Get some tails wagging with these healthy 3 ingredient Banana Peanut Butter Dog Treats. Full of peanut buttery goodness and officially taste tested & approved by Chester!
Have you ever looked at the ingredients in the dog cookies that are available at the grocery store?
When Chester joined our family last year I was pretty shocked at the junk that is in most of them and as I make an effort to fuel myself with healthy, unprocessed foods I don't see why what he eats should be any different. When I did find some that I was happy with they were pretty expensive.
That's when I decided that I would make my own Banana Peanut Butter Dog Treats and Sweet Potato Dog Treats. I have been making them weekly ever since.
I kept meaning to post the recipe as I am sure quite a lot of you also have dogs, but until just over a week ago I only had a Christmas tree shaped cookie cutter. Chester really couldn't care less what shape they are but the pictures wouldn't have been very appropriate! I finally got round to picking up a bone shaped cookie cutter last week so now I present to you my Chester's Banana Peanut Butter Dog Treats.
HOW TO MAKE BANANA PEANUT BUTTER DOG TREATS
These Banana Peanut Butter Dog Treats are so easy to make and only have three ingredients. The dough is made in minutes in a food processor, then rolled out and cut into cookie shapes. They cook for longer than regular human cookies as they need to dry out completely and become hard.
Once cooked and cooled they keep well in an airtight container for a couple of weeks.
I struggled like mad to get the photographs for this post and we went through nearly an entire batch of cookies. We got there in the end though and Chester enjoyed his photo shoot rather a lot.
Check out that satisfied little face...And the crumbs stuck in the chin hair!
Chester always knows when I am making his cookies and lurks in the kitchen under my feet the whole time. He absolutely loves them and has even been known to eat them as cookie dough.
They have been thoroughly taste tested and approved!
These cookies are designed to be eaten by dogs but all of the ingredients are suitable for humans too. I actually quite like them and have been known to steal one occasionally!
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE THESE DOG COOKIES
Now for the boring bit but I felt I should mention this so please bear with me....
This is regarding the peanut butter you buy and use. A lot of the varieties available at the store have all sorts of added ingredients. Make absolutely sure in this recipe that the peanut butter you use has NO additives and just has peanuts as an ingredient. There are peanut butters available with xylitol as an ingredient which is extremely toxic for dogs to eat. A lot of them also have added salt which is not good for dogs either.
Also bear in mind that these additives are no good for you or your children either. Personally I only ever buy peanut butter that has one ingredient and that is peanuts. I would advise that you do too. It is pretty easy to come by in most stores.
See this article regarding xylitol and dogs.
Banana Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Ingredients
- 180g / 2 cups rolled oats , or quick oats
- 85g / ⅓ cup peanut butter (make sure your peanut butter has just peanuts as an ingredient and no salt or other additives)
- 1 medium banana , make sure it is very ripe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Add oats to a food processor and process until a flour like consistency
- Add peanut butter and banana
- Process until a dough ball starts to form. Add a drop or two of water if it wont come together. Usually it does without any though.
- Turn out onto a clean surface and roll out to about 3 mm thick
- Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or a silpat .
- Place in oven and bake for 20 - 30 minutes. Watch them carefully near the end. You want them hard but keep an eye on the bottoms so they don't go too brown.
- Leave to cool on the tray then transfer to an air tight container.
Estimated nutrition per serving:
kathy b schools says
What size cookie cutter do you use? THANKS!!!!We are making bunches of them tpo sell this weekend and are trying to get a handle on the size.....
Melanie McDonald says
It really doesn't matter. You can use any size. The cooking time will be about the same because they will be the same thickness. I honestly can't remember what the size was of the ones in the photos. I've been through many cookie cutters since then. They always seem to fall apart on me!
Ashlee Williams says
Is it possible to make these without a food processor? I can blitz the oats in my nutribullet but I don't have an actual processor for the rest.
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried. I'm sure it would if you blitz the oats to flour-like consistency first, but the dough will take some mixing. You'd need to mash the banana to a puree before you start and make sure you use drippy peanut butter (that's natural - some more processed ones contain ingredients that aren't good or are toxic to dogs). It needs to be drippy and not really stiff otherwise you won't stand a chance of mixing it all up by hand. At worst if it fails and you can't roll it out and cut it you could roll it into balls with your hands and your dog could enjoy them raw. Just keep them in the fridge or freezer. My dogs love the mixture raw so it won't be wasted. Hope that helps!
Aby says
Hi, in the nutritional information, is it 40kcal per treat or for the whole batch?
Also are the protein, fat etc quantities for the batch or for each cookie?
A Virtual Vegan says
The nutritional info is per cookie.
LJ says
Scruffy approves!
