Healthy Carrot & Mint Dog Treats

Puppies deserve treats too - at least that's what my dogs tell me. But rather than purchasing store bought treats where I'm not aware of the quality of the ingredients, I decided that making your own dog treats is just as good. Surely the time, love and energy put into them will make them taste better too? Who knows. I must say however, I did have a little taste test while baking these and I thought they were pretty darn good so I'm sure your pooch will agree.

Check out this great recipe below for the full details, it's healthy, sugar free and the mint is a great way to help their smelly breath! 

These are the perfect little gift, treat after a vet trip or in case there's a birthday in the family. 

I like the idea of my dogs eating super simple and healthy ingredients whenever possible, I'm not super fussy about it but rather just aware. So I've really loved this recipe, especially when I have a leftover carrot in the fridge as it's super quick and easy to make and the dogs love them!

Although I give these to my dogs regularly (don't tell mum), I think these would be great little treats to make for when the dogs come home from the groomers, the kennels or perhaps if they have to go to the vet. Not to mention, these would be great little birthday or Christmas treats if you can manage to hid them well enough. 

I have to admit, Fergus (our clever Labrador  x  Border Collie) did sneak a few off the bench during the photo session...can you see the big black paw in the background? Yeah, he's pretty good at this. 

Anyway, back to the important details: the recipe!

Carrot & Mint Healthy Dog Treats

You'll Need:

• ​2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup mint, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated finely
• 1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 Minutes
Makes: approximately 20 dog treats

(depending on your cookie cutter size)

​

1. Preheat oven to 165℃ and prepare an oven tray by lining it with baking paper.
2. Add oats to a nutribullet or small food processor. Pulse oats until a fine, flour-like consistency.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the oat flour, grated carrot and chopped mint.
4. In a second bowl, combine the mashed banana, beaten egg and olive oil (or coconut).
5. Gently combine the wet ingredients into the medium bowl and stir until moist - it will be a little sticky.
6. Turn dough onto a surface lightly dusted with flour. Using your hands or a floured rolling pin, flatten the dough to approximately 6mm. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the treats and place on prepared tray.
7. Bake the cookies in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. For a more crunchy cookie, allow for a slightly longer baking time.

Note: if you have a little difficulty cutting out the cookies due to the grated carrot, a secondary option to shape your cookies using a cookie cutter is to place the cookie cutter onto the prepared tray and spoon 2 tsp of cookie mixture into the cookie cutter, using the teaspoon press the dough into the corners to fill the cookie cutter shape then lift it off and repeat for each cookie.

Also, if you're looking for a dog bone cookie cutter like mine, I found mine for a really good price on Trade Me! It's really good quality and arrived within a great time frame. 

My dogs and I really hope you enjoy these treats as much as they did!

​(This is Bailey by the way)

​Be sure to share your photos of you and your happy pooches with their treats by using our hashtag #livelivelynz

​From our home to yours,