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These Pumpkin Dog Biscuits are about as close to a “real” dog bakery treat as you can get at home! Just a handful of pantry staples, one bowl, and your pup gets a biscuit that’s actually good for them.
Looking for more recipes to make for your dog? Give our bone broth for dogs a try, dog ice cream and this dog birthday cake to celebrate your fur baby!
Why you’ll love these Homemade Dog Treats with Pumpkin
These homemade pumpkin dog biscuits are going to be your pup’s new obsession. They’re super easy to throw together and full of healthy ingredients!
One of my simple guilty pleasures in life is giving homemade treats to my furry friends. The excitement my golden retriever gets over one small biscuit brings me an odd kind of joy.
Why You’ll Love These
- No peanut butter required – just pumpkin, flour, and a few pantry staples
- Bakes up firm and biscuit-like, not soft or crumbly
- Made with human-grade ingredients, so no guessing what’s in them
- Great for dogs of any size – cut as big or small as you need
In this post…
Simple ingredients needed
The wholesome ingredients for these easy homemade dog treats are listed fully down in the recipe card but let’s briefly go over the pantry staples needed including a few substitutions you can make as desired!
- Pureed pumpkin: Good for digestion and packed with vitamins A, C, and E – just make sure it’s plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. There’s a lot of health benefits of pumpkin for dogs and this recipe is a great way to use up leftover pumpkin puree.
- Coconut oil: Adds healthy fats and helps bind the dough together.
- Whole wheat flour: Gives these the right biscuit texture; all-purpose flour works too if that’s what you have.
- Baking soda + baking powder: Just a touch, for proper rise and texture.
- Egg: Helps everything bind and bake up sturdy.
- Water: Loosens the dough as needed to bring it together.
Health information is from American Kennel Club.
How to Make Homemade Dog Biscuits
Just a reminder that you can find the FULL written recipe down in the recipe card, but I want to quickly go over how to make them with visuals for you :)
- Combine the ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients: pumpkin, softened coconut oil, and cold water together in a large bowl. Then mix in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix it a bit and then stir in the egg. You could also make this in a food processor but I prefer mixing it by hand.
- Mix until well incorporated. Continue to stir until all ingredients are combined. This might take a few minutes and feel free to add a touch more water in order to get all of the mixture into one solid, slightly sticky ball.
- Roll and cut the dough. Once done, roll the dough out on a flat surface with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut out treats. These can be as small or as large as you want them (depending on the size of your dogs).
- Bake. Place prepared dough treats on a parchment paper lined or greased baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes (depending on size) or until dough has hardened and the biscuits begin to turn golden brown. Let cool and enjoy your pups excitement!
Recipe Tips
- Human safe: Since these are made with ingredients that are human-grade, it’s totally fine if you or your child wants to take a bite. They will taste quite plain to humans, though, since they don’t contain added salt or sugar.
- Dog allergies: Dogs can have allergies. Keep a close eye on your pet when offing any new treats or foods. According to the American Kennel Club, a true food allergy will result in an immune response, which can range in symptoms from hives, facial swelling, and itchiness to gastrointestinal signs like vomiting and diarrhea – or a combination of both.
Variations and substitutions
- Cookie cutters: You can use any shape of cookie cutter you’d like! And make these bigger for larger dogs or really small for miniature breeds.
- Add spices: You can add in about 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of turmeric, as both have anti-inflammatory properties that can be great for dogs. Do NOT add nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice because nutmeg even in small doses is toxic to dogs.
- Peanut butter: Dogs love peanut butter, so feel free to add in a spoonful or two of peanut butter. You could also just add a peanut butter drizzle over the baked treats. Use a natural peanut butter that only contains nuts.
Storage recommendations
Once fully cooled, store the dog biscuits in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 1 month.
If you cook the treats until they’re totally dry and hard (like a traditional dog biscuit) you could store them in a ziplock bag at room temperature for about a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Place them on a baking sheet and flash freeze for about an hour, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. Thaw a few at a time in the fridge or at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
1-2 treats per day is a good guideline, but it will depend on the size of your dog. These are a supplement to their regular diet, not a meal replacement!
No – you want plain, pure pumpkin puree only. Pumpkin pie filling contains added sugar and spices that aren’t safe for dogs.
Yes! All-purpose flour works fine. You could also try oat flour if your dog has a wheat sensitivity, though the texture will be slightly different.
Pumpkin Dog Biscuits Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup pureed pumpkin, canned or fresh
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, softened
- 4 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F.
- Mix the pumpkin, softened coconut oil, and water together in a large bowl. Then mix in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix it a bit and then stir in the egg.
- Continue to stir until it's ALL combined. This might take a few minutes and feel free to add a touch more water in order to get all of the mixture into one solid, slightly sticky ball. Once done, roll the dough out on a floured surface to ~1/4 inch thick.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out treats. These can be as small or as large as you want them (depending on the size of your dogs. I realize not everyone has giant dogs like me)
- Place prepared dough treats on a lined or greased baking sheet and bake for ~30 minutes (depending on size) or until dough has hardened. Let cool and enjoy your pups excitement!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a great dog treat recipe! Dough was very easy to work with and my dog loves them. You definitely need more than 4T water as suggested. I donned food prep gloves and worked the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with my hands. Thank you:)
Thank you so much for this recipe, I will be making the cookies today using regular flour though as that’s all we have.
HI how long do they last for if cooked till hard?
You could leave the baking soda and baking powder out and your dogs will love them all the same, they don’t know what’s in them. They’ll eat virtually anything…it’s up to us to be responsible dog parents. Baking soda and powder only make it appealing for human consumption it doesn’t make a lick of difference for the dogs.
My pups are so picky! Well I started throwing this recipe together because it actually didn’t have any chicken or chicken broth or any chicken period! Its really hard with a chicken allergy to find a healthy treat that doesn’t contain you guessed it chicken. It’s simple to throw together roll like cookies and make a delicious treat they actually whine for. They can barely wait for them to finish baking…. This recipe makes enough pumpkin biscuits to share with friends and family! Even the dogs next door whine when they hear me step onto the back porch because they know what I have for them!
Doggie LOVED these. They were supper easy to make. Warning- they mold.
These we very quick and easy to make! I had all the ingredients on hand, except for whole wheat flour, so I followed the suggestion of another commenter and substituted with 2 cups of oat flour. (Which I made by putting plain oats into the food processor until flour-y.) My dog loves the treats, but the very best thing about them is that they made my house smell AMAZING! Will definitely make these again!
What can I use if I don’t have coconut oil?
You could use any other mild oil!
I used bacon grease instead of the coconut oil, and omitted the cinnamon. My pup needed lovin on this spring thunderbumper day.
Could we use regular flour instead of whole wheat flour?
Unfortunately flour is a difficult commodity to access these days :(
absolutely!! That would work well!
I would think the cookies would last much longer if stored airtight in the freezer