Jan says
I am having a hard time reading the ingredients for the peanut butter and oats. Is that 2 cups of oats and 1/3 cup of peanut butter? Thank you.
Melanie McDonald says
That's right, yes!
Kerri Garner says
Hey, this looks lovely. Are they OK for freezing?
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried, but to be honest they don't need freezing. As long as you cook them until they are nice and dry with no moisture left in them, they will keep for months and months in an airtight jar.
Kathryn Stewart says
Made for my youngest dog's 3rd Birthday, all 3 of them loved the biscuits.
I made the mistake of trying to get away with using the mini chopper attachment for my stick blender, shan't be doing that again! Will definitely bring out my food processor next time to self myself time and sanity.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm glad they enjoyed them! And yes, a food processor is pretty necessary for this recipe. Next time will be so much easier for you!
Julie says
We got several sizes of bone shaped cookie cutters for Christmas so I just made these today. EASY to make! Not sure how my Shih-tzus will do with the oats--very sensitive digestive system. They loved the taste today, though.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased they enjoyed them Julie! I hope their digestive systems do ok with them.
LLYN M M TUYLS says
our doodles love these..so easy and clean ingredients...making them for our WHITE PAWS fundraiser
Linda carnahan says
I will definitely be trying your recipes. Have you ever tried banana flour in baking for your pup. I found some the other day and am wondering if it would be safe to use.
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't tried it at all because it's super expensive here. I believe the flour is made from green bananas too which aren't generally as easily digested as ripe bananas. I don't know whether making flour from them gets over that issue or not though and how it is with dogs digestion.
Jess says
Just made these but instead of water to bring the "dough" together I used coconut oil. I also added sweet potato puree. They smell great and my German shepherd approves!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome! I'm so glad your doggy approves. As sweet potato is a hit you both might like these too: https://avirtualvegan.com/sweet-potato-dog-cookies/
DeeJay says
Oh my gosh, my pups love these. I tried a little test. I put down both a Milkbone and a homemade treat. First test, both pups ran to the Milkbone. On tests 2 and 3, both pups ran directly to the peanut butter/banana cookie bypassing the store bought cookie.
I made these in an electric, convection oven. Best batch was 17 minutes in the oven. Even these looked a little too brown. Next time I will try 16 minutes.
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha! Bless them! Chester will not touch store bought treats at all now. It's homemade or nothing. Every-time he sees that food processor or rolling pin he assumes I'm making cookies and won't leave my side until he gets them! You should try my sweet potato ones next. Out of the two recipes they are Chester's favourite and they are also the most made out of the two by readers. Here they are https://avirtualvegan.com/sweet-potato-dog-cookies/
Ronaye says
Wow these smell so amazing raw! I just popped them into the oven now. I don’t understand why people BUY dog treats, when it’s so easy to make yummy, healthy options! I dehydrated apples and sweet potato today for my puppy as welll. Thanks for recipe! ????????????????????????
A Virtual Vegan says
You have a lucky puppy! Chester won't eat store bought treats now because he's been thoroughly spoilt. Sometimes people offer them to him at the dog park or he gets them for Christmas from family and he won't touch them. Your puppy will end up the same!
Hanne says
I always have a tin of home made treats for when my grand doggies come to visit. These looks so cute. I'll be throwing Chester's bisquits into the rotation. I love a good vegan dog treat that doesn't make my fingers smell like liver.
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes! Non-vegan treats are always so stinky! Plus there is the added bonus that if you get peckish and have no cookies of your own you can eat one of these. I often do! ;) I hope your grand doggies enjoy them!
Gareth says
HI, is there any way to make these without a food processor?
A Virtual Vegan says
If you had oat flour to begin with instead of rolled oats you probably could make them by mashing it all up and kneading it together. If you only have oats though you need to turn them into flour somehow. You could do that in a blender if you have one instead of a food processor or even a clean coffee grinder. You can usually buy oat flour in health food stores too so that's an option. If you can get some use 2 cups of oat flour and just add a little more if the mixture is too wet to roll out. Hope that helps!
Gareth says
Perfect, thank you! The only blender we have is a NutriNinja which can't do dry stuff by itself so I will keep a look oat for oat flour at our local health food shop :)
Daytona says
Hi
I was wondering how long these last once baked?
Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
They stay good for absolutely ages. I've had some here now for about 2 months and they are fine.
Kathy says
Thanks for sharing. Love making this "healthy treat.
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome Kathy!
Claudia says
I tried them and my dog loves them. I had to reduce the baking to 15 min though or the would have been completely burned!! Thanks for the recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm glad your dog is enjoying the cookies. I can't touch the food processor or the rolling pin anymore without my dog going crazy!
I will add a note to the recipe to check them after 20 minutes to stop any burning issues in the future!
Merry Christmas!