3 Ingredient Dog Treats Recipe
These 3-Ingredient Dog Treats are easy to make with items you most likely have in your kitchen. The ingredients are easily substituted, and suggestions for substitutions are included.
I haven’t purchased store-bought dog treats since, well…since …well…several months!
At first, I was attempting to avoid going to the grocery store. Now I am trying to use what I have in my kitchen in an attempt to reduce kitchen waste.
When I realized that I could use up the assortment of flours that I had accumulated, I jumped right in with both paws feet. Additionally, this 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Dog Treats recipe uses soft fruit like bananas or cooked apples, pears, carrots, or sweet potatoes, so I can put to good use any of these ingredients before they go bad, thereby really cutting back on food waste.
about peanut butter
I swear my sweet, sugar-faced girl really does prefer these 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Dog Treats over the store-bought variety. It’s not a coincidence that dogs readily take their medicine if tucked into a spoonful of peanuts; dogs love peanut butter.
Flora says…”Just ensure that you avoid peanut butter with added sugar, xylitol, or salt; look for natural peanut butter.” Pups don’t need any of those additives!
3 simple ingredients
You’ll notice that this recipe calls for 3 simple ingredients; oats, peanut butter, and soft fruit or vegetables. I used some apples that were a little wrinkly and quickly cooked them in the microwave to make a quick applesauce. I didn’t peel the apples but did remove the cores and seeds.
But as I noted above, you could easily substitute any soft fruit or vegetable with the exception of avocado, onions, mushrooms, garlic, rhubarb, grapes, and raisins which are harmful to dogs. Flora loves the peanut butter banana version of these dog treats
And feel free to substitute another grain for the oats. Check out this Pumpkin Dog Treats post’s list of acceptable grains for dog treats.
dehydrate your dog treats to store them at room temperature.
And like those Pumpkin Dog Treats, these 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Dogs Treats are best if you completely dehydrate the dog treats to pull all the moisture out. The dehydration will allow you to store these tummy yummies at room temperature without the risk of them getting moldy. You will know that your dog treats are fully dehydrated if they break with a ‘snap’!
You can cut these in any shape you choose. I’m partial to the heart, but there are other cute dog-themed cookie cutters.
3 Ingredient Dog Treats
3 simple ingredients come together to make these simple dog treats
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats, oat flour or oatmeal (or a substitute grain)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup soft fruit or vegetables (cooked apple, carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin or a banana)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°
- If using oatmeal, place it in a food processor and blend until most of the oats are ground. I left some oats whole, but you can process it as much as you want. The cookies are easier to cut if most of the oats are processed.
- If using another grain, combine the grain, peanut butter, and fruit or vegetable in a food processor and process until the dough comes together.
- Roll dough 1/4" thick, using flour if the dough is sticky.
- Cut out using a cookie cutter or cut into squares.
- Place cookies on cookie sheets and bake at 250° for 2 hours until the dog treats are completely dry and crispy.
- Once dog treats are fully dehydrated, they can be stored at room temperature. Mine sit out at room temperature for at least a month without getting moldy, but you do need to make sure to fully dehydrate them.
Notes
Avoid peanut butter with xylitol.
Looking for more dog treat recipes?
I’ve got you covered! Pumpkin (or a variety of other soft fruits or vegetables) shines in these Pumpkin Dog Treats; this post also discusses grain substitutions. If your pups love cheese, they will love these Cheddar Cheese Dog Treats. And these simple, one-ingredient Sweet Potato Dog Chews couldn’t be easier. Or, you can head over to see all of our dog treat recipes in one place!
Bookmark this page or pin the following image to refer back to these 3-Ingredient Dog Treats in the future.
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What an easy recipe! I’ll have to try these for my dog. I’m sure he’ll love them!
So easy! And I’m pretty sure your pup will love them…they are tasty, if I say so myself! 😉
If you don’t use oats, what other “flour” is canine tolerable?
Here’s a list of some of the flours that are suitable for dogs, in moderation of course.
Whole Wheat Flour
Garbanzo or Chickpea Flour
Buckwheat Flour
Coconut Flour
Oat Flour
Brown Rice Flour
Barley Flour
Millet Flour
Hi! I have never made treats for my dogs before and this seems really easy. You say to make sure they are completely dehydrated. This happens while in the oven, right? Or do I need to buy a dehydrator to do this?
Thanks,
Debbie
Good Morning Debbie,
Yes, you can get to the ‘dehydrated’ stage by slowly baking them in a 250 degree F oven for about 2 hours…no need to buy a dehydrator. Just make sure they break with a ‘snap’ when cooled. If not, pop them back in to get completely dry. Happy Baking, my friend.
Hugs,
Lynn
Are there any good substitute options for the peanut butter? Wanting to make my girls special treats for my youngest furbabys adoption anniversary, but have limited ingredient options. We’ve got carrots, apples, and pumpkin puree but very little peanut butter and no eggs.
Hi Kaitlin,
do you have any nut butter? If you have whole nuts, you could blend them to get the nut butter. I’m struggling to come up with a good substitute…you need something sticky to hold it all together. I have never tried it, but I wonder if yogurt that has been drained of the whey might be sticky enough.
