This is a recipe for a healthier low-calorie dog treats with peanut butter and pumpkin. Fido will fall in love. Easy to follow step by step photo instructions.

Editor’s Note: Originally Published May 6, 2012. Update with expanded discussion and updated photos. Even with the update, I left our old golden retriever in the discussion since it is his recipe.

Time to get Fido something special and healthier than most other dog treats.

Our golden Jake has had issues. The last two years have not been kind to Jake (2010-2012 DOD 2013). First, he was hit with a hereditary eye disease that leads to complete blindness in spite of two major eye surgeries. A blown ACL with major surgery for that ( special thanks to the MSU vet school) and now a partial ACL on the other knee.

So with the lack of exercise and people feeling sorry for him (us), he has gained an extra 25 pounds. I guess we are lucky he does not have diabetes.

So now we count doggie calories. His big Milkbones were 120 calories each. These are 30 calories, and he loves them.

I took an Allrecipes recipe for Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats. I increased the pumpkin and got rid of whole eggs for egg whites just to decrease the calories.

Jake’s Rating:

5 Paws way up

Recipe Notes on Homemade Dog Treats

I decrease the cooking time slightly to keep them softer for his senior teeth.

The original recipe called for 40 minutes since it is a dry dough, I’m very happy I started in the stand mixer. It earned it keeps on this recipe.

Why is it “Healthy”?

Lower calories and lower fat. Both good things.

There seems to be as much BS about dog diets as human diets. If your dog is gluten intolerant, but they are not gluten allergic just because they are a dog.

I closed this post to comments. People keep posting unproven personal opinion as facts. This is “bad,” but this is “good”… things should always be so black and white.

You can not believe everything you read on the internet and even in the comments here. If you have concerns about your individual pet’s nutrition, then please discuss it with your vet.

For more information about how I feel about tendy health information please see Annual New Year’s Rant – 2019.

A Health Warning

While this recipe is about creating lower caloric dog treats, DO NOT USE LOWER CALORIC PEANUT BUTTER. Lower calorie peanut butter that is made with xylitol. Xylitol is quite toxic for dogs, it is toxic and can be deadly to them.

Storage

Just like other homemade baked products. These do not have the preservatives you will find in store bought treats.

They can be at room temperature for a few days. Refigerated for about 5 days or frozen for 3-4 months.

Preheat oven to 350 convection or 375 conventional.

Add 1/2 of a 14 oz can of pumpkin to 4 egg white, 1/4 cup water, 3 tablespoons peanut butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Turn on the mixer and combine until well mixed. I used the dough hook, and it took a couple of minutes. Now slowly add 3 cups of whole wheat flour with the mixer on 2. You will need to add a little more water to get all the flour incorporated. For me, it was another 1/4 cup. Again this is a very dry dough.

Place the dough on a cutting surface, cut into four equal pieces. Roll into logs of 1-inch diameter. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces. I got 61 bones.

Prep 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and distribute the biscuits evenly. Bake for 30 minutes for semi-hard.

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Originally Published May 6, 2012

Jake setting in flowers

Jake with his love, a ball.