Run run run, as fast as you can for homemade gingerbread dog treats. Woof! Blackstrap molasses gives these treats a lovely brown colour and fabulous smell, reminiscent of real gingerbread. Here’s our easy gingerbread inspired roll-and-cut dog treat recipe.
Molasses in Dog Treats
Blackstrap molasses in a “sweetener” that I make an exception for when choosing dog treat ingredients. It’s sweetness is debatable. Haha! By the time sugarcase has already been processed for light and then dark molasses, little sugar remains for the blackstrap processing. But quality blackstrap molasses is rich in nutrition (for humans and animals) and some folks believe that it can help dogs with arthritis and mobility, immune system strength, and heart health. Our dogs love the smell, so I set out to bake a tasty treat with a little boost of molasses. It has a stong taste and scent, so moderation is good for palatability as well as balance.
If baking biscuit treats isn’t your thing but you’re keen on blackstrap, you can have a sniff around our other dog treat recipes for ideas. Blackstrap molasses, in small quantities, can be used in gummies, pupsicles, meatballs, jerky marinades, and more. It makes a great gingerbread treat ingredient, but it’s also one of my favourites for dog-friendly barbeque inspired treats.
Wiley Fox? Wiley Dalmatians!
It’s almost impossible for me to see a gingerbread man (or person) without thinking of the nursey rhyme. “Run, run, run as fast as you can…” Did you know in the full The Gingerbread Man rhyme, the Gingerbread Boy escapes many pursuers, but ends up being eaten by a wiley fox? My wiley Dalmatians were more than happy to re-enact that role. Hehehe…
Peanut Butter and Molasses Gingerbread Dog Treat Recipe
Homemade Gingerbread Treats with Yogurt, Peanut Butter, and Molasses
These gingerbread dog treats were baked as roll-and-cut gingerbread people. You’ll need a gingerbread shaped cookie cutter (affiliate link) for similar shaped treats, but you can use other shapes or none at all. Cutting shapes is optional. Any roll and cut dough can be used to make hand formed treats (ball and flatten), pressed into a pan and cut to size, formed as treat bars, and more. See our simple shortcuts for making baked dog treats for ideas.
Treat Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup plain thick-style yogurt
- 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
- Optional: 2 tbsp ground flax or LSA
- Optional: Sprinkle of Ceylon cinnamon and/or ground ginger
- Approximately 1 to 1 + 1/4 cups of brown rice flour, plus extra for rolling
Making the Treats:
- Preheat your oven to 180C (or local equivalent) and gather together your baking ingredients and materials.
- Combine the yogurt, molasses, peanut butter, and any optional ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Incrementally add flour, mixing into a cohesive workable dough. The amount of flour required will vary depending on your individual ingredients and any optional add-ins or substitutions. Note that if you are not including the optional ingredients in these treats, you may need to use a little extra flour. Missed the mark? No worries! You can add a little bit of extra liquid, a small amount of olive oil, or additional flour to adjust consistency if/as needed.
- Rest dough (optional but recommended).
- Roll, cut into desired shapes, and place on a prepared baking pan.
- Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes. Cooking time will vary with shape/size, so keep an eye on the oven.
- Cool before serving and storage.
Gingerbread Baking Oops!
If you’re planning to decorate the treats (or just a tad pedantic like me) don’t forget to lightly brush away any excess flour before baking. Otherwise your gingerbread men might look a little like snowmen. Hehehe. Not that the dogs will judge or care!
Baked Biscuit Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- We don’t include yield in our recipe posts because it’s very dependent on what the treat maker decides for shape, size, and thickness. We like to bake treats in small batches, and you can multiply the recipes if you’d like to bulk bake.
- Baked dog treats can be broken for smaller dogs (or smaller portions when using big cutters), or made bigger/smaller. Keep an eye on your time and temperature. Generally, the smaller the treat, the shorter the baking time.
- For crunchier biscuits, you can leave baked treats in the oven while it cools or pop the baked treats into a dehydrator.
- Homemade baked dog treats are best consumed within a couple of days from baking or frozen for longer storage. See our post on baked dog treat shelf life and storage for information and tips.
- See our introduction to making homemade baked biscuit (cookie) dog treats for additional information on baked dog treats.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- Not keen on dairy? Dog dietary issues? We have lots of other treat ideas. For a different take on gingerbread with a stock and egg base see our peanut butter and molasses plunger cutter dog treats. They’re delish and the dough handles well.
- Ingredients like peanut butter and molasses can be tricky to measure perfectly. You can wet your measuring spoon (I use water) or spritz lightly with cooking spray to help measure and release with less mess. Or simply don’t stress about it. Close enough is good enough. Little variations in individual ingredients, measurements, temperatures, and other factors are why we like to work incrementally when mixing our dog treat doughs.
- When using ingredients like yogurt or peanut butter, take care to avoid unwanted extras like salt or artificial sweeteners. Xylitol, which may also be labelled as sweetener 967, is extremely dangerous for dogs. I like to use a no added salt or sugar smooth peanut butter and a plain yogurt or kefir when making treats.
- In addition to being delicious and fragrant, cinnamon may have health benefits for dogs (and people). However, it’s not suitable for everyone or every pup. 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.
