Show your pooch how much you love them with these Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats. They're full of dog-healthy ingredients and dogs drool over them!

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Baking goodies are for more than just humans -- these Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats are a great way to spoil your doggos while having fun in the kitchen! These cookies are healthy for canines, only take a handful of pantry staples, and dogs drool for them!

Well, the baking has continued, folks! Chest freezers are still sold out for a 40-mile radius around here, though, and couldn't run enough marathons to make use of all my baking "fuel."

What's a girl to do?

So, a couple of days ago I went back to the baking drawing board-- brainstorming "who" I can bake for other than the two of us while I ate my lunch.

Then I look down to see Allie begging for my food at my feet and I had my answer.

After all, I have my peanut butter dog treat recipe but they're definitely a more relaxed, drop cookie style recipe. I've always wanted to play around with a cutout dog cookie recipe for Allie, but haven't had the time.

And time I now have and am actively looking to fill, so I began playing around with a recipe on Saturday.

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Being that I mysteriously have 3 cans of pumpkin (🤔) and have a large jar of peanut butter remaining from a Costco haul -- from what seems like a lifetime ago -- I got to work creating a cookie with two of Allie's favorite foods.

With peanut butter, canned pumpkin, whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, and egg, these cookies are full of dog-healthy ingredients and flavors they love. They're also made with pantry staple ingredients I almost always have on hand.

And now, every time I open the freezer to grab myself a treat, Allie jumps up to get her treat, too. And get a treat she does. After all, we're all trying to get through this together, huh?

These peanut butter pumpkin dog treats are...

• Soft
• Nutty
• Made without butter or sugar
• Made with all-natural & dog-safe ingredients
• Healthy
• Popular with pooches
• Fun to make!

Give yourself something fun to do that Fido will love! My dog doesn't leave my side when I have these cookies out. I hope your dog does the same.

Ingredients in these pumpkin dog treats

• Whole Wheat flour - this flour is higher in protein than all-purpose flour or pastry flours, giving the dog treats a nice and hearty, yet soft texture.
• Peanut butter - this nut butter gives the cookies a flavor that most dogs can't resist!
• Canned pumpkin - also another favorite flavor of most dogs, pumpkin adds moisture that makes the cookies soft while providing vitamins that are good for dogs.
• Egg - helps to bind the cookies together and make them easy to roll out. Note: the recipe calls for a jumbo egg but you can substitute 1 large egg + 1 large egg white if you don't have jumbo eggs.
• Flaxseed meal - this seed meal provides an extra nutty note that my dog loves while also supplying omega-3s that are good for dogs' skin and coats.
• Salt - we just need a wee bit of salt to balance the flavors.
• Baking soda - and once again, just a wee bit of baking soda to help the cookies rise and give them the texture of a sugar cookie.

Ingredient substitutions for these homemade dog treats:

• For the canned pumpkin: use cooked and pureed sweet potato as a substitute for canned pumpkin. If the sweet potato is thick, however, mix in 2-3 teaspoons of water to loosen it up.
• For the peanut butter: dogs love peanut butter so I highly recommend using it for these cookies. If you don't have it, however, you can use unsweetened sunflower seed butter. Do not use almond butter or any other nut butter, however, as most are toxic to dogs.
• For the whole wheat flour: whole wheat flour does provide a nice heartiness to the cookies, so I recommend using that if you can. If you can't, however, oat flour or whole wheat pastry flour should suffice, though I haven't personally tried them in this recipe yet.

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A note on canned pumpkin:

For this recipe we want plain, pureed canned pumpkin, not canned pumpkin pie filling. The canned pumpkin pie filling has spices, sweeteners, and other ingredients added to it, which is great for humans but not as much so for doggos. 🙂

Are peanut butter and pumpkin safe for dogs to eat?

Yes, both peanut butter and pumpkin are safe for dogs to eat, as long as your peanut butter doesn't have xylitol in it. So, just check your peanut butter ingredient label before you bake and you know you'll make some pup-safe treats!

How do you roll out cutout cookies?

Rolling out sugar cookies is easy if you follow these steps!

