Homemade Dog Treats

homemade dog treats recipe

Boy do I have a treat for you! A dog treat. HA.HA.

Anyway, here are two homemade dog treats for you! One extra stinky one from me, and one delicious-smelling one from my friend Jen at JustEatLife. The stinky treats are made with sardines, any kind of whole grain flour you want to use, and dry milk. I add a little molasses, too. Jen’s are gluten-free, made from peanut butter, sweet potato, and oat flour and the recipe produces a soft, smooth dough that rolls out great so you can make all sorts of cute shapes.

dog treat recipe

My Dog Treat Recipe Video

My Homemade Dog Treats Recipe

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Homemade Dog Treats

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5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 24 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 23.75 ounce whole sardines in water
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or oat, rye, barley flour)
  • 1/4 cup dry milk
  • 1 tablespoon molasses

Instructions

  1. Set oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Drain sardines, reserving liquid, and place into a medium bowl. Mash with a fork until fairly smooth.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and mix with fork. If you need to add some of the sardine packing liquid to get a smooth dough, then do so.
  4. Once combined well, drop by teaspoons onto the baking sheet. Use the fork tines to flatten them slightly.
  5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until browned. Turn off oven and allow to cool in the oven.
  6. Refrigerate if storing longer than 3 days.

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Jen’s Homemade Dog Treats Recipe Video

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31 Comments

  1. cardamonbraid on December 2, 2013 at 10:17 pm

    was excited to see todays recipe until I saw the flour 8(………Rescued a lab mix a few weeks ago, only to find he has intestinal issues and has vision issues 8(…….But then there was the bonus video from the other gal and everything about it is Perfect but doesn’t give a recipe just guidelines 8( did you perchance get the specific amounts. At this point all I can give him to eat is sweet potatoes and boiled chicken so would be nice to make Gustav some treats too………
    Do you think that using the rice flour would work with the sardines??

    • Hilah on December 3, 2013 at 9:01 am

      Hi! Yes, any kind of flour — oat, rice — would work in this recipe, too. Really just using something as a binder to make them kind of sticky.
      I have this recipe that Jen sent me. I’ll post it here because it’s not on her website yet, but once she adds it, I will link to that, too.

      2 cups oat flour
      1/2 cup unsalted peanut butter
      1 medium cooked sweet potato (w/o skin)
      1 egg
      1 teaspoon ground flax seed
      1/2 cupish water

      So happy to hear about your rescue dog, even if he does have some physical ailments, I’m sure he’s as sweet and smart as can be! So glad you chose to rescue a pup. 🙂

      • cardamonbraid on December 3, 2013 at 11:06 am

        Thanks, i’m literally shutting down the PC and off to the kitchen to make both of these to have a taste off with Gustav. With all the sweet potatoes he eats I bet he’ll pick the sardines hehe

        • Hilah on December 3, 2013 at 2:59 pm

          Yay! Send me a picture of your doggie eating them if you can!

          • cardamonbraid on December 4, 2013 at 11:18 am

            First batch was gone before my SO came home with the camera, wouldn’t you know the one day I need it he needed to use it at work 8( but I definately will be making again and i’ll send you the picture. And yes you were the WINNER of the taste test



          • Hilah on December 5, 2013 at 11:15 am

            Ha! Well, I am happy they were a hit. 🙂



          • cardamonbraid on January 10, 2014 at 10:15 am

            made another batch of both biscuits and video taped him, you asked for pics but is there an email address you can email me where I can send you a link?? When you look at him its hard to believe he’s so sickly 8( and has limited vision etc…….but I guess if he could see well etc he wouldn’t be as funny either 8)



          • Hilah on January 10, 2014 at 12:19 pm

            I’d love to see the picture! You can email at hilahcooking at gmail or post it to the facebook page.



  2. Maria on December 3, 2013 at 1:36 am

    Hello Halih,
    those would be good for dogs

  3. Faren on December 8, 2013 at 11:28 am

    Hilah, can I use regular wet milk instead of dry?

    • Hilah on December 8, 2013 at 2:58 pm

      Hi Faren!
      They will be too wet if you use regular milk. If you don’t have dry milk, just use a little more flour. They will be fine!

      • Faren on December 9, 2013 at 6:30 pm

        Oh my goshhhhh! I shall call these crack treats, ’cause that’s what my dog appears to be on having tasted them. It’s seemingly the best thing she’s ever tasted. (I bought the dry milk btw)

        • Hilah on December 9, 2013 at 7:08 pm

          Oh yay!!! 😀 So glad to hear that, Faren!

