Make your dog's day by baking some healthy, 3 ingredient, wheat-free & dairy-free Sweet Potato Dog Treats!
It's not only me that loves sweet potatoes. My dog Chester does too. Whenever I cook them I always share some with him.
He loves my Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Cookies but I decided to change things up a bit and make him some with sweet potato. It was a good decision because he goes absolutely nuts for these Sweet Potato Dog Treats.
Because he enjoys them so much I thought that those of you with dogs might appreciate the recipe too. With only three ingredients they are super easy to make and are much healthier for your dog than many of the store bought, processed varieties available.
SWEET POTATOES
Sweet potatoes are not only very nutritious for us, they are also extremely good for your dog. They are full of vitamins and minerals and are also high in antioxidants which aid healing and help to protect against cancer. They are also a great source of dietary fibre which is good for your dog's digestive system and bowels.
Chester suffers from chronic ear infections and we have been advised by our vet to not feed him anything with wheat in it as it can make the problem worse. Because of this I usually make his cookies with oats as the grain component.
OATS
Oats are a well tolerated grain for most dogs and rarely trigger allergies. They contain anti-inflammatory and skin-soothing properties and are rich in silicon which helps make bones strong. They help prevent high blood pressure and clogged arteries and boost the immune system.
HOW TO MAKE THESE SWEET POTATO DOG TREATS
These Sweet Potato Dog Treats are very easy to make.
- Process the oats in a food processor until they are like coarse flour
- Add the sweet potato and coconut oil
- Process until well combined and add just enough water to bring it all together into a dough
- Roll out with a rolling pin, then cut into cookies with a cookie cutter or just use a pizza cutter to cut into pieces.
- Bake
That's it! So easy!
This is the food processor that I use when making this recipe. It handles dough like this really well:
And here are some super cute dog cookie cutters:
MODERATION IS KEY
As with all cookies, remember that moderation is key (as much as your dog might disagree!) These cookies are designed as a treat and should not be fed as a complete meal.
If you make these Sweet Potato Dog Treats for your dog, Chester and I would love to know what they both think of them. You can leave your feedback in the comments below and rate the recipe by hitting the yellow stars. I would love it if you could share some pictures with me too. I want to see your fur-babies eating their cookies! I am @avirtualvegan on Instagram and Twitter. If you use the hashtag #avirtualvegan I won't miss them.
Oh, and if you love sweet potato too, treat yourself with these Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes with Caramel Sauce. They are divine!
Sweet Potato Dog Treats
Ingredients
- 180g / 2 cups rolled oats or quick oats
- 100g / ½ cup cooked sweet potato
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 - 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Add the oats to a food processor and process until they are a course flour like consistency.
- Add the cooked sweet potato and the coconut oil.
- Process until well combined.
- Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between each addition, until the mixture can be squeezed into a dough with your fingers,
- Tip out and knead together a bit so it's all in a big firm ball.
- Roll out to about 3 - 4 mm thick. I rolled mine out on a silicone mat but if you don't have one you might need to sprinkle some flour on the surface to stop the dough sticking. If your dog is wheat intolerant be sure to use oat flour (just process a few more oats until they are flour). You can also roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper if you prefer.
- Cut out into cookie shapes using a cookie cutter or just cut the dough into even pieces with a knife or pizza cutter.
- Carefully transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them towards the end as they go from ok to slightly over done very quickly.
- Cool on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container.
Notes
Estimated nutrition per serving:
Venice Sharon says
Cured my dogs gas! Made these with pumpkin instead of sweet potato and they cured my Westies terrible gas. Thank you.
Carole Edwards-Warren says
My pitbull Emmie Lou has been diagnosed with liver disy and she can't have a lot of protein. Veggies she can have. These treats are perfect for her. Thank you for this great recipe. She loves them!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm sorry to hear she's unwell, but I'm pleased she's enjoying the treats!
Cheryl says
My Dog Loves These...Will be making on a regular basis! Thank You so Much.
Kate says
I have just made your delicious dog treats.Having only 3 ingredients: oats, sweet potato, and coconut oil, your dog treats are very successful. I still need information on how long to store them, please. I will be giving them out as holiday snack bags for my neighbor's dogs. How long can they be safely kept in the tin? Thank you, Cate
A Virtual Vegan says
As long as you baked them until they are pretty dried out they will keep for months and months in an airtight container. I hope the neighbors dogs enjoy them!
Claribel says
I made a batch today for our furbaby and he absolutely loves them!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Very simple and all natural, doesn’t get any better than that!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased he is enjoying them!
Cinnamon says
My dog loves them . Very easy to make.
Cindy says
Can you use cooked yam instead of sweet potatoes in this recipe?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes you can and pumpkin works well too.
Shirley Smith says
I used pumpkin and it worked fine. I have one dog that we think has a sweet potato allergy plus I think pumpkin may have fewer calories. Both dogs loved the treats and they are so easy to make.
Joni says
My dogs love these...thanks for the recipe!! What kind of dog is Chester...he is adorable..
