Sweet Potato, Oat, and Cranberry Dog Treats are a fun way to give your pup a safe holiday treat. They are gluten-free and are loaded with nutrients from sweet potatoes, cranberries, coconut oil, and added turmeric.
These treats came about as a happy accident when I was trying to come up with a fun, paleo, sweet potato biscuit - for humans! I was getting a little irritated and was totally lacking creativity but my partner in crime with her sad puppy dog eyes would not leave my side. I finally gave up and took the adventure in a different direction to make dog treats for her instead.
While Melly is generally pretty easy to please, I actually tasted these dog biscuits and they are surprisingly good!
🥘 Ingredient Notes
- Old Fashioned Oats - For this recipe you want to use Old Fashioned Oats and split them into two different bowls - one will stay whole in the biscuits.
- Cranberries - Use only fresh or dried with NO added sugar.
- Eggs
- Coconut Oil - For this recipe, you can use either refined or unrefined. My dog LOVES the taste of coconut oil so we use unrefined for the things we make for her.
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Turmeric - Good for the joints!
🍽 Equipment Needed
- A Food Processor or Blender
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- A rubber spatula
- Dog bone or seasonal shaped cookie cutters. These are totally optional - you can also just roll your dough into small balls and flatten them to make little round biscuits. Your dog won't know the difference, but it is fun to make shapes for them!
- A baking sheet
- A rolling pin or wine bottle
- A non-stick baking mat or parchment paper
🥣 How to Make Them
This gluten-free dog treat recipe is pretty straightforward and easy to make but it can be messed up easily if you don't follow the directions.
STEP 1: Add 3 cups of oats to the bowl of a food processor and chop them until they resemble coarse flour or breadcrumbs. Dump this "oat flour" out into a large bowl. (Pictures 1 - 5)
STEP 2: Add cranberries to the bowl of the food processor and chop until the texture of relish. If you are using dried cranberries, add about a teaspoon of water. (Pictures 6 - 8)
STEP 3: Now add mashed sweet potato, eggs, and coconut oil. Mix until well combined using the food processor. (Pictures 9 - 10)
STEP 4: Add the "oat flour" and spices and mix until well combined. (Pictures 11 - 13)
STEP 5: Add the whole oats last and pulse just a few times to incorporate the oats but not chop them up. It should be a thick, sticky dough. (Pictures 14 - 15)
STEP 6: Now, transfer the dough to a separate bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to the refrigerator and refrigerate the dough for a minimum of one hour.
STEP 7: Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and flour a surface to roll out your dough. If your dog MUST eat gluten-free, you can use a bit of your favorite gluten-free flour - otherwise, you can just use all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour.
STEP 8: Roll your dough out to about ¼ - ½ an inch and cut out your favorite shapes. You may need to roll it out a few times to use all of the dough.
STEP 9: Place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. They won't really expand so they don't need to be too far apart, but they will stick together if they are touching. (If you are not picky about shapes, you can also make cookies by just cutting horizontal and vertical lines like a checkerboard. (Like how you would cut dumplings for soup.) For more detailed instructions on rolling out dog treats, there are tips in my Crunchy Blueberry Dog Treat post. )
STEP 10: Bake in the oven at 350°F for 35 - 40 minutes, until the biscuits are hard/crunchy. Keep an eye on them after 35 minutes - on the lower rack of my oven, some of the treats got a little brown on the edges.
STEP 11: Let the treats cool for a few minutes and then share them with your favorite dog or move them to an air-tight container!
Melly (and a few of her friends that tried them) sure love these sweet potato treats!
Recipe Yield
Depending on the size of the treats, you can end up with anywhere between 48 and 60 treats. Probably even more if you make them really small!
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just like humans, turmeric is actually a great joint supplement for dogs. In small amounts, it likely won't do anything, but I like to pretend that I am giving my dog magic treats.
Yes! There are a lot of antioxidants and nutrients in cranberries that are good for dogs. They are also really good for dogs with frequent urinary tract infections.
Yes! Oats are a common additive in different dog foods - they are a good carbohydrate to add to dog food for dogs that can't tolerate wheat or other grains.
Absolutely. I make these treats in bone and cute pumpkin shapes because - let's face it - no one would click on a recipe with treats that weren't cute. In your kitchen, you can use whatever shapes that you want!
Absolutely. I like to use sweet potato because it has a lot of fiber and nutrition - and Melly loves the taste - but you could swap it out for applesauce, pumpkin, or mashed banana.
🍳 Serving Suggestions & Uses
Serve these treats as often as you would give your dog a milk bone sized crunchy biscuit - not too many, but just the right amount.
Melly weighs somewhere around 45 pounds and she usually gets 1 or 2 of the bone treats a day, 2 to 3 of the pumpkins. (I'm sure she would happily accept more if we offered!)
