Spinach, Apple and Carrot Dog Treats (Recipe)

I love finding homemade dog treat recipes that call for ingredients I already have.

That’s especially true for recipes that call for fresh ingredients that might spoil if I don’t use them up.

After a recent visit to Costco (wherein I bought too much food, per usual), I was excited to find this dog treat recipe that calls for some fresh ingredients that I had just gotten in abundance.

The original recipe was imbalanced, calling for a minimal amount of flour and too many wet ingredients. Luckily, I read the comments before whipping this up and made some adjustments.

Spinach, Apple and Carrot Dog Treats

Ingredients

• 4 cups chickpea flour
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup baby carrots
• 1½ cups fresh spinach
• ½ apple, cored
• ¼ cup water

Directions

1. Heat your oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oil and eggs.
3. In a blender or food processor, puree the carrots, spinach, apple and water.
4. Stir the puree into the flour mix until it forms a sticky dough.
5. Drop tablespoon-sized dollops of the dough onto a nonstick baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, until the treats are slightly browned along the edges and bottom.

The color of these biscuits is a bright yellow with green speckling from all of the vegetables and chickpea flour. It’s a nice change to the typical dirt-brown treats I’m used to.

Knowing that there are so many nutrients packed inside makes me really happy to feed them to Banjo.

Dr. Judy Morgan, DVM, CVA, CVCP, CVFT, who reviewed this recipe for Petful, says, “I love the use of fresh vegetables and fruit in this recipe, as I think our dogs don’t get enough of these in their daily diet.”

Dr. Morgan adds: “Spinach and carrots are both good blood tonics. Both are rich in Vitamin A and iron, which are important for production of healthy red blood cells and hemoglobin.”

These treats turned out great, and I’m sure I’ll make them again.

Next time, though, I’ll probably cut the recipe in half unless we’re sharing with Banjo’s whole daycare.

Adapted from: The DIY Dog Mom.

This pet treat recipe was reviewed by a veterinarian, Dr. Judy Morgan, DVM, CVA, CVCP, CVFT, and is safe for dogs in moderation, but is not a substitute for a complete balanced diet. This recipe was last reviewed and updated Feb. 27, 2019. Dr. Morgan comments: “This is a vegetarian dog treat with no nuts, making it a great recipe to use if any family members have nut allergies.” Dr. Morgan operates 2 award-winning veterinary hospitals in New Jersey that offer an integrative approach to pet care. With a passion for healing her patients with whole foods, she has written several books on holistic pet care — including Yin & Yang Nutrition for Dogs, a holistic cookbook for pets.