1. Choose a nice, flat surface to roll out your cookies on-- a smooth countertop, table, or cutting board.
2. Flour your surface -- Sprinkle flour lightly on the roll-out surface and rub flour on your rolling pin.
3. Shape your dough -- Take a grapefruit-size chunk of cookie dough and lightly work the dough into a large puck size shape.
4. Place the cookie dough on the floured surface.
5. Flour the cookie dough -- Lightly sprinkle cookie dough on the dough and lightly rub it around the top to cover the dough.
6. Roll the dough out -- gently pressing down with the rolling pin, roll the dough out starting from the center of the dough and working out towards and away from you. Change directions and roll from side to side. Continue rolling, changing directions, until the sheet of dough is rolled out to an even sheet of dough 1/4" thick.
7. Cut out your cookies -- cut out your cookies by pressing your cookie cutters straight into the dough, being careful to not turn or rotate the cutters as you cut.
8. Place your cookies on the baking sheet -- using a spatula, gently scoop the cookies up with a spatula. Place them on a cookie sheet at least 1.5 inches away from each other.
9. Re-roll the scraps out with new dough -- gather up the remaining dough scraps and gently combine them with more fresh dough to form a new grapefruit-sized puck of dough.

How do you make homemade pumpkin dog treats?

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream together the peanut butter and pumpkin in a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer. Mix in the egg until it's smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, lightly whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and flaxseed meal.
4. Pour half of the flour mixture into the creamy peanut butter mix. Slowly mix it in until the flour is absorbed in.
5. Pour the second half of the flour in and slowly mix in that in as well, or until the flour is absorbed and a thick dough is formed.
6. Roll the cookies out (following the instructions in the section above) and place on cookie sheets.
7. Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies are just starting to turn golden brown.
8. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let cool on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then move the cookies from the sheet to directly on the rack and let cool until they're at room temperature.

What type of cookie cutter is best for these pumpkin dog treats?

You really can use whatever type of cookie cutter you like for these dog treats, but I personally love using a dog-bone shaped cutter. Round, square, Christmas shapes, etc. will work for these cookies, though-- whatever you prefer!

Just note: if your cookie cutter is larger than 4-5 square inches you will probably need to bake these cookies on the longer end of the baking time range.

Are these pumpkin dog treats healthy?

Yes, these homemade dog treats are healthy for doggos. Vets often recommend pumpkin for dogs because of its vitamins and fiber content (many dogs go crazy about the flavor, too!).

Peanut butter is also healthy for dogs as it has protein and healthy fats. Finally, the wheat flour in this recipe has fiber, whole grains, and a bit of extra protein that dogs need.

So, overall, a super healthy dog treat recipe full of ingredients that dogs love! Talk about a win-win.

What tools do you need to make cutout dog treats?

You only need a handful of tools to make these dog treats:

• A stand mixer or hand mixer
• A silicone scraper or spatula
• Measuring spoons & measuring cups
• A kitchen scale (the best way to measure flour!)
• A rolling pin
• A medium-size mixing bowl
• A dog bone-shaped cookie cutter (or other medium-sized cookie cutters)
• Wire cooling rack

What is the best way to measure flour?

The best way to measure flour is by weighing it on a kitchen scale!

How do you measure flour?

To measure flour, follow these 3 simple steps:

1. Set your kitchen scale to the grams measurement
2. Put your measuring bowl on the kitchen scale and zero the scale
3. Scoop flour into the mixing bowl until the scale registers the weight that your recipe calls for.

How long do homemade dog treats last?

At room temperature, dog treats last about 3-5 days in an airtight container. To keep them fresh longer, however, I like to freeze them (see below for specifics).

Can you freeze homemade dog treats?

Yes, you can most definitely freeze homemade dog treats! In fact, this is the main way I like to store mine. This way, I can know I have a stash of cookies to feed to and train Allie with over the next few weeks.

To freeze your treats, just place them in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag or freezer container and place in the freezer. They will last for up to 2 months frozen.

Homemade peanut butter pumpkin dog treats: the perfect gift!

Looking for a special and unique gift idea? Make these homemade dog treats for your special fur friends birthdays (or even the holidays) this year. Whether you tie them up in decorative bag, put them in a cookie tin, or close them up in a glass jar, they are sure to be a hit.

Bonus: it's a cost-effective gift that still shows your love and care, like so many food gifts are! 🙂

Other home baking recipes you might enjoy!

• High Altitude Beer Bread
• High Altitude Peanut Butter Cookies
• Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread
• Peanut Butter Brookies
• Oatmeal Bread (No-Yeast!)
• Pumpkin Spice Blender Muffins
• Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars
• Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
• Fudgy Date Brownies

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