Homemade Dog Treats with Pumpkin
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Simple homemade pumpkin dog treats made with pumpkin puree, whole wheat flour, and bacon. These treats are also made without peanut butter, so they’re great for homes with a peanut allergy!
Your pup will love this Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe
Bet you didn’t expect to see a pup on my website, did you? And I bet you’d be surprised these pumpkin dog biscuits are in the top 20 recipes on my entire website consistently.
That’s right– this website, which houses recipes for mostly sweets gets lots of visitors to this recipe all year long, all from people who are looking to make homemade dog treats without peanut butter for a whole host of reasons.
Is there a peanut allergy in your house? Does your dog have a peanut allergy? Do you just not like peanut butter?
It can be hard to find a recipe for dog treats without peanut butter around the internet, so many years ago during my annual pumpkin week, I used those issues to fill a gap I saw in the homemade pumpkin treats for dogs category of recipes.
Major shoutout to my assistant Lauren whose idea it was. She’s a dog owner herself, and when she suggested I create a recipe for pumpkin dog treats, I couldn’t get into the kitchen fast enough.
Here’s the interesting part… We do not have a dog. I’m not sure we will ever have a dog, but if our boys have any say in the matter… We might.
BUT, the truth is, I’m allergic to them and I don’t love pets in general.
The dogs on our street and in our neighborhood? LOVE THEM. Our boys ADORE this dog in particular that we borrowed for photos (hi, Reggie!), but I’m currently in the mindset of never wanting animal hair or fur in my house.
Please don’t hate me. But definitely invite me and my kids over to give lots of pets and belly rubs!
That said, I don’t particularly need or use this recipe, like, ever, but I know about 99% of the population of my readers probably do.
Pumpkin Dog Treats Recipe ingredients
Before I developed this recipe, I did some research on dog treats all over the internet. I’d say the majority of them included peanut butter.
I decided I didn’t want to do that, not only because there were one million peanut butter pumpkin dog treat recipes out there, but also because we are actually a peanut butter free home.
No, no allergies and no opposition to peanut butter (HELLO, I STILL LOVE YOU PB + CHOCOLATE), but there is a legume sensitivity in our house, so we’re straight up almond butter people…
Except in my baking cabinet where you can find a jar of natural peanut butter as well as traditional peanut butter at any given moment because, well, peanut butter recipes are still quite abundant on my website despite the foods we keep in our house (see my ultimate peanut butter cookies or no bake peanut butter pie for starters).
All in all, I wanted to keep this peanut-free upon principal and also internet saturation!
For this dog biscuit recipe, you will need:
• bacon
• whole wheat flour
• baking powder
• pumpkin purée
• water or milk
• egg
Of course, you can make any basic adjustment to this ingredient list, like if your dog doesn’t consume milk or you would prefer to use all-purpose flour to whole wheat.
How to make Pumpkin Dog Treats
STEP #1
These pumpkin dog treats are mega simple. You’ll see the recipe calls for 4 strips of bacon and that you’re to keep the grease.
STEP #2
Know that you don’t need a specific amount of the bacon grease, it is just part of the whole pumpkin dog treat package. The additional water or milk is for helping the dough come together, so don’t worry if you don’t have all that much grease leftover from cooking.
STEP #3
Once your bacon is cooked, you’ll pour the grease off into a medium size bowl. Chop the cooked bacon and put it into the bacon grease.
STEP #4
Next, whisk in the pumpkin and the egg until the mixture is smooth (with bacon lumps, duh).
STEP #5
Lastly, whisk together the dry ingredients (the flour and baking powder).
STEP #6
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and then start mixing them together.
If you’re struggling with the consistency of your dough, add milk or water to achieve the desired workable texture.
STEP #7
The dough will come together just like you expect it to, similar to cut-out cookie dough, but depending on how much bacon grease you have, your dough could be on the drier side.
STEP #8
Any time I make these dog treats, I wind up adding a different amount of liquid based on the dough in front of me.
STEP #9
My best tip? Stir the dough, add about ½ to 1 Tablespoon of liquid, stir more, and add more liquid as needed.
STEP #10
You want to be able to roll the dough out without it being too sticky, but you don’t want it to fall apart. I usually wind up adding about 2 to 4 Tablespoons total of liquid.
ROLL AND CUT WITH A COOKIE CUTTER
STEP #11
Turn out the dog biscuit dough onto a floured surface and roll out to approximately ¼” thick.
