Doggone delicious gingerbread inspired gelatin dog treats with a layered yogurt gummy frosting. Just for festive fun! Here’s the homemade gingerbread gelatin gummy dog treat recipe and details on how these treats were made.
Layering Gelatin in Homemade Dog Treats
When creating layered gelatin dog treats, depending on your flavours, volumes, and ingredients, the gelatin base can be made in one batch and split, or prepared in separated batches. If splitting, the base will need to be kept warm enough not to gel before layering.
Layered gummies are easy to make, but need careful timing. New layers are added when the preceding layer has set to a gentle touch so that the liquids don’t mix, but before it has fully cured so the layers stick. Just like making layered jelly for humans. Too soon and they will melt into each other. Too late and they may not hold together. Don’t worry. It all tastes the same in the end, even if you miss the mark on looks.
Gingerbread Jiggler Gummy Dog Treat Recipe
Blackstrap Molasses Gingerbread Gummy Dog Treats with Yogurt Frosting
These gingerbread gummy dog treats were made as set-and-slice treats in a pan, but can also be made in moulds as individual shaped treats. The process is the same for either method, other than slicing of course. Since moulded gummies are poured top layer first, you can switch the order if you’d like the yogurt frosting layer to be on top. Scale the quantities to suit your treat making preferences for batch size. See our introduction to making homemade gummy dog treats for handy tips and info, including scaling for moulds and gummy treat storage.
Treat Ingredients:
Gingerbread layer:
- 1 cup cool water
- 3 tbsp quality powdered gelatin
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- Sprinkle of Ceylon cinnamon and/or ground ginger (optional)
Yogurt frosting layer:
- 1/2 cup cool water (or alternative dog-friendly liquid)
- 3 tbsp quality powdered gelatin
- 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt, kefir, or similar
You can use more water and less yogurt if you prefer, just keep the total liquid ratio at 1 cup per 3 tbsp of gelatin. More starter liquid can be easier for blooming (e.g. 3/4 water and 1/4 yogurt). For easier blooming, I also like to use a pan instead of a pot. The larger surface area makes it easier to sprinkle, hydrate, and bloom the gelatin powder.
Making the Treats
Gingerbread layer:
- Measure the water into a small pan.
- Sprinkle the surface with gelatin powder. Let sit for approximately five minutes for the gelatin powder to bloom.
- Gently stir the mixture over low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Take care not to shortcut with high temperatures or overheat. Heat can reduce the setting strength of gelatin.
- Remove from heat.
- Measure your blackstrap molasses and spices (optional) into a suitable container for mixing and pouring. I’ve tried a variety of methods, but I like using a coffee milk jug when I make gummies. They’re stain resistant, heat safe, easy pour, and dishwasher-friendly.
- Mix a small spoonful of the prepared liquefied gelatin with the powder to dissolve/mix with minimal lumps and clumps. Once mixed, add in the rest of your gelatin and stir to thoroughly combine.
- Pour into a glass pan (cut and slice) or silicone moulds (shapes).
- Chill to set while you prepare the next layer. It will need to be added when this layer has set to a gentle touch so that the liquids don’t mix, but before it has fully set and cured in order to adhere the layers, as noted above.
Yogurt frosting layer:
- Measure the water into a small pan.
- Sprinkle the surface with gelatin powder. Let sit for approximately five minutes for the gelatin powder to bloom.
- Gently stir the mixture over low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Take care not to shortcut with high temperatures or overheat. Heat can reduce the setting strength of gelatin.
- Remove from heat.
- Measure your yogurt into a suitable container for mixing and pouring.
- Check that your liquid temperature is below 50C (120F) to protect your probiotic content (allow to cool if needed), then slowly combine the prepared gelatin with the yogurt. Stir as you incrementally dilute the yogurt to avoid lumping or clumping. Mix thoroughly.
- Check that the gingerbread layer is ready, and then carefully pour over the existing layer.
- Chill to set thoroughly before removing from moulds (shapes) or slicing (pans).
If your mixture is a bit too warm when layered, the gingerbread layer may bleed into the white, but it still looks lovely. The colour might also bleed with time. After a while, mine ended up with an ombre effect. Not that the dogs care about looks, just that the treats were delicious.
Gummy Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- See our comprehensive post on making and storing homemade gelatin gummy dog treats for additional information about making gummy treats including helpful gummy making tips, troubleshooting, and safe treat storage.
- These treats should be kept refrigerated and can be frozen for longer storage, although freezing can affect consistency.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- In my experience, 3 tbsp of gelatin powder per cup of liquid makes firm gummies. You can use more for supplementation or less for a jigglier jelly treat. Individual powders may be a stronger or weaker. Find a ratio that works for your preferences and, of course, your dog.
- Take care when shopping and check labels to avoid artificial sweeteners in ingredients like yogurt for your dogs. Xylitol (also identified as sweetener E967) is particularly dangerous for dogs.
- If your dog is sensitive to dairy, you can use a dog-friendly milky white ingredient instead of the yogurt to get a similar look. Check out our other gummy recipes for alternative ideas. If it isn’t probiotic, you can alter the method above to simplify prep, if you wish.
- Blackstrap molasses is the highly-concentrated, final by-product of the refined sugar manufacturing process. It’s very dark, thick, strong, and actually kind of bitter. It has the highest content of beneficial nutrients of all the molasses.
- In addition to being doggone delicious and fragrant, cinnamon offers some great health benefits to dogs (and people); however, it’s not suitable for everyone. Pregnant/nursing dogs in particular should not be given cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is the recommended variety for dogs, if/when used.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the category and tag labels to find other recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search tools to find something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