Lynn
Hi! Wondering if you are able to add a frosting to the top afterwards or would that mess up shelf life time??
I’d be afraid that adding frosting would limit the shelf life. If you are so inclined, I would keep them in the fridge.
I was unable to use all the dough because it was so dry. I used a cooked apple but I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t large enough to give the dough enough moisture to help hold it all together?? I used your recipe with peanut butter, cooked apple, & ground oats. Your suggestion please? Thanks so much.
Hi Dolly,
I’m so sorry, I have not had that problem. I would definitely try to add another cooked apple, pear or carrot or mashed banana. Hopefully, you have one of those on hand but if you don’t, add a little water, broth or milk in small increments. Let me know if that works.
Lynn
Hi! I have made these treats a couple times and they turn out great! Three dogs love them. I did not pulse the oats as I do not have a food processor. I took a potatoe masher and pounded on the oats for a few minutes. I also do not have cookie cutters so shaped the dough into small balls. It is a tad mess but they turn out fine; very nice and dry.
Hi Diane,
I am so glad to hear how you altered the recipe to make it work for you! I’ve always believed that any recipe is just a jumping off point for us to put our own spin on it! I will share your input for other readers, encouraging them to use what they have to make this simple recipe. And all that matters at the end of the day is that our pups love them!
Hugs, Lynn
My dog loves these, especially the cronch! Sometimes I add a little cinnamon or turmeric for her joints. I’ve eaten them myself- they taste like my mom’s oat muffins!
I am a lazy fur mum, and I use my thermomix to grind the oats at speed 7 for 20 seconds, add the peanut butter and cooked apple, and mix for about a minute on speed 4. It doesn’t come together well in the bowl itself, but I turn it out on a flat surface, and squish it together into a ball before flattening.
Once rolled out, I use a pizza cutter to make rectangles, and a pie slice server to scoop them up into the parchment prepared tray. They don’t need a lot of space, so I can cram a lot onto two trays!
I’ve been making dog treats for years, and this is definitely my go-to. Thank you!
Good Morning Renee!
Adding turmeric or cinnamon is brilliant! I am going to start doing that as well. Thanks so much for sharing your review…I’ve tasted them as well!! They are quite tasty and so easy.
Thank you so very much for sharing your tips and comments! It really helps others when deciding if they want to give this recipe a go!
Have a wonderful day, my friend.
Hugs,
Lynn
My Yorkie Zona …”LOVED” them!” I used cooked carrots and banana and ground up Quaker Oats in the food processor. Yes, they were dry, so I rolled them into small balls and used a glass to flatten them.
Yes, they snapped when I broke off pieces!!
Thanks for the recipe!!
Hot diggity! I’m so glad that Zona loved them. My girl Flora does love them too! Thanks so much for writing in and sharing!
Have a great day!
I made these with cooked apple and added turmeric to the dough and a few flax seeds on top! They’re cooking now and smell so good. Great way to use up apples or bananas that aren’t super fresh anymore. I found the apple easy to cook in the microwave. I had to add a little extra water and apple to form a dough that comes together. Was too lazy to roll them out so made little dough balls and flattened with a fork and sprinkled flax seeds on top. Great recipe!
Good Morning Maria,
Thanks so much for sharing your twist on the recipe. As an inveterate recipe tweaker myself, I appreciate hearing what others do. And I love the idea of adding Turmeric to these tummy yummies! I will be doing that for my old girl, too! Thanks for the suggestion.
Hugs, Lynn
I made these “cookies” last week for my dog. He loves them. If I ask Jackson if he wants a cookie, he comes running over and sits at my feet to get it. I have a multi-purpose oven that dehydrates. It took less than an hour to dry the cookie out. One recipe made a big bag of dog bone size cookies. Thank you for an easy, safe and low cost treat to make for my dog. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Hi Dianne,
I am so glad that Jackson loves his cookies! Making our fur babies happy brings us such joy, too!
Dehydrating these treats is key and really doesn’t take much time.
Thanks for writing in! We love to great reviews!
Hugs, Lynn
Can they be frozen?
Hi Delores,
Absolutely! THey freeze and thaw well!
My Buddy loves these treats unfortunately he thinks if he goes anywhere or does anything that’s cute he will get a treat. So I give him one, he so spoiled. But that’s why he here with me.
To Love and spoil and lot’s of hugs
Thanks for the easy and great recipe.
Hi Bernadette,
Seems you have it all figured out! Of course, that’s why we have our four-legged loves! Because they make our lives so much better,spoiling them is only right.
Thanks so much for writing in!
Hugs, Lynn
p.s. Buddy needs a treat! ❤🐶
I have a chiweenie Sally Mae that has started itching and scratching like crazy. She has no fleas of course so I’m thinking it possibly could be the store-bought dog food and store-bought treats. I have decided to start making her dog food and treats this sounds like an awesome recipe. Thanks
Hi Debbie,
I sure hope Sallie Mae likes these! Keep me posted.
Hugs, Lynn