These easy DIY Neapolitan frozen yogurt dog treats are a doggone delicious homemade summer dog treat. You can freeze them incrementally into layered treats, as shown, swirl into marbled treats, or mix-and-match separate flavours for faster treat preparation. Easy peasy! Here’s the recipe, although it’s really more of a guide than a recipe, and the scoop on how to make the Neapolitan pupsicle treats.
Frozen Fun with Homemade Pupsicles
Tomorrow is the first official day of summer here, although it feels more like hot chocolate weather today. We’re sharing this quick and cool summer treat to celebrate before we start our Christmas dog DIY and recipe posts for the season. These Neapolitan frozen yogurt dog treats dogify the classic ice cream combo into a dog-friendly pupsicle. Frozen dog treats are some of the easiest homemade treats. The cold does all the work, so it’s easy simple to customise recipes. Check out our introduction to making frozen dog treats for tips, ideas, and more.
Our boys love frozen treats, especially in the summertime. Of course, every dog is different. Just like people, some dogs don’t like cold treats. If you dog doesn’t enjoy frozen goodies there are plenty of other yummy options. Other dogs love them a little too much. Highly aggressive chewers or dogs with dental issues may be better with softer options to avoid accidently damaging their teeth.
Neapolitan Ice Cream
When I was young, Neapolitan sounded like such a fancy flavour. Although I greatly preferred the chocolate and vanilla to the strawberry ice cream. Still do! Ours came as a swirled mixture, unlike the classic layered blocks of Neapolitan ice cream that were, interestingly, created for marketing strategy rather than the flavour combo. Check out the history of Neapolitan ice cream for the full scoop.
These Neapolitan frozen yogurt dog treats were created in layers, like the classic blocks. It takes a little extra time to incrementally freeze and fill the blocks, but you can skip that time by carefully layering on your yogurt mixtures, marbling, or freezing the flavours separately for mix-and-match treats, if you prefer. Instead of using one of my shaped moulds, I used an oversized flexible ice cube tray to carry through the classic Neapolitan ice cream block shape and look to the completed pupsicle treats.
Neapolitan Frozen Yogurt Dog Treat Recipe
Ingredients can be easily scaled to suit your own mould or tray (see tips and tricks below) and you can adjust the mixture measurements in any way you’d like to suit your pet and personal preferences. When the post was originally shared many years ago, I actually didn’t even specify any measurements. I’ve since added rough figures to help readers aren’t comfortable with making estimates. Measurements are indicative only for the treats as pictured and can be adjusted any way you wish. Pupsicles are so easy that way! Human popsicles are, too.
Neapolitan Pupsicle Dog Treats
Treat Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups plain yogurt, kefir, or suitable dog-friendly alternative (see Tips) divided into thirds
- 1 tbsp carob powder
- 2-3 large strawberries, mashed or pureed
If you are using a very thick yogurt, you might find it helpful to water the mixture down for easier mixing and moulding. You can also do this if you’d like the treats to be a little less rich. For thick mixtures, you can also tap the tray or mould gently on the countertop before freezing to reduce airgaps or bubbles.
Making the Treats:
- Adjust quantities above to suit your mould if/as needed. Divide the yogurt into thirds.
- White/Vanilla: Spoon 1/3 of the yogurt into the tray or mould, covering the bottom to approximately 1/3 volume. Freeze until firm.
- Brown/Chocolate: Mix the carob powder to another 1/3 of the yogurt. Layer on top of your frozen plain layer. Freeze until firm.
- Red/Strawberry: Mash or puree the strawberries. Combine the strawberries with the remaining 1/3 of the yogurt. Layer on top of your frozen plain and chocolate layers.
- Freeze thoroughly before removing from the moulds.
- Transfer the completed treats to a suitable container and return to the freezer for storage until use.
Pupsicle Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- Flexible silicone moulds or ice-cube trays, like we used here, are great for making individual frozen dog treats. You can do a test pour with a measuring cup of water to check the volume required to fill your mould or tray if you’d like to scale a recipe to suit.
- See our comprehensive post on making and storing frozen dog treats for additional information and tips, if needed.
- Frozen treats melt quickly, especially in warm temperatures. Things can also get messy while your pup is licking merrily, especially for slow eaters. You might like to serve pupsicles from a bowl and/or enjoy them outdoors.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- Go natural or take care when shopping to avoid artificial sweeteners in ingredients like yogurt for your dogs. Xylitol (also identified as sweetener E967) is particularly dangerous for dogs.
- Not keen on dairy? Swap it for another ingredient you and your pup enjoy. Coconut milk, pureed dog-friendly fruits or veggies, unseasoned stock, or anything pet-safe can be used to create your own custom combo.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of different DIY dog treats here on the blog. Woofs! Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas here from treats that we make ourselves for our pets, but different animals will have different preferences (likes or dislikes) and dietary needs. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies or intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
