Sweet Potato and Apple Dog Treats
These sweet potato and apple dog treats are super easy to make, full of good ingredients for your canine companion and dog-approved!
Jump to Recipe (or scroll for photos and riveting information...)Sweet Potato and Apple Dog Treats
- Prep Time: 20 m
- Cook Time: 1 h 15 m
- Total Time: 1 h 35 m
- Servings: 16to 32 treats
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 large sweet potatoes
- 1 Gala or Honey Crisp apple grated
- 3+ cups whole wheat flour or rice or nut flour if your dog has wheat allergies
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Grease a baking sheet with a little oil. Cut the potatoes in half and place them, cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake at 400ºF for 40 minutes until the potatoes are very soft. Let the potatoes cool and then peel the skin from the potatoes and discard. Mash the peeled sweet potatoes with a fork and measure out 3 cups. (Reserve any remaining for another use.)
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F.
Combine the mashed sweet potatoes, shredded apples, whole-wheat flour and eggs in a bowl. Mix the ingredients well until a dough comes together, adding more flour if necessary to make the dough soft but pliable. Divide the dough into quarters and then cut each quarter in half. Roll the dough pieces into thin 16-inch logs. Twist 2 of the logs together and then cut the twisted log into 1- to 4-inch pieces, depending on what size treat you’d like for your pup. Alternately, form the log into any shape you want, hearts, circles, dog bones, your pup’s initials…get creative!
- Place the twisted dough shapes on a baking sheet and bake at 375ºF for 35 minutes, until the treats are set. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, feed the treats to your furry friends! Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Can these treats be frozen?
Yes, absolutely!
Can you replace apple with a banana or peanut butter?
Hi Kelsey. I haven’t tried that, but you could give it a try. I think it should work out fine.
Could you use all purpose flour?
Yes, you can use AP flour but you might need to adjust the quantity a little. Different flours absorb liquids differently, so be prepared to adjust the flour quantity so that a pliable dough comes together.
Do you know what the calorie count of these treats would be? In these crazy time I only have All Purpose flour at home. Is this okay? Would I have to use more or less? I am not a good baker so I have to follow a recipe exact. Be Safe.
Hi Elaine. You can click on Nutrition Info for the calorie count of these treats. You can also use AP flour, but plan on adding a little more than it calls for. Try 3⅓ cups of AP flour. If the dough is too wet, add a little more. If it is too dry, add a couple tablespoons of water.
This is a great recipe. You can do many substitutions, depending on what you have. You can also use 1 egg and 1/2 cup of apples, pnut butter, etc., for half the amount of cookies, but they freeze great. I’ve used 1 cup pnut butter, 1 cup pumpkin, 2 eggs, and enough flour (I use oat bc my boy has allergies) to make the dough a bit tacky, but not stick to your hands, I’ll use the pnut butter and substitute apples, bananas, sweet potato. I’ve also done tuna with eggs and flour. I’ve also used baby food, but it makes it more expensive.
Can you use almond flour for the dog treats
Hi Christy. Almond Flour is not toxic for dogs but some do not digest it well. I would check with your vet before using almond flour.
What is the shelf life of these treats?
Hi Megan. You can store these treats in an airtight container for up to two weeks, or freeze them for up to 2 months.
If you are rolling the dough out…how thick should it be?
Hi Theresa. I would roll them out to about ½ inch thick.
Hi.
Is 35 minutes the right cook time for these? Mine got brown on the bottom in like 18 minutes.
Yes that is the correct cooking time. Not sure why they got so brown for you. I do bake in the center of the oven. If they are on the lower rack then they would get darker on the bottom.
Can I substitute unsweetened apple sauce for shaved apples?
You can but you may have to add a little extra flour because the apple sauce will add more moisture to the dough.
Hi we are an egg free home can I replace the egg with flax seed meal or something else (not peanut butter)? Thanks!