🥫 Storage/Shelf Life/Reheating
Store these treats in an air-tight container. (We keep them in a wide mouth mason jar, so whenever Melly hears a jar open, she comes running into the room.)
They are really dry and crunchy like a Milkbone treat, so as long as they are baked long enough and not exposed to moisture, they should last a few weeks. (I like to freeze half of the batch since I only have one dog and she won't go through them that quickly. Melly even eats them straight out of the freezer!)
✏️ Helpful Tips
- Try out different variations of shapes and cookie sizes - I like to make this recipe using these cookie cutters from Amazon. They come in a set of five and the middle size that is about 3 ½ inches long is about the size of a standard dog biscuit. I also make pumpkin shapes for fall treats!
- Make sure you let the dough chill - it is very sticky and will be hard to work with if it is not chilled.
- Cook your sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot for faster preparation.
🐶 Try These Other Great Dog Friendly Recipes
- Crunchy Blueberry Dog Treats
- Pupkin Pumpkin and Peanut Butter Spice Dog Treats
- Homemade Dog Food
- Instant Pot Homemade Dog Food
- Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Treats
- Frozen Peanut Butter and Bone Broth "Pupsicles"
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Sweet Potato, Cranberry, and Oat Dog Treats
Equipment
- a rolling pin
Ingredients
- 3 cups oats ground into flour
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup oats kept whole
Instructions
- Add 3 cups of oats to the bowl of a food processor and chop them until they resemble coarse flour or breadcrumbs. Dump this "oat flour" out into a large bowl.
- Add cranberries to the bowl of the food processor and chop until the texture of relish. If you are using dried cranberries, add about a teaspoon of water.
- Now add mashed sweet potato, eggs, and coconut oil. Mix until well combined using the food processor.
- Add the "oat flour" and spices and mix until well combined.
- Add the whole oats last and pulse just a few times to incorporate the oats but not chop them up. It should be a thick, sticky dough
- Now, transfer the dough to a separate bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to the refrigerator and refrigerate the dough for a minimum of one hour.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and flour a surface to roll out your dough. If your dog MUST eat gluten-free, you can use a bit of your favorite gluten-free flour - otherwise, you can just use all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour.
- Roll your dough out to about ¼ - ½ an inch and cut out your favorite shapes. You may need to roll it out a few times to use all of the dough.
- Place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. They won't really expand so they don't need to be too far apart, but they will stick together if they are touching. (If you are not picky about shapes, you can also make cookies by just cutting horizontal and vertical lines like a checkerboard. (Like how you would cut dumplings for soup.) For more detailed instructions on rolling out dog treats, there are tips in my Crunchy Blueberry Dog Treat post. )
- Bake in the oven at 350°F for 35 - 40 minutes, until the biscuits are hard/crunchy. Keep an eye on them after 35 minutes - on the lower rack of my oven, some of the treats got a little brown on the edges.
- Let the treats cool for a few minutes and then share them with your favorite dog or move them to an air-tight container!
Notes
- Try out different variations of shapes and cookie sizes - I like to make this recipe using these cookie cutters from Amazon. They come in a set of five and the middle size that is about 3 ½ inches long is about the size of a standard dog biscuit. I also make pumpkin shapes for fall treats!
- Make sure you let the dough chill - it is very sticky and will be hard to work with if it is not chilled.
- Cook your sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot for faster preparation.
Yes! Just like humans, turmeric is actually a great joint supplement for dogs. In small amounts, it likely won't do anything, but I like to pretend that I am giving my dog magic treats. Are cranberries safe for dogs to eat?
Yes! There are a lot of antioxidants and nutrients in cranberries that are good for dogs. They are also really good for dogs with frequent urinary tract infections. Are oats safe for dogs to eat?
Yes! Oats are a common additive in different dog foods - they are a good carbohydrate to add to dog food for dogs that can't tolerate wheat or other grains. Can you bake these treats in other shapes?
Absolutely. I make these treats in bone and cute pumpkin shapes because - let's face it - no one would click on a recipe with treats that weren't cute. In your kitchen, you can use whatever shapes that you want! Can you use something other than sweet potato in these treats?
Absolutely. I like to use sweet potato because it has a lot of fiber and nutrition - and Melly loves the taste - but you could swap it out for applesauce, pumpkin, or mashed banana.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
Caitlin
My dogs really love these. I'm making them for a second time just as I'm running out. The one year old lab hasn't been eating much the last couple days, so we're dealing with that, but she perked right up for these. Luckily my vet said I'm free to give her a little if she's showing interest. Oh, and they make the kitchen smell amazing while they bake.
Kari
I'm so glad to hear that! I hope your baby feels better soon!