Twinkle twinkle little treat, goodest doggos want to eat… These homemade turmeric star treats are a gorgeous natural golden colour. I couldn’t resist cutting star shapes for this colour (they’d be super cute for Christmas), but there are so many options for golden goodies. I’ve included a few alternative ideas below, along with the sour cream and turmeric dog treat recipe and details.
Tidying Up Our Treat Archives
As a heads up, the pictures you see here may differ from old round-ups, links, and pins. This recipe post consolidates information from several old posts as part of tidying up our treat archives and posts during the transition to our new blog format. Same doggone delicious ideas, just (hopefully) easier for our lovely visitors and readers navigating around.
Sour Cream as a Dog Treat Ingredient
Baking Considerations
Baking (for people or pups) is a handy way to use leftover or short life sour cream. Our usual brand of lite sour cream somewhere in between a thick style reduced-fat yogurt and a reduced-fat cream cheese in terms of how it mixes and bakes in cookies or treats. In terms of nutritional value vs. percentage fat, I wouldn’t be serving it straight up to our boys by the spoonful, but in context of a baked treat recipe the actual content per treat is small.
Double Check the Labels
Of note with any of these types of products, pay close attention to the nutritional content for moderating intake and the ingredients for suitability. Although sour cream itself is safe for dogs (unless they have lactose sensitivities), some additives may not be. Over the years, I’ve learned to be a picky label checker, and not just because of our dogs. For example, gelatin is a common thickener in some reduced-fat dairy products, which is fine for dogs (I love giving the boys gelatin), but not so great for their vegetarian Momma.
Lactose Sensitivities
If your pup has lactose sensitivities or intolerances, give this recipe a pass. Sniff around our homemade dog treat recipe collection for other ideas instead. If you’re looking for an alternative roll and cut dough for making golden star dog treats, Oli’s golden oldie peanut butter dog treat recipe would be a great option. It uses turmeric to amp up the natural colour of our favourite smooth peanut butter dog treat recipe.
Going for Gold with Tasty Turmeric
Turmeric powder gives these sour cream and chicken stock dog treats their gorgeous all-natural golden colour. My dogs love turmeric (cue the drool) which make me pretty happy too since it’s full of healthy goodness – especially for our ageing senior. It’s also a powerhouse natural tint for creating colourful homemade dog treats, like these turmeric star dog treats. If you’d prefer a different ingredient or colour, the dough can be made as a pale neutral base for lots of other colours. Check out our post on natural colourings for dog treats for more ideas.
Naturally Golden Turmeric Star Dog Treat Recipe
Homemade Sour Cream and Chicken Stock Dog Treats with Turmeric
Rolling and cutting this dough into treats, like the pictured turmeric star dog treats, is optional. Rolling dough can also be used for simple flattened ball treats or other quickie treat-making methods instead, if you prefer. See our simple shortcuts for making baked dog treats for ideas. I’ve also included a few pictures of our curry pup pops in the notes below as an alternative mixing and shaping option. Very easy.
Treat Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup lite (reduced fat) sour cream
- 1/4 cup unseasoned chicken stock or alternative dog-safe liquid
- 2 tbsp ground flax or LSA
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder for colour (and scent/flavour)
- Optional: Sprinkle of ground black pepper
- Approximately 1 to 1 + 1/4 cups of brown rice flour, plus extra for rolling
You can use more or less turmeric in these treats depending on strength, colour, the other preference for you and your dog.
Making the Treats:
- Preheat your oven to 180C (or local equivalent) and gather together your baking ingredients and materials.
- Combine egg, sour cream, stock, flax/LSA, and turmeric in a stain-resistant mixing bowl.
- Incrementally add flour, mixing into a cohesive workable dough. Sour creams vary in liquid content, so working incrementally is extra important. The amount of flour required will vary depending on your individual ingredients and any optional add-ins or substitutions. Not quite right when you’re ready to roll? No worries! You can add a little extra liquid 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. For a crunchier treat, you can let baked treats sit in the cooling oven before removing or pop the baked treats into a dehydrator. My stars were baked short and then further dehydrated. I prefer lightly baking, but especially so with small shapes of pointy tips like these stars.
- Cool before serving and storage.
Baked Biscuit Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- See our introduction to making homemade baked biscuit (cookie) dog treats for additional information on baked dog treats.
- We don’t include yield in our treat recipe posts because it is very dependent on what the maker decides for treat shape, size, and thickness when they’re baking. We like to bake small batch treats though (variety is the spice of life!) and you can multiply our recipes if you’d like to big batch bake for frozen storage or to share with furfriends.
- 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.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- Variations in measurements, individual ingredient types, and options and substitutions as well as variations in egg size, ingredient and ambient temperatures, etc. are all part of why we work incrementally when mixing.
- Flax is a healthy binding add-in for enhancing dough consistency. This can be useful when working with gluten free flours in dog treat dough, and handling consistency is particularly helpful when working with shapes and cutters.
- Resting the dough is optional, but helps with the texture/handling of gluten-free baking dough. I like to rest briefly, then knead a little before final rolling and ensure it is well mixed.
Additional Herbs and Spices
Turmeric is one of those ingredients that works well with all sorts of other herbs and spices. The curry pup pops pictured below where one of our early sour cream baking experiments. Our dogs love the smell of curry and are always keen to sniff around the kitchen (and the dishes). Sharing a lick of curry is usually a no-go for the dogs though due to spiciness, unsafe ingredients, or our naughty human love of fat and salt. Even when mild, these are potential issues. Many curry powders will have turmeric as a lead ingredient, along with a variety of other ingredients like cumin, coriander, mustard seed, ginger, pepper, chili, cardamom, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or others depending on the blend – not all of which are safe for sharing with your dog. Instead, you can take their flavour inspiration from curry and limit your add-ins to seasonings that are safe and suitable for your pup and tailor the scent/taste to their palette.
Adding Additional Doggone Delicious Ingredients
You can also add other yummy ingredients to the base dough for extra scent and flavour, like finely chopped cooked meat, shredded cheese, or dog-friendly herbs. Note that these may affect the appearance and/or cutting characteristics, though, so choose with care. Larger bits or chunks can make it difficult to roll and/or cut tidy shapes. They can also cause the baked treats to be more vulnerable to cracking and crumbling. If you’re using something chunky, little pup pops or basic ball and flatten treats are simple and sturdier options.
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.