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Joni. I'm so pleased your dogs are enjoying them. Chester is an Australian Labradoodle.
Melvin says
Perfect. Dogs really like them and easy.
mimi says
I'm making these right now ????thanks for the recipe
I think your post has a typo btw. It says "cook on a cooling rack."
A Virtual Vegan says
Ooops thank you for catching that. Just corrected it. Hope your pooch enjoyed the cookies!
Anja says
Hello Mel, thank you for sharing your recipe. I have 5 dogs and they all love them! I gave out a few to friends and their dogs love them too. A healthy and simple to make treat. This makes all our day....
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Anja. I'm so pleased they are all enjoying the cookies!
Debra Lombardo says
I made a batch for my two very picky allergy dogs. They loved them. Since they are both allergic to oats, I substituted the oats with millet flour. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
It's good to know it works with millet flour too. So pleased they enjoyed them!
Didi says
I made these and my dog loves them. I'm always keen to find simple recipes, otherwise I put it off and just buy them but I prefer to keep everything homemade and healthy. I love making home baked treats for my dog and my kids. My kids also thought these cookies looked good but I made them other cookies!
Vegan Rabbit Mom says
I used this recipe, as an idea, to make a nutritious food cookie, for my pet rabbits. They refuse to eat rabbit pellets, or hayy. I even got them Orchard grass pellets made for horses, and they wouldn't eat those.. I was giving them HALO vegan dog food, which they love, but they raised the price of a 4 pound bag to $20! I can't afford that, so I studied the ingredients, and decided to try and make my own easy to feed food for them. I found this recipe, while trying to figure out how to do that. Here's what I did. I took a cup & a half of the orchard pellets they won't eat, & buzzed them up as fine as I could in a blender. Then I dumped it in a big bowl, & added 1 cup of potato flour (non grain because rabbits shouldn't eat seeds). Then, I go outside and clip a few leaves off my comfrey plant, and yarrow plants, and some broad leaf grass, dandelion, and or clover leaves. I cut all the greenery up into small pieces into the blender. I buzz them up as fine as I can get, then I add 20 Blueberries, 1/2 a cup of applesauce, (for fruits), and 1/2 a cup of pumpkin or sweet potato & a handful of spinach (vegetable + the potato flour in the dry bowl), a tbs of molasses a sprinkling of pink salt & 2 cups of water. Then I blend it up again on the liquefy setting. I pour the wet into the dry and mix until there's no dry "flour" showing. Then I use an Ice Cream scoop, to scoop & drop some of the mixture onto a silicon mold with each cell looking like those Easter Peeps rabbits. (Rabbit shaped cookies for rabbits) I bake them at slightly. over 350 degrees for 20 minutes. My two rabbits LOVE them, & they get them to eat their pellets! I vary them, depending on which fruits & veggies I have on hand. These are way less expensive, than the vegan dog food, and mimic a wild rabbit's diet better, with fruits, herbs/herbaceous plants aka leaves, & veggies, which are rarely found in commercial rabbit foods. I keep them refrigerated, because they are semi moist because of all the fruits, veggies & herbs. Rabbits may eat grass or hay, but they're not grazers, and should be eating a mostly leafy diet. In addition to these cookies, which they get 3x a day, they get vegan kitchen scraps, such as: baked potato or sweet potato skins, squash rinds, carrot peelings, lettuce spines, and garden "waste", like radish, turnip or parsnip tops, corn, bean or pea plant leaves, blackberry & Crown Vetch leaves, Wood Sorrel, Flowering Quince leaves, etc. These cookies, also help them have nutrient dense food in the winter. I dry and buzz up comfrey leaves & other leaves, to store & make these in the winter for them. I can use canned sweet potato, pumpkin & applesauce. On rare trips to the grocery store in the winter, I can get fresh or frozen ingredients to use.
A Virtual Vegan says
Wow, I had no idea when I created them that rabbits would enjoy a twist on them! I have some readers who make them for their cats too!
Melony Levy says
I have 4 Dark Fawn Chihuahuas, 3 of them being very finicky eaters, 2 with allergies, and 1 that is slightly overweight. I made these Sweet Potatoe Dog Treats but because I didn't have any coconut oil and I find olive oil to be quite heavy and dense when baking , I replaced the oil WITH 2 Tbls of PEANUT BUTTER which I had seen you had recommended as a possibility for substitutions in a previous comment. ALL of my dogs LOVED them!!! So I decided to make another batch but instead of peanut butter I used 2 Tbls of APPLE SAUCE but still added a teaspoon of olive oil mainly to prevent sticking to the pan. The oil could probably be omitted if you choose to use a nonstick spray but I like the end result as is. Thank you for the wonderful recipe and my dogs thank you as well. Using this as a base, there are just so many variations that can be made. I will be making many, many more!
A Virtual Vegan says
You have your hands full with 4 bundles of love! I'm so glad they enjoyed them. And yes, this recipe is really flexible. We make all kinds of variations for Chester. Our dogs are very lucky! Thank you for coming back to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!