Christmas Tree Dog Cookies, Naturally Green with Spinach
Christmas tree dog cookies colored green with spinach and dotted with blueberry ornaments. No food coloring, no sugar and no spices, at about 23 kcal each.
- Time
- 52 min + 1 h resting
- Makes
- 40 pieces
- Type
- Treat
- Difficulty
- Easy
- 31 % rice flour
- 25 % oat flour
- 23 % spinach
- 16 % egg
Follows THE RULE. All 6 ingredients are on our safe list: nothing that could harm your dog.
These Christmas tree dog cookies are truly green without a drop of food coloring: the color comes from a handful of blanched spinach blended with the egg. The dough uses rice flour, which is white and lets the green show, and oat flour for flavor. Pieces of blueberry pressed into the dough before baking are the ornaments.
You cut them with a fir-tree cookie cutter and get about 40, at around 23 kcal each. The trick to keep them from turning brown is a gentle oven: at 160 °C / 325 °F they bake without browning, and then they dry out in the switched-off oven until crunchy. They don't smell like a bakery; they smell like a cereal cookie with a hint of vegetables, and that is plenty for a dog.
Why it works
Spinach provides the color and some fiber; blanched and squeezed well, it loses water and part of its oxalates, and in this amount it works out to barely 2 g per cookie. Rice flour is neutral and pale, perfect for showing off the green, and oat flour adds flavor and makes the dough easier to roll out. The egg binds everything and, blended with the spinach, spreads the color evenly. The blueberries add a pop of color and stay juicy inside the cookie.
Step by step
Blanch the spinach
Wash the spinach and remove the thickest stems. Plunge it into boiling unsalted water for 1 minute and transfer it straight to a bowl of cold water so it keeps its color. Squeeze it with your hands until no more water comes out.
Blend the green
Blend the spinach with the egg until you have a very smooth green purée with no strands. The finer it is, the more even the color.
Make the dough
Mix both flours in a bowl, add the green purée and knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough that doesn't stick. If it is dry and cracks, add the water a tablespoon at a time; if it sticks, a little more rice flour. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160 °C / 325 °F.
Cut out the trees
Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to 3/16 inch (5 mm) thick and cut trees with a 2-inch (5 cm) cutter. Move them to the baking sheet with a spatula and press two or three pieces of blueberry into each one, like ornaments. Gather the scraps and repeat.
Bake without browning
Bake for 20-22 minutes at 160 °C / 325 °F, turning them halfway, until firm to the touch. If the edges start to brown, take them out: at higher temperatures the green turns brown.
Dry them in the oven
Turn the oven off and leave the cookies inside for 45 minutes with the door ajar. They should be hard and crunchy; if you break one and the center is moist, give them 10 more minutes at 120 °C / 250 °F.
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 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
Puppy, senior, very active or on a diet? Calculate the exact portion.
- Energy
- 23.1 kcal/piece
- Protein
- 13 % dry matter
- Fat
- 6 % 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 an airtight jar or tin in a cool, dry place: up to 1 week; in the fridge, 2 weeks (the blueberry pieces are the first thing to spoil: if any look soft or moldy, throw that cookie away). Freezer: up to 3 months; they thaw in 15-20 minutes.
If you don't have…
- Your dog has urinary stones or shouldn't eat spinach
- Zucchini with the skin on, blanched for 2 minutes and squeezed well, in the same amount; the green is paler
- Your dog doesn't tolerate egg
- 50 g (about 3 tablespoons) of cooked pumpkin purée blended with the spinach; the cookies come out a little less green and less crunchy
- You don't have rice flour
- All oat flour (220 g, about 2 1/4 cups); the green is duller, closer to olive
- You don't have blueberries
- Small pieces of strawberry or raspberry, or leave the trees plain
Cooking tips
- The 10% rule: each tree has about 23 kcal. A 5 kg (11 lb) dog can have one a day; a 20 kg (44 lb) dog, up to four. The table in the recipe gives you the number for their weight, and at Christmas it pays to count every extra of the day.
- To add "snow," dab the tip of each tree with a little nonfat quark just before serving, never for storing.
- If you give a bag to other dogs, add a label with the ingredients, especially the spinach, in case one of them has urinary stones.
- Use the family's cookie cutters, but wash them between doughs: cookies for people usually contain butter, sugar or spices.
Safety
- Spinach in moderation: it contains oxalates, which in excess favor calcium oxalate stones. The amount in this recipe is small, but if your dog has or has had urinary stones or kidney problems, use the zucchini substitution.
- Never use food coloring to make them greener, or powdered sugar to "snow" them: they add nothing for your dog.
- Christmas cookies for people are nothing like these: they contain sugar, butter and often cinnamon, nutmeg or chocolate, and "sugar-free" ones may contain xylitol. Don't give your dog holiday sweets such as fruitcake, mince pies or Christmas pudding, eggnog or dinner leftovers either, and pick up any grapes or raisins that fall on the floor: they are toxic to dogs.
- For small dogs or puppies, use a 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) cutter or break each tree in half.
Frequently asked questions
Can dogs eat spinach?
Yes, in moderation and preferably cooked. Spinach provides fiber, iron and vitamins, but also oxalates, which in excess favor urinary stones and interfere with calcium absorption. Blanching removes part of those oxalates. Use it as an occasional ingredient in small amounts, and avoid it if your dog has urinary stones or kidney disease.
What Christmas cookies can dogs eat?
Only ones made for them with safe ingredients: flours such as oat or rice, egg, safe vegetables or fruit, and no sugar, butter or spices. Christmas cookies for people often contain cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, chocolate, nuts or raisins, and "sugar-free" ones may contain xylitol, so it is best not to share them. These spinach cookies are a risk-free option.
How do you color dog treats naturally?
With safe vegetables and fruit. Blanched spinach gives green, cooked pumpkin and carrot give orange, sweet potato gives a golden tone, and strawberries, raspberries or blueberries give red or purple. For the color to show, use a pale flour such as rice flour and bake at a low temperature without letting the treats brown.
What's in it, in detail
- Spinach In moderation
- Eggs Yes
- Rice Yes
- Oatmeal Yes
- Blueberries Yes
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.