The egg is used as a binder and a leavener in this recipe. If you try it with flax seed meal you would need to mix one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with three tablespoons of water and let it sit for about 15 minutes to thicken. The biscuits may be a bit more dense but I bet your pups will still like them! Let us know how it works.
Hello! Are these treats soft like biscuits or crunchy? We have a young pup and if they’re crunchy, I wanna make bigger treats. Thanks in advance!
Hi Kim. These treats are more on the crunchy side, but they are a little soft in the middle. To make them a little crispier, you can roll out the dough and cut them in strips or even use a cookie cutter. You would probably need to reduce the baking time a few minutes if baking a flatter biscuits.
Hi,
Can you steam or boil the sweet potato instead of baking it?
Thanks. 🙂
Sure. I would recommend steaming the potato over boiling it so that it doesn’t take on additional moisture. If the dough is too wet, just add more flour to get it to a manageable consistency.
I tried out this recipe and for some reason the dough was extremely sticky! Do you have any advice please? I had to add loads of extra wholemeal flour to be able to work with it and felt as though something may have gone wrong. Thanks!
Hi Louise, The dough will vary in moisture based on how big or small your sweet potatoes and apple are. If yours were really large, the moisture from those ingredients would need more flour to be absorbed. Also, were you using large eggs or jumbo? That would make a difference too. You did the right thing – adding more flour.
Hi,
Could I use coconut oil instead of eggs and how much please?
Hi Ann. I haven’t tried substituting coconut oil for the eggs in this recipe, but the general rule of thumb is ¼ cup coconut oil per egg as a replacement. Coconut oil is safe for dogs, but you should make sure your dog in particular is fine with coconut oil (that goes for all ingredients). Just feed your pup one treat to see how he/she does.
Hi. I just figured out that “great” in step 2 was grease. LOL.
Looks like a good recipe – will try soon.
Thanks for catching that typo, Dee! 🙄 I’ve fixed it now.
ML
Mine also went rubbery like someone else said. It was so easy to make and the dough was perfect.. so I thought . How did this happen
Hi Jamie. I’m not sure if you’re referring to the treats being rubbery after baking or if the dough was rubbery. I didn’t see anyone else’s comment on rubbery either. If the treats are rubbery, you may have worked the dough a little too much, activating the gluten, but as these treats age in an airtight container, they will get tougher – that’s because there are no preservatives in them, so it’s a good thing.
Mine came out brown on the bottom but soft like a chewy cookie. Are they suppose to be crunchy? No where near it. Had pan in middle of oven. Even tried making them small and flat. Hmm
These biscuits should be set and firm but they are slightly chewy on the inside. If your pups like them crunchier you can try baking them longer at a lower temperature which will dry them out a little more and they won’t get too brown on the bottom.
Hi
Thanks for the great recipe.
In point 4 there is a typo which I found confusing.
Alternatively form the “dog” into any shape …
Thanks
Haha! i love that typo! I love that typo so much, I almost didn’t want to fix it, but I did. Thanks for letting me know. ML
Could I divide the dough and add a pureed beet for a color change to make it look like two colors in the twist?
You could add another vegetable to make a different color if you like. Beets are ok for dogs but they are an acidic vegetable and higher in sugar. Therefore, you want to feed them beets in moderation and you might want to check with your vet as well. Also, dogs can’t see color so pick a vegetable that is best for your pup.
Are these freezable?
Yes! Absolutely.
These treats are good tasting to humans too. I had some issues. It didn’t say anything about greasing the pan, so my first batch stuck! My dough was super sticky and it was hard to roll out and cut.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Can you use canned pumpkin in place of the sweet potato for a variation? My dogs love both. Thank you.
You can use canned pumpkin but you may have to use a little more flour since the pumpkin will be a little softer than the sweet potatoes.
Do these have to be stored in the fridge or can they be in a air tight container at room temp?
You can store them at room temp for a few days. Longer than that I would put them in the fridge.