5 Homemade Dog Christmas Treat Recipes That Make Beautiful Gifts [Recipe]

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If you’re anything like us around the holidays, you love baking. For even more holiday fun, you can bake up dog Christmas treats for your dog and their four-legged friends. These DIY dog Christmas cookies are easy to make and full of ingredients found in your very own kitchen. Plus, they’re photo-worthy!

Cookies for Santa’s Dog

A beautiful platter of Christmas cookies just for dogs makes a great gift for the dog lover in your life. Fill festive treat bags to hand out at your puppy playgroup, or to set out for Santa’s reindeer.

Our cut-out dog-friendly cookie dough recipe isn’t just easy to use, it’s made with simple, wholesome ingredients that taste good, too. We’ve got a simple plain dough, a cranberry red dough, and a spinach green dough that you can combine for some truly beautiful dog treats.

Haul out your favorite cookie cutters, crank some Christmas carols, and spend a happy afternoon baking for your four-legged friends.

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Applesauce and Oatmeal Base Recipe for Cut-out Cookies

This is the base recipe for perfect cut-out cookies. You can combine this recipe with the red and green cookie doughs below for dazzling cookie creations, or just use natural food coloring to create any color cookies you like.

  • Author: Kiki Kane
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 1 tray 1x

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can substitute with regular flour for a whiter dough)
  • 2 cups rolled oat flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbs melted coconut oil
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 Tbsp Vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º

Combine all ingredients in food processor or stand mixer. Add flour as necessary until dough is no longer sticky and is ready to roll out.

For different colored dough, divide into separate bowls and add natural food coloring.

Keep dough covered to prevent drying between batches. You can rehydrate dough with a little coconut oil as needed.

This dough refrigerates up to a week, and freezes for 3 months.

 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @roverdotcom on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithrover.

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Spinach Holiday Dog Treat Recipe

This recipe results in a bright green cookie dough with a lovely, shaggy texture, perfect for Christmas tree, wreath, and holly cookie cutters.

A word of caution, the inherent dampness of the spinach will give this recipe a shorter shelf life, so keep the finished cookies in the fridge if they will not be consumed within 3 days.

  • Author: Kiki Kane
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 1 Tray 1x

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Ingredients

  • 1 package frozen spinach thawed, drained, and excess water squeezed out
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can substitute with any flour your dog enjoys)
  • 2 cups rolled oat flour
  • 6 capsules chlorophyll
  • 2 tbsp dried parsley
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • A few drops of peppermint extract
  • 2 eggs
  • OPTIONAL: dried cranberries for decoration

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º

Thaw a package of frozen spinach in the microwave.

Drain the spinach as much as humanly possible. Press the spinach into a colander, squeeze with your hands, or press into a tea towel. This will ensure your cookies aren’t too soggy.

Place the dried spinach in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until spinach is thoroughly pureed. This will make cutting out cookies easier. If you skip this step, your cookies will just be a little shaggier around the edges.

Add the flours, chlorophyll, and parsley and pulse to combine well.

Add the applesauce, peppermint, and eggs and pulse until dough forms.

Move dough to a board and add flour and work until ready for cookie cutting.

Add cranberries to cut cookies as you like for fancy decorating purposes.

Keep dough covered to prevent drying out between batches. You can rehydrate dough with a little coconut oil.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @roverdotcom on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithrover.

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Cranberry Holiday Dog Treat Recipe

This recipe is for a festive red dough that sports just a hint of tangy cranberry. If the color isn’t bright enough, you can add a little natural red food coloring to get your perfect shade.

  • Tiempo de preparación: 20 minutos
  • Tiempo en el horno: 20 minutos
  • Tiempo total: 40 minutos
  • Objetos necesarios: 1 bandeja para horno
  • Author: Kiki Kane
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 1 Tray 1x

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup frozen cranberries
  • ½ cup plain applesauce
  • 1/4 cup dried low sugar cranberries
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can substitute any flour you like)
  • 2 cups rolled oat flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbs melted coconut oil
  • OPTIONAL: natural red food coloring

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º

Microwave the applesauce and frozen cranberries together until thawed (about 2 minutes).

Put the fruit mixture and dried cranberries into a food processor and pulse until thoroughly combined.

Add the flours and pulse until combined.

Add the eggs, coconut oil, and food coloring if using, and pulse until dough comes together.

Work dough on floured board adding more flour as necessary to get a good working dough.

Keep dough covered to prevent drying out between cookie batches. You can rehydrate dried-out dough with a little coconut oil.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @roverdotcom on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithrover.

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Gingerbread Cookies for Dogs

We used a blend of healthy whole wheat and oat flour our recipe, but you can use any type of flour that works for your dog’s needs, or whatever you have on hand.

  • Author: Kiki Kane
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 1 Tray 1x
  • Category: Holiday Treats

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Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 ½ cup oat flour (made from rolled oats)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of ground clove
  • Pinch of allspice
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • OPTIONAL: carob chips for gingerbread eyes and buttons

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º

  • Combine the flours, baking powder, and spices in a bowl and mix to combine.
  • Add the molasses and applesauce and mix to combine.
  • Add the egg, vanilla, and coconut oil and mix to combine, adding more flour if necessary.

Roll out gingerbread and cut into gingerbread men or your choice of shapes.

Bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until just starting to get golden around the edges for a soft cookie, or until crunchy for longer shelf life.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @roverdotcom on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithrover.

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Coconut Shortbread Snowflake Treats for Dogs

This fancy cookie is perfect for a special holiday treat. The triple threat of coconut shreds, coconut flour, and coconut oil creates a rich and crumbly cookie with a house-filling aroma.

Coconut is a popular ingredient for dogs and people these days that boasts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, as well as making that coat shine!

Shortbread can be delicate when hot so make sure you let your snowflakes cool before removing from the cookie sheet!

  • Author: Kiki Kane
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 18 minutes
  • Total Time: 43 minutes
  • Yield: 1 Tray 1x

Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsweetened dried coconut
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup oat flour (make by blending rolled oats in your food processor or substitute with your favorite flour)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg

Instructions

For the egg wash
1 egg + 2 Tbsp cool water whisked together.

Preheat oven to 350º

Cream coconut oil about 2 minutes in a stand mixer or just until fluffy.

Add ½ the coconut, flours, and baking powder and continue to mix on low.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix until a nice dough ball is formed.

Roll out dough about ¼” thick, as it will be delicate to work with until baked and cooled.

Cut out into simple shapes, coat with egg wash, then sprinkle with coconut flakesBake for 18 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges.

 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @roverdotcom on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingwithrover.

How to Blend Doughs Together

layering colored cookie dough

This technique is much easier than it looks. To start, take a small amount of each color you need, and roll out into long, flat rectangles. Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice the necessary amounts of dough.

Use your fingers to gently smush the dough pieces together, pressing up toward one color, then down towards the other. This doesn’t have to be perfect—this should be a fun process!

Once you have enough dough to accommodate your cookie cutter shape and style, roll the dough to an even thickness with your rolling pin. Cut, bake, and enjoy.

This homemade spinach and cranberry dog treat was too good to nibble. Big bites!

Pro tip: it’s a good idea to make your treats the right size for your dog (to help with portion control.)

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