4 Ingredients Dog Treat Recipe

We love our doggos and want to ‘treat’ them right! (See what we did there?) Sure, there are tons of great treats on the market to whet their whistle and make them feel special, but is there anything better than something homemade to let your furbaby know he’s number one in your heart?

(Okay, likely he may not know the difference, but you will!)

The thing is…sometimes we just don’t have the time or energy to get those homebaked morsels of love made because the recipes are pretty involved and time or labor intensive.

Fret not–that’s where this 4-ingredient dog treat recipe comes in and saves the day. It’s the easiest thing in the world and it’ll be sure to make your pups feel like the Top Dogs they are every time you make them. Best news is that they won’t even take that long to make, so you may find yourself making batches like a pro in no time.

When I’m making these delicious and easy treats, I prefer to use almond milk, as it is lactose free and adds a nutty flavor to the treats. It’s a great alternative to regular milk, which often doesn’t agree with dog’s stomach.

According to the AKC, a few tablespoons of cow’s milk or goat’s milk here and there is likely a nice little treat without the worry of too much trouble for their tummies or guts. And, baked in, either of those milks are unlikely to really cause much issue with your dog on the whole. If you do choose to use cow or goat milk, whether in this recipe or any other offering to your dog, consider the following as signs of lactose intolerance:

• Loose stools
• Gas
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea

You may not even find out your dog is lactose intolerant until you’ve fed them cow or goat milk, and if you’re including those ingredients with several others in a recipe, it may be tough to sort out what’s what. That’s another reason why this four-ingredient recipe is nice–if there is any reaction issue, it’d be easy to eliminate ingredients and narrow the source.

What Makes Dogs Go Gaga Over Peanut Butter?

Peanut butter is like a ‘treat’ to dogs becasuse speaking from an evolutionary poitn, they likely didn’t encounter all the fat, sugar and salt that peanut butter offers in their ‘wild’ diets. Dogs (like humans) have sweet tooths too and the sugar that is often found in peanut butter isn’t the same that they’d find in their day-to-day dog food. Additionally, the smell drags them in–roasted peanut smell comes from the fat and protein that have been changed in the cooking process. To dogs, they smell like a treat meat–caramelized, if you will, and dogs can’t get enough of it. Their noses guide them to the best, and the smell of peanut butter does just that!

THAT said–be careful with peanut butter in that some companies will replace the sugar with xylitol to be more calorie-friendly. Xylitol is DEADLY to dogs, and it does not take much to do major, major damage. Be sure the peanut butter you are using (particularly if you’re using a ‘sugar-free’ formulation) does NOT have xylitol.

Makes 25 cookies

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In one bowl, mix flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and almond milk.
3. Gradually stir in wet mixture with dry mixture until well blended.
4. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut using cookie cutters. Place on non-stick baking sheets.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool on wire racks.
6. Refrigerate or freeze in air tight containers or Ziploc bags.

Did you whip up a batch of these 4 Ingredients Dog Treats? Show us the results – post your pictures on our Facebook page or tweet and tag them with our @PetGuideTweets Twitter handle.