Bananas and banana flavors are often at the top of the list when it comes to dog treats and recipes. They are packed with potassium and easy to digest making them a great option for our beloved pets. Plus, if they’re anything like my Rhubarb, they LOVE eating anything you’re eating! Speaking of what I’m eating – when thinking about these treats, I wanted to utilize another ingredient Ruby and I are both fond of. Yogurt! It’s not only creamy and unsweetened (perfect for dogs), but it freezes super well making it the perfect binder for these treats.
Your Pup Will Love These
Easy and cheap to make: I mean, you just need to be able to slice a banana and pour. And they are much cheaper to make than buying them at the store, especially because you probably already buy these ingredients for yourself. Freezer treats stay good for a long time: Doing a bit of math here if your dog eats 1 banana bite every few days (2/week) and this recipe makes 10 treats that will last in the freezer for 3 months. You will have enough to last you 5 weeks if you make a single batch or 10 weeks if you make a double! Dogs love yogurt and banana: I’ve known some dogs who aren’t crazy about bananas but I’ve never met a dog who doesn’t like yogurt and other dairy products.
Ingredients for Frozen Dog Treats with Bananas
Making homemade dog treats doesn’t have to be complicated. This recipe relies on only 3 ingredients to make something extra tasty (yes, I did try them myself and they are extra tasty).
Banana: I like to use a banana that is perfectly ripe or slightly over-ripe. If it’s under-ripe, Ruby doesn’t like the taste but if it’s too ripe, it’s hard to slice and handle. Yogurt: It’s super important to use plain (unsweetened) yogurt here because some sweeteners are toxic to dogs. I also recommend non-fat yogurt to just keep the added fat to a minimum in their diet. Plain Greek yogurt works too. Water: This is just used to help thin out the yogurt, making it a pourable consistency.
How to make Homemade Frozen Dog Treats
While store-bought dog treats require commercial-sized mixers and tons of equipment, the homemade versions are much simpler. Here’s a quick run down of how to make them – but be sure to check the recipe card for the full instructions.
Flavorful Variations
If you have fruit that needs to get used up, your pup gets bored of treats easily, or you’re making a large batch and you want different variations, here are some ideas. They can either be blended or mixed together with the yogurt.
Silicon muffin tins (preferably mini ones): If you use full-sized muffin tins, I would use 2-3 bananas per cup and only give half at a time. Ice cube trays: Either silicon or the old-fashioned ones will work, but you’ll probably need to dice the banana smaller to fit. Silicon muffin liners: These can be placed on a baking tray and then filled. Again, depending on the size, you may need more bananas per cup and only serve half at a time.
Blend in:
Strawberries Blueberries Mango
Or stir in:
Creamy peanut butter (without xylitol) Pure pumpkin puree
