Christmas Dog Cookies with Pumpkin and Oats
Christmas dog cookies shaped like stars and trees: pumpkin, oats and egg. Why they skip cinnamon and nutmeg, and how to bake them step by step.
- Time
- 2 h 10 min + 15 min resting
- Makes
- 55 pieces
- Type
- Treat
- Difficulty
- Easy
- 49 % oat flour
- 37 % pumpkin
- 14 % egg
Follows THE RULE. All 3 ingredients are on our safe list: nothing that could harm your dog.
These Christmas dog cookies come in star and tree shapes, have a pumpkin-orange color and just three ingredients: pumpkin purée, oat flour and egg. You make them with the same cookie cutters as the family cookies, so your dog gets their own tray on the kitchen counter too.
What they leave out is what you'd miss most in a holiday recipe: no cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or ginger, no sugar or honey. Your dog doesn't need them. The smell of toasted pumpkin coming out of the oven is enough for them, and you remove the risk that comes with spices.
Why it works
Pumpkin purée provides moisture, fiber and the orange color, and it stands in for the butter and sugar in cookies for people. Oat flour gives body and rolls out well for cookie cutters. The egg binds the dough. Baking twice, first to cook them and then to dry them in the switched-off oven, makes them crunchy and helps them last through the holidays.
Step by step
Cook the pumpkin
Steam the diced pumpkin for 15 minutes, until very tender. Drain it well, mash it and let it cool.
Make the dough
Mix the pumpkin purée with the egg and add the oat flour a little at a time, kneading until you have a smooth dough that doesn't stick to your hands.
Let it rest
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill it for 15 minutes: it rolls out more easily and the shapes come out clean. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170 °C / 340 °F.
Roll out and cut
Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 3/16 inch (5 mm) and cut out stars, trees or gingerbread-man shapes with 1 1/2-2 inch (4-5 cm) cutters. Place the cookies on the baking sheet.
Bake
Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping them halfway through, until firm and golden at the edges.
Dry them
Turn the oven off and leave them inside for 1 hour with the door ajar. They should end up hard and crunchy.
How many a day?
As a treat, keeping under 10% of what they eat each day.
— pieces a day at most
| Weight | 3 kg | 5 kg | 10 kg | 15 kg | 20 kg | 30 kg | 40 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pieces/day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
Puppy, senior, very active or on a diet? Calculate the exact portion.
- Energy
- 17.1 kcal/piece
- Protein
- 16 % dry matter
- Fat
- 9 % dry matter
Values estimated from the ingredients (BEDCA/USDA data). A treat: keep treats under 10% of what they eat each day.
Storage
Fully dried, in a tin or airtight jar in a cool, dry place: up to 1 week; in the fridge, 2-3 weeks. Freezer: 3 months. If you add "snow" with quark, do it just before serving and keep them in the fridge that same day.
If you don't have…
- You don't have pumpkin
- Cooked mashed sweet potato in the same amount
- Your dog doesn't tolerate oats
- Rice flour in the same amount; roll the dough a little thicker
- Your dog doesn't tolerate egg
- 50 g (about 3 tablespoons) more pumpkin purée; they come out less crunchy
Cooking tips
- The 10% rule: the holidays are when the most treats come your dog's way. Cookies plus any other extras shouldn't exceed 10% of their daily calories; the table in the recipe tells you how many suit their weight.
- To "snow" them, brush the tops with a little nonfat quark just before serving.
- If you give cookies to other dogs as gifts, pack them in a bag with an ingredient label so their families know what is in them.
- Why no spices: nutmeg contains myristicin, which in dogs can cause disorientation, a racing heart, tremors and, in larger amounts, seizures. A pinch of cinnamon isn't as toxic, but it irritates the mouth and stomach, the powder makes dogs cough if inhaled, and cassia, the most common kind in supermarkets, contains coumarin. Cloves are also best avoided. None of them adds anything your dog will miss.
Safety
- The holidays are a busy time for emergency vets: keep fruitcake, mince pies, Christmas pudding, chocolate, eggnog and turkey or ham bones out of reach.
- If someone gives your dog a Christmas cookie made for people, it isn't the same as these: those usually contain spices, sugar and sometimes nuts.
- Match the cookie cutter to your dog's size: for small dogs, shapes of 3/4-1 inch (2-3 cm).
Frequently asked questions
Can dogs eat cinnamon?
Better not. A pinch is rarely serious, but cinnamon can irritate the mouth and stomach, the powder makes dogs cough if inhaled, and the cassia variety, the most common one, contains coumarin, which in excess affects the liver. Since it adds nothing for your dog, it is left out of dog recipes. Nutmeg is even more dangerous.
Why is nutmeg toxic to dogs?
Because it contains myristicin, a compound that in dogs can cause disorientation, a fast heart rate, high blood pressure, tremors and, in large amounts, seizures. It shows up in many holiday recipes, such as eggnog, pumpkin pie and spiced cookies. If your dog has eaten something with a fair amount of nutmeg, call your vet even if there are no symptoms yet.
What Christmas foods are dangerous for dogs?
Almost all holiday sweets: fruitcake, mince pies, Christmas pudding, gingerbread, chocolates and eggnog. They are loaded with sugar and fat, and many contain chocolate, nuts, raisins or spices. Chocolate and grapes or raisins are the most serious. If you want your dog to have a holiday treat, bake them some homemade cookies like these.
What's in it, in detail
If they liked it, try
The fridge list
The foods your dog can eat, can have in moderation and must never eat, on a single printable page.