Don’t forget your fluffly Valentine this year! These Strawberry Banana Dog Treats are so simple and you only need five ingredients.
Check out my newly released Valentine’s Day dog treats for 2022. Both that recipe and this recipe are so easy!
Ready to make your fluffy Valentine fall in love with the strawberry banana dog treats?!
I used to love making homemade dog treats for Zeke and Subee. In fact when I was in college I wrote a business plan to start a dog bakery! Clearly my life took a different route. I had to put a pause on homemade dog treats when Yoda and Luna came into the picture because of their food allergies.
- Luna’s food allergies include: Dairy, Eggs, Carrots, White Potatoes, and Beef.
- Yoda’s food allergies include: Corn, Wheat, Yeast, and Carrots.
Learning to bake dog treats with egg substitutes…
I found most homemade treats are made with dairy, eggs, or whole wheat flour. So once we had Luna’s allergy test done I was able to think outside the box and experiment with some new treat recipes. It’s easy to skip the dairy and wheat but what I had never done before is substitute eggs in my baking.
- Dog safe egg substitutes include: Banana, Unsweetened Applesauce, Peanut Butter, Chia Seeds or Ground Flax mixed with Water.
These strawberry banana dog treats are made with five simple ingredients, and you probably have most of them in your pantry! All of our dogs taste tested these strawberry banana dog treats and definitely approved! What was super awesome is that we had so many treats we were able to give some Valentine’s Day treat bags for our friends’ dogs!
I used a small heart cookie cutter for a fun Valentine’s Day theme but you can easily roll 1 inch pieces into balls and press your thumb in the middle to flatten them out a little. I found this awesome set of mini cookie/veggies cutters on Amazon:
DIY Valentine’s Day Strawberry Banana Dog Treats
Difficulty: Easy100
treats15
minutes20
minutes35
minutesA simple recipe with 5 ingredients that’s perfect for dogs with dairy or egg allergies!
Ingredients
One Large Ripe Organic Banana
1/4 Cup of Organic Unsweetened Applesauce
3 TBSP of Single Ingredient Peanut Butter (If you only have regular peanut butter this should be fine. Just make sure it does not contain Xylitol as this can be toxic to dogs)
1 Cup of Sliced Organic Strawberries (These can be fresh or frozen but it’s best to thaw the frozen berries first.)
4 – 4 1/2 Cups of Oat Flour. (I used quick oats to make my own oat flour but you can use Rolled or Old Fashioned as well.)
Directions
- Gather your ingredients and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Make your own oat flour by measuring 4 1/2 cups of your oats, put them in your food processor, and use your puree or high speed setting with a blade for 1-2 minutes.
- Set your oat flour to the side in a separate bow. You’ll only need 4 cups of the oat flour to start. Leave a 1/2 cup to the side just in case you need to add more to achieve the right consistency.
- Slice your banana and strawberries and puree in your food processor for about a minute.
- Now go ahead and add your 4 cups of oat flour back to your food processor, add 1/4 cup of your unsweetened applesauce, and the 2 TBSP on peanut butter. Blend on a high speed setting for about another minute. Open your lid and see if you need to scrape the sides, restart your food processor on a dough or low-speed setting for another 2 minutes or until well combined.
- Your dough should feel kind of like play-dough. It should not be very crumbly and will feel a little wet but should not excessively stick to your fingers.
*If it is too dry just add another 1/2 cup of unsweetned applesauce and blend again for 1 minute.
*If it is too wet just 1/4 cup of your remaining 1/2 cup of oat flour until you get the right consistency. I did end up using 4 1/4 cups total before I felt like my dough was right. These treats will turn out great no matter what – so don’t overthink your dough! - Now just remove handfuls of dough and press it out so it’s about 1/2 inch thick. (You’ll notice in my pictures that my sizes are consistent and they all turned out fine! Don’t worry if you’re not exact.)
- I used a small 1 inch heart cookie cutter but you can also roll into small 1 inch balls and press the center with your thumb.
- Line on parchment paper or silicone baking mat, these won’t spread but make sure there is a little space between each for air flow, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once completely cooled the treats will be a little crunchy! Go ahead and give one a try for yourself!
Notes
- I always like to store treats in the fridge in an air tight container for 1-2 weeks.
- I always suggest organic ingredients. This is just my preference and I do realize sometimes buying organic is an extra cost.
- Make sure your applesauce is unsweetened. We don’t want to add additional sugar to these treats as they already contain strawberries and bananas. As a general rule of thumb you should always use unsweetened applesauce in your homemade dog treats.
- If you can find single ingredient peanut butter I would definitely purchase that! If not just make sure your peanut butter does not contain Xylitol which can be toxic to dogs.
- Remember that treats will continue to bake for a few minutes after you pull them out of the oven. Check the treats at 20 minutes. If they seem too spongy then continue to bake for an additional 5 minutes.
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Please consult your vet about any allergies or foods they feel are safe for your pup. These are not meant to supplement or replace your dog’s food.
