it sit longer.
- Layout a piece of parchment paper and place the dough on top. Then place another piece of parchment on top of that. Roll the dough between the parchment sandwich until the dough is about 1/4” thick.
- Remove the top layer of parchment paper, and then cut using cooking cutters. Remove the dough scraps (but leave the cutouts behind), and transfer the parchment sheet with the cutouts directly to a large baking sheet.
- Combine the scraps, place between two sheets of new parchment, and roll, cut, and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the cookies are dry and hard. Let cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a month.
Notes
- This is a very soft dough to work with!
- For an optional (cute!) glaze, mix together 1/4 cup peanut butter with 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Place in a ziptop bag, snip off the corner, and drizzle on. The glaze will harden in the fridge, but might be a bit soft at room temperature. Keep the biscuits unglazed if planning on packaging.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 48 medium-sized treats Serving Size: 1 treatAmount Per Serving: Calories: 85Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 19mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 2g
At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Meijer. The opinions and text are all mine.
I’ve used this recipe 4 times now, and the last two times I tried something new… after rolling the dough (half of it at a time) on the parchment paper, I used my pizza cutter to score the whole slab into small squares. The outside edges finish baking more quickly, but I don’t actually mind that the inner pieces aren’t crunchy; I put a handful of baked treats in the fridge and store the rest in a ziplock in the freezer. When I need more, I grab some from the freezer again. I asked my doodle if he missed the bone shapes and he said “no”…:)
PS
I think the 10 minute rest for the coconut flour to thicken up is noticeably important.
Hi, just wondering how they these treats would stay good for, and do I need to keep them in the fridge or are they ok in an air tight container in the cupboard? Thanks 🙂
Hi Katie! As long as you bake them until they’re dry and hard, these treats will store in an airtight container out of the fridge for up to a month. Be sure to let them cool completely before storing. We hope you and your pup love them!
Is there a lower calorie option for this recipe?
Hi Donna! If you’d like to use this recipe, your best bet would be to make the treats smaller and/or to feed them less frequently. Otherwise, we recommend seeking out a recipe that’s already lower in calories if that’s what your pup needs!
I tried this straight from the recipe however replaced peanut butter with home made maple butter – my dog has early Renal failure so we need to limit her protein intake. These are a great alternative to very expensive treats available and she loves them!
If anyone else wants to try with maple butter the recipe:
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup unsalted butter
Pinch of cinnamon
Heat the maple syrup + cinnamon in a large pan to 270F, remove from heat and then melt in the butter. Cool down, cover and place in the fridge for a few hours. If it separates you can stir it back in :).
I’ve made these twice and they turned out well both times. I usually make only a half batch, since it’s a lot of treats for my one dog. I also reduce oil by 50%. Yes, the dough is very soft and hard to work with. I’m used to baking gluten free, so it wasn’t that big of deal. Chilling the dough helps a lot, as does good quality parchment paper. I baked small treats at 300 for 25 minutes-flipping them over halfway through. Then I turned off the oven and let them cool and crisp up. My dog loves them, and it’s a healthy, real food treat for her. I keep some in a jar on the counter, and the rest in a ziplock in the freezer.
Thanks for sharing your success and your tips with us, Sheri! We really appreciate it! =)
After reading the recipe and the comments I decided to make the dog treats in a mold I had one mold that was 1/4 inchdeep and the othrt was 1/2inch deep. They are the molds used toake candy. They both made treats about half the size of the one in the reciepe. I put the dough in the molds popped them out onto the parchment paper and baked. They came out of the molds easily and baked up perfectly. I ended up with twice as mant treats, so they will work well to give smaller dogs o e and larger dogs 2 (they will think they are getting extras!).
Thanks for taking the time to share your tips and success with us, AnnMarie! We really appreciate it. We’re so glad they worked out well for you!
Please don’t feed your dogs rawhide. It can be fatal.
Thank you so much for the recipe, though! I love making all the healthy, yummy things for my furkids!
Hello , I am very interested in this recipe and others like it for my big puppy. We have to switch him to a dog keto diet because he has Epilepsy. In this recipe for grain free pumpkin coconut dog treats I was wondering how long do they last before disguarding them. Also do I store them in the frig or in a ziplock bag out of the frig. All my neighbors love him and want to give him treats. So I have a lot of baking to do.
