Homemade Banana Dog Treats

I made these 3 ingredient dog treats for all the dogs in the family, and they just loved them! Always check with your vet about any concerns or questions related to dog treats and what your dog can eat.

Using Flax Seed or Chia Seed in Dog Treats

The best dog treats are made with great ingredients.

I love to add flax seed or chia seed to the dog treats that I make for extra nutrition. These ingredients are completely optional and can be skipped if preferred.

Using Oats for Dog Treats

These banana dog treats are gluten free, using only oats as their base.

I simply grind up some oats using a food processor until it is like a thicker flour. You could also try doing this in any blender.

Want to leave the oats whole? You can! But you will need more oats or less banana/peanut butter to get a non-sticky consistency. Adding whole wheat flour is another option, but then they will not be gluten free dog treats.

Any type of oat should be fine. I like to use the classic, old fashioned rolled oats.

Your end goal is to get the mixture to stick together, not too crumbly so it does not fall apart when rolling out, but not wet and sticky. Just adjust each ingredient as you need to.

Hard Treats or Soft Treats

I make most of my homemade dog treats as hard treats. When they are hard and dried out, they do not mold nearly as fast because there is no moisture.

The hard treats also are good for their teeth as they somewhat clean them as they chew. I make them hard by leaving them in the warm oven for a couple hours to dry them out completely.

They can then be stored in a cookie jar or at room temperature for several weeks.

Softer treats should be stored in the refrigerator after a couple days (since they do not have preservatives) and no need to leave them in the oven.

Whatever your puppy likes, or if you want to change them up, they taste amazing regardless!

Recipe

Information:

• Course: Dog Treats
• Cuisine: American
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Calories: 61 kcal

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups oats.
• 3 medium bananas
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon flax seed or chia seeds, optional

Instructions:

1. Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl.
2. Place 2 1/2 cups of the oats in a food processor and grind until it has a flour-like consistency. Place the ground oats in the large mixing bowl.
3. To the mixing bowl, add the remaining 1 cup of whole oats, cinnamon, and flax seed if using. Mix to combine. Add additional oats if the mixture is too wet, and banana, honey, or water if it is too dry. You want the dough to hold together but not be sticky or wet.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly dust the surface with flour or additional ground oats. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/4″ thick.
5. Using your desired cookie cutter, cut out the treat shapes and place them on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
6. Bake treats at 350F for 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, leaving the cookies inside, and let them sit for two hours. This will make the cookies crunchier. For soft cookies, remove them after the 15 minutes to cool at room temperature.
7. Store soft treats in an airtight container, kept in the refrigerator, for up to 2 weeks. Hard treats can be kept at room temperature up to 3 weeks

Notes:

The number of treats will vary with the thickness of the dough and size of the cookie cutter. This makes 26 treats that are 2″ circles.

Ground flax seeds are completely optional but a great healthy ingredient to add as they provide fiber and are anti-inflammatory. Talk to your vet for more information. Chia seeds are another great addition.

Any type of oats that you have should work well.

Talk to your vet about cooking for your dog and any dietary concerns

Nutrition:

Serving: 1 treat | Calories: 61kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Proteins: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium” 93mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 9IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg.