Easy cheddar apple dog treats recipe
Cheddar apple dog treats are a quick and easy homemade dog treat recipe. Made with only a handful of ingredients, these delicious DIY dog treats will become your pup’s favorite biscuit. They are less expensive than store-bought and so much better for your furry best friend.
Healthy puppy treats made at home don’t contain additives, preservatives or questionable ingredients like fillers. All dogs, no matter their age or diet, benefit from a healthier option.
Cheddar apple dog treats
Dogs like snacks too! Think about it this way – would you rather have a packaged, store-bought cookie that’s been sitting on a grocery store shelf or a fresh, homemade cookie? Dogs know a good thing when they’ve got it and homemade dog treats beat store bought every single time.
DIY dog treats make great homemade gifts too. I like to make small dog treat bags to give away to friends and neighbors who have pups.
Dog treat ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these dog biscuits, along with a few substitutions:
- All purpose flour – You can also use whole wheat flour, if you prefer.
- Old-fashioned oats
- Apple – any firm variety will do.
- Cheddar cheese – I prefer to grate it myself to avoid the coating on pre-shredded cheese.
- Dried curly parsley – You can swap with fresh curly parsley if you have it.
- Egg – Replace chicken egg with flax or chia egg by mixing 1 tbsp. of flax or chia seeds with 3 tbsp. water.
- Coconut oil
How to make apple dog treats with cheddar
First, add the oats to a food processor or a powerful blender to break them up into a flour. You can leave them whole, if you prefer, but the texture of your treats will be different.
Then, mix everything up in one bowl. Use your hand to work in all of the flour in the bottom of the bowl, until dough is fairly uniform.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to roughly 1/8″ thick.
Use a small cookie cutter to cut the treats out of the dough and place them on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Because Sugar is a senior dog and has trouble chewing hard biscuits, I don’t make these super crunchy. Baking them at 18 minutes gives me the perfect texture for her. You may find that you need a few more minutes, or a bit less, depending on your oven.
Store your homemade dog biscuits in an airtight treat container. I like this one because it’s easy to get into and it seals really well, keeping the treats fresh. Here is a list for all things dog that you can check out.
That’s all there is to it. Quick and easy cookies made just for your special furry family member.
FAQ’s about homemade dog biscuits
To make treats more shelf stable, you need to remove moisture. This means extending baking time, at a lower temperature. Removing moisture from the treats will make it harder for bacteria to grow (but not impossible!), however, in doing so, you’ll also end up with a crunchier treat.
Yes – you can use a dehydrator to pull even more moisture out of homemade biscuits.
As each model is different, check your manual for your specific dehydrator.
Because homemade treats do not contain preservatives, they will spoil. The best place to store them is in the refrigerator or freezer, for extended periods. I live in a warm, humid climate, so proper storage is a must for me.
What do I need to make these dog treats?
Here is a list of helpful tools and equipment for making dog treats. Below are the items that I use most often.
- Bone shaped cookie cutters – this is the exact same set that I have.
- Rolling dowel – Used in almost every recipe for dog biscuits.
- A small cookie scoop – make drop style cookies instead of rolling cutout treats.
- Mini food processor – for grinding oats.
More homemade dog treat recipes
Here are a few more of Sugar’s favorite dog cookies:
- Banana pumpkin treats
- Fresh breath biscuits
- Peanut butter banana treats
- Oatmeal pumpkin dog treat
- Butternut squash dog treats
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Easy cheddar apple dog treats recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour + extra for rolling out
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil melted and cooled
- 1 small apple peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 tbsp. dried curly parsley – or use fresh curly parsley * see note
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C / Gas mark 4.
- Grind oats in a food processor until almost a fine flour. It’s ok if there are small pieces.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine ground oats, flour, egg, coconut oil, grated apple, grated cheddar, parsley and water.
- Stir to combine until it comes together. Use your hands to work it into a uniform dough – do not add more water.
- Lightly dust the countertop with flour, then turn out dough and press into a rough rectangle.
- Flour the top of the dough and a rolling pin (dowel), then roll out dough to about 1/8" thick.
- Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut treats out, then place on parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes. Cool completely before feeding to your dog.
Notes
Nutrition
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Curly parsley is safe for dogs, other kinds of parsley are toxic.
Thank you for the information.
How do you store these dog cookies?
In the refrigerator is best, or you can freeze half of the batch and take them out as needed.
How much treats does a batch make
Taken from the recipe card: 70 small treats
Is there a GF subsitute flour that you would suggest instead of the AP flour or whole wheat flour?
Some if the dogs who I make treats for are sensitive to gluten.
Hi Ashke, think Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 is a good option for you. I don’t work with GF flour, but I know many people use it successfully. I hope that helps.
Can parsley just be eliminated?
Yep. You can just leave it out if you prefer.