STEP #12
Use the desired shape cookie cutter to cut shapes (I opted for the dog bone shaped cookie cutters, of course), reroll the dough, and cut again until there is no more dough left.
STEP #13
You’ll bake your dog treats for 30 minutes, flipping them over halfway through baking. They will harden as they cool.
ENJOY, DOGGIES!
This is normally the part in my recipe post where I tell you what the flavor profile is like, how much I liked it, what my favorite part was…
But here’s the thing: I made one batch of pumpkin dog treats, tasted one, decided I needed to try again, tasted that one, and then decided I am not a dog, so my opinion isn’t so great on that topic.
These homemade dog treats without peanut butter have gone, over the years, to dozens of different dog taste testers, and the consensus always is… There are never any dog treats left.
And I have realized I can never again taste-test dog treats. The dogs are much better judges.
Health benefits of Homemade Pumpkin Dog Treats
Side note: did you know pumpkin can be good for dogs? Pumpkin without added sugar or spice can be helpful to keep things moving in the digestive tract. Pumpkin for the win!
So there you are, friends. A little addition to pumpkin week that’s one for the pups. While we may never actually own a dog, I’m happy to know that I can supply a relatively healthy dog treat recipe to one if we ever decide to.
Looking for more ways to use your pumpkin purée? Try my savory pumpkin biscuits, pumpkin ice cream, or pumpkin pie smoothie next!
Homemade Dog Treats Pumpkin FAQs
More Favorites from Fresh April Flours
Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 strips bacon
- ½ cup (122g) pumpkin purée
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (323g) whole wheat flour all-purpose is fine; be sure to measure properly
- ½ Tablespoon baking powder
- 2 to 4 Tablespoons (30-60mL) water or milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Cook the bacon by your desired method until fully cooked. Remove the cooked bacon, place it on a plate or cutting board to cool a bit, then pour off the bacon grease into a medium size bowl.4 strips bacon
- Coarsely chop the bacon, then add it to the bowl of bacon grease. Add the pumpkin and the egg and whisk until smooth. Set aside.½ cup (122g) pumpkin purée, 1 large egg
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (323g) whole wheat flour, ½ Tablespoon baking powder
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently until everything is combined. Add about ½ to 1 Tablespoon of water or milk at a time until dough stays together (I usually wind up adding about 2 to 4 Tablespoons total). You will likely need to use your hands.2 to 4 Tablespoons (30-60mL) water or milk
- Turn out dough onto a floured surface and roll out to approximately ¼" thick. Use desired shape cookie cutter, reroll, and cut again until there is no more dough left. Bake dog treats for 30 minutes, flipping treats over halfway through baking. Store dog treats covered at room temperature. Treats may be frozen, up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I made these biscuits for one of my dogs 2nd birthday. They all lived it
I gave some to my friends, and one of my friends dog is very picky, but she lived this trest. It was a big hit. I’m going to make some more, this time a bigger batch. Thank you for the recipe! ❤️
So glad everyone enjoyed them, Tomi! Thanks for the feedback.
I didn’t have bacon so I subbed it with a handful of dry cat food. It looked like chocolate chips & the girls LOVE them. Mixed it up the recipe as written and it came out perfect. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you so much for your review!
Can I use all purpose flour in stead of whole wheat n apple sauce in place of an egg
Yes.
Absolutely a 5 star recipe. I roll the dough into balls and bake them. I add one to my dogs Woof treat ball each day and she LOVES them. I freeze the remainder dog treats. I highly recommend this recipe.
Thanks so much, Betty!
Guys, do you actually know that dogs should not eat baking powder? It can cause serious health issue.. All dogs biscuits should not have it as an ingredient..
Hi, Stevlana– thanks for your sharing your concerns. You’re right, baking powder IN LARGE QUANTITIES is harmful for dogs, but guess what? The same is true for people. In this recipe, there is 1/2 Tablespoon in 16 dog treats, which equates to less than 1 gram of baking powder per treat. Even if your dog ate all 16 of them in one sitting, they would likely be unaffected. You know your dog best, though, so if you don’t want to feed your dog any baking powder at all, then don’t make these 🙂 I removed your 1-star rating since it doesn’t appear that you made these, and your 1-star rating would affect the 5-star average rating from 29 actual reviews from folks who actually made them.