Five days ago we adopted a cute little Heinz 57 fellow from the shelter. He looks like he might be part Dachshund but he is definitely all puppy. They thought he might be about five months old but his tag said two years. He’s a very sweet boy who likes to chew and has zero training.
Since we brought him home, we have been taking him on walks and watching movies with the little guy. We even tried to go to the dog park that has an exercise circuit. That didn’t work out very well because he barked and growled at every dog out there.
It seems that this pup needs some serious training. So, I designed some dog treats just for him. Most of my other entries on this site are for people food but today is special; I’m presenting something for our furry friends.
This recipe is for dog treats that you can use to train your dog. I’m going to be using mine for when our puppy goes “outside” and for “sitting”. If I can get him to fold laundry, I’ll give him a treat too but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
For this recipe, I looked up foods that are good for dogs. I wanted to use ingredients that were either of minimal risk or no risk. I have plenty of experience creating recipes for people but not for dogs. One of the fun and challenging elements of this project was finding out what my pup would like, what would be healthy, and how to put the ingredients together in a treat form. It took three ingredients to make a treat that my dog loved and gobbled up. I chose carrots, peanut butter, and flour. That’s it. That’s all it took to create a wonderful reward for my little guy. You probably have these ingredients on hand right now. Easy peasy!
Special note: You may have an older dog or a dog with gluten sensitivities; no worries, you can use gluten free chickpea flour. You can also substitute apple, banana, pumpkin, or sweet potato for the carrots. They are all of minimal risk to your dog.
The dough is wonderful to work with and it comes together in a food processor. It’s not very sticky and it doesn’t spread on a pan when baking. These treats need no refrigeration and the recipe creates quite a few treats when using small cookie cutters.
Best of all, my dog loved them and kept coming back for more. That’s a sign of a good recipe!

Step 1: Getting Ready

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For this recipe you will need:
2 cups of peeled and washed baby carrots
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of creamy peanut butter (make sure your peanut butter does not contain xylitol)

Other:
Cookie cutters
A baking sheet
Parchment paper or silicon baking mat

Step 2: Making the Dough

For this instructable, we are going to use a food processor to create the dough for our dog treats. Go ahead and add 2 cups of peeled and washed baby carrots. Run the food processor on the shred/slice setting for about 1 minute until they have been thoroughly shredded.

Step 3: Making the Dough

Add 1 cup of all purpose flour to the food processor.

Step 4: Making the Dough

Add 1 cup of creamy peanut butter.

Step 5: Process the Dough

Run the food processor on the shred/slice setting for about 1 minute or until the dough ball forms.

Step 6: Rolling Out the Dough

Use flour to dust your hands, work surface and a rolling pin. Place dough on your work surface and roll until it is 1/2 inch in thickness.

Step 7: Cutting the Dough

Using various cookie cutters, cut different shapes of treats from the dough, I used a heart and a square with scalloped edges plus a star. Make sure that you choose a size that fits your dog. My dog only weighs 15 pounds so I chose small cookie cutters.

Step 8: Almost Ready!

Place dough shapes on either parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

Step 9: Enjoy!

After the treats cool, you can go ahead and start training and rewarding your pup. If you look at the picture of “Watson” above, you can see his big puppy smile. He’s got a treat in his mouth and one waiting for him on the ground. I think he really enjoyed his homemade treats. You never know, I may be able to get him to fold laundry after all.