Thank you for your time, Peter Gladkowski
Hi, Peter! As long as you bake them until they’re dry and hard, these treats will store in an airtight container out of the fridge for up to a month. Be sure to let them cool completely before storing. Also, we always recommend you check in with your vet before feeding anything new to your pup, especially when there are existing medical issues to consider. Let us know how these work out for you. We hope you and your pup love them!
My dogs LOVE these!! I only used two eggs based on someone’s comment let the dough rest for several hours it was perfectly squishable into the molds. They came out perfect although they are a bit crumbly so I will most likely use the four eggs next time. I’m not sure why anybody came up with a liquidy mess. If anything mine was a bit dry from using to few eggs! Great recipe. I used pumpkin molds since it is getting to be fall
Yay! Thanks, Jenelle! We’re so happy to hear the recipe was a hit with you and your pups =)
I made these twice – following the recipe ingredients each time. The first time I used cookie cutters and it was a little fussy. The next time I just rolled out the dough and scored it with a sharp knife to make small squares. Half way through the baking I re-cut on the scores and baked further. The squares on the outside edges baked faster so I could snap them off and cook the inner squares. They turned out perfect – with the scoring you don’t get the cute cut out shapes, but it went much faster for me. Dogs LOVE them!
Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know how it worked out for you, Jaynee! We really appreciate it. So happy they were a hit!
I just brought up this recipe from my bookmarks, as I am about to make the biscuits for a third time. I noticed the comments section and thought I would check it out in case someone had a helpful suggestion, and WOW…I am disappointed with how rude people can be…not how I was raised! Yes, the dough is a bit tricky to work with, but come on! These are dog treats, not Christmas cut-outs! In my mind, I’m thinking that the ratios in this recipe are healthier for our dogs as opposed to adding more flour. I may try lowering the oven temp so they can get crunchy like some have suggested. I use a lid (1 1//2″)? as my shape and bake them all; I keep some in a zip lock in the fridge and freeze the rest.
Thanks for the recipe!
Not the best recipe, way to wet portions are off, way off,lol adding flour and coconut not flour to try to save this mess
After reading the comments stating that they had a less than stellar experience with this recipe – I decided to give it a go anyway! I probably won’t try it again because it was too messy and I ended up having to dehydrate these treats to get them to be more is a biscuit and less of a cake consistency.
Important notes – if you’ve never worked with pumpkin keep in mind that your “dough” will never actually reach a dough consistency – it’s more like a thick/stodgy paste…and it’s VERY sticky.
REFRIGERATE 30 min – 1 hour AFTER ROLLING ON TO PARCHMENT PAPER. Make sure you sandwich the dough between two pieces of parchment, then roll out. It is difficult to get consistent thickness unless you have expert skills or a rolling pin with thickness guides. Stick in the fridge for awhile before cutting. Do not attempt to remove the dough from the bottom layer of parchment paper. Just leave it there, cut pieces and move to baking sheet. If the dough becomes too sticky, just stick it back in the fridge for awhile and then resume cutting.
I suggest baking these “low and slow” – I could have baked much longer but I had other items to cook! I ended up baking the treats at 330 degrees for 25 minutes. It gives you a crisp outside! My biscuits were still cake like (I cut them too thick in some places) so I opted to used my dehydrator.
Over all I enjoyed the recipe but I believe it could have been written with a bit more detail! I wish the measurements had been given precisely in grams! I added xantham gum to the recipe based on what others have said.
That being said, my dog likes them 😀
The recipe worked for me! I put between 2 pieces of parchment paper and froze until firm.
I tested cook time and for a dog bone shaped cookie 2-3 inches the temp/time in the recipe worked fine. For small 1 inch cookies I decreased the temp to 275 and baked for 45 minutes. They are good and crunchy and not too brown.
Made these today- 12/21/2020 as written. I used a mini cookie cutter and baked for only 20 to 25 mins and they came out great! A soft cookie but slightly brown on bottom and clearly cooked through. (If I had made a regular size, I’m sure they would have needed longer.) The dough was moist, but workable and held its shape well with the stated amount of coconut flour. So far the reviews from my two pups, including my super picky shepherd have been positive! Thanks for the recipe; 9/10 would make again.
After reading through all the comments, I decided to just follow the recipe exactly and they turned out absolutely perfect. I used holiday cookie cutters and my dog loves them! Thanks for the recipe!