  4. MikeinElChuco on December 13, 2013 at 5:15 pm

    Mmmmm…. i want to be your dog sexy taco mama. 😛

    Just bought your paperback breakfast taco book, can’t wait to see what’s in there. Your first book is very helpful. No more McNuggets for me, and I fix my rusty skillet. Now I’m making migas like I used to get in San Marcos.

    Kudos to you for this awesome website 🙂

    • Hilah on December 14, 2013 at 10:39 am

      Thanks, Mike! I hope you enjoy the taco book as much!

  5. deana on December 13, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    Would the sardines make the treats salty?






    • Hilah on December 14, 2013 at 10:38 am

      Good question, Deana! Sardines packed in water or oil usually don’t have salt added. Just check the ingredients list on them to make sure.

      • deana on December 14, 2013 at 5:20 pm

        Thank you! I found the sardines like the one you
        used. Can I omit molasses cuz I don’t have that. I have 2 frenchies and really want to make these for them. Thanks.

        • Hilah on December 15, 2013 at 1:27 pm

          Yes, you can omit the molasses. No problem!

  6. Vanessa on January 5, 2014 at 10:59 am

    Awesome recipe!!!, just wanted to ask if you store them at room temperature or refrigerated, and for how long can they be stored?






    • Hilah on January 6, 2014 at 2:24 pm

      Hi Vanessa!
      I store these at room temp for a week, longer I put them in the fridge. If you can make yours small (like a teaspoon of dough each) they dry out almost completely in the oven and are better for long term storage. I still keep them in the fridge, though, to be safe. 🙂

  7. deana on January 10, 2014 at 2:44 am

    I made these again since the furbids preferred this more than the sweet potatoes & peanut butter version. I added about 1/3 cup of sweet potatoes and a bit more oat flour and beat it with the mixer until the dough pulls from the side of the mixing bowl and was able to put it between parchment paper to roll and cut out shapes. I took pics of it to show you but don’t know how to post it here. I baked it for about 30 minutes until its crunchy so you can leave it outside in an airtight container. My dogs love it’s! Thank you again for sharing.






    • Hilah on January 10, 2014 at 12:17 pm

      Yay! Thanks for sharing your adjustments to the recipe, Deana.
      You can email me pictures at hilahcooking at g mail or post them to the hilahcooking facebook page

  8. Valerie on January 16, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    How do these treats mell as they are cooking? Does it smell good in the house or slightly repulsive? I want to m,ake them in the lobby of my vet clinic for the dogs,but I don’t want it to smell bad.

    • Hilah on January 17, 2014 at 8:53 am

      Hey Valerie! They do smell pretty fishy while baking. Not sure I could recommend making them in an office. The sweet potato/peanut butter ones I linked to in this post smell good though!

  9. cardamonbraid on March 19, 2014 at 12:33 pm

    For what its worth, today I made my millionth patch of these things and I thought HMMMMMMMMM
    So what I did was to make a triple recipe and then I spread on parchment paper so that it was thin, cooked for 10 minutes and then I took it out and scored it with my bench scraper into little squares and strips. WHY cuz have you priced the goodies to go into KONGS. A little bag of salmon was 12.00….. So i’ve replace the salmon with Sardines 8) and the rest is history cuz he has been at his kong for over an hour and he is one happy pup……….

    • Hilah on March 19, 2014 at 12:55 pm

      Oh hell yes! Thanks for this idea! We have a kong, too, and yes the sticks they make for it are crazy expensive. What I do with it is put a little wet dog food inside and freeze the thing to keep the dog busy longer, but I’ll try this method!

  10. Kathya on July 11, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    Hello, Hilah!

    Thanks for the great recipe. We are going to be proud owners of a new Aussie Labradoodle pup in the next several weeks. I understand that dairy products is not something you want to give to dogs, but I’m assuming that when put as an ingredient in your recipe and baked, it’s okay? Thanks for your input. Can’t wait to try this recipe when our puppy is more mature.

  11. AlanSBenji on November 13, 2014 at 7:00 pm

    Hi hilah do you have any samples that you give out it’s for a friend of mine & she’ll be going away soon

    • Hilah on November 14, 2014 at 5:46 pm

      Sorry, Alan, I don’t sell these dog treats. But you can make them for